Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Beijing National Aquatics Center | |||||||||
Date | August 9, 2008 (heats) August 10, 2008 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 67 from 16 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 3:33.76 OR | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics | ||
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Qualification | ||
Freestyle | ||
50 m | men | women |
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | women | |
1500 m | men | |
Backstroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Breaststroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Butterfly | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Individual medley | ||
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
Freestyle relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
4 × 200 m | men | women |
Medley relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
Marathon | ||
10 km | men | women |
The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 9–10 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. [1]
The Dutch women reinforced their claim to become the strongest team in the world with a magnificent triumph over the Aussies and the Americans in the event. Pulling nearly a worst-to-first effort from a seventh-place turn by Inge Dekker (54.37), Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39) and Femke Heemskerk (53.42) moved the team further into the top spot, until they handed Marleen Veldhuis the anchor duties on the final exchange to cruise the field down the stretch in 52.58 and to snatch the freestyle relay title with an Olympic record of 3:33.76. [2] [3]
Competing in her fifth Olympics since 1984, U.S. legend Dara Torres anchored her team with a remarkable split of 52.44, the second-fastest of all time, to deliver the foursome of Natalie Coughlin (54.00), Lacey Nymeyer (53.91), and Kara Lynn Joyce (53.98) a silver medal in a new American record of 3:34.33. [4] [5] Meanwhile, Australia's Cate Campbell (54.43), Alice Mills (54.43), Melanie Schlanger (53.85), and Lisbeth Trickett (52.34) powered home with a bronze in an Oceanian record of 3:35.05, holding off the fast-pacing Chinese squad of Zhu Yingwen (54.12), Tang Yi (54.19), Xu Yanwei (54.64), and Pang Jiaying (52.69) by 59-hundredths of a second, a superb Asian standard of 3:35.64. [6] [7]
Britta Steffen shaved off Inge de Bruijn's 2000 Olympic record by 0.39 seconds with a blazing split of 53.38 to take an early lead for the Germans, but the other threesome of Meike Freitag (54.30), Daniela Götz (55.34), and Antje Buschschulte (53.83) could not maintain their pace and thereby occupied the fifth spot in 3:36.85. [8] France (3:37.68), Great Britain (3:38.18), and Canada (3:38.32) picked up the remaining places to complete a close finish. [7]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | Netherlands (NED) Inge Dekker (53.77) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.61) Femke Heemskerk (53.62) Marleen Veldhuis (52.62) | 3:33.62 | Eindhoven, Netherlands | 18 March 2008 | [9] |
Olympic record | Australia (AUS) Alice Mills (54.75) Lisbeth Lenton (53.57) Petria Thomas (54.67) Jodie Henry (52.95) | 3:35.94 | Athens, Greece | 14 August 2004 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 10 | Final | Inge Dekker (54.37) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39) Femke Heemskerk (53.42) Marleen Veldhuis (52.58) | Netherlands | 3:33.76 | OR |
Rank | Lane | Nationality | Names | Time | Time behind | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 | Netherlands | Inge Dekker (54.37) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.39) Femke Heemskerk (53.42) Marleen Veldhuis (52.58) | 3:33.76 | OR | ||
3 | United States | Natalie Coughlin (54.00) Lacey Nymeyer (53.91) Kara Lynn Joyce (53.98) Dara Torres (52.44) | 3:34.33 | 0.57 | AM | |
7 | Australia | Cate Campbell (54.43) Alice Mills (54.43) Melanie Schlanger (53.85) Lisbeth Trickett (52.34) | 3:35.05 | 1.29 | OC | |
4 | 4 | China | Zhu Yingwen (54.12) Tang Yi (54.19) Xu Yanwei (54.64) Pang Jiaying (52.69) | 3:35.64 | 1.88 | AS |
5 | 5 | Germany | Britta Steffen (53.38) OR Meike Freitag (54.30) Daniela Götz (55.34) Antje Buschschulte (53.83) | 3:36.85 | 3.09 | |
6 | 2 | France | Céline Couderc (54.32) Alena Popchanka (54.54) Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne (54.79) Malia Metella (54.03) | 3:37.68 | 3.92 | |
7 | 8 | Great Britain | Francesca Halsall (53.81) NR Caitlin McClatchey (54.48) Jessica Sylvester (55.34) Melanie Marshall (54.55) | 3:38.18 | 4.42 | NR |
8 | 1 | Canada | Julia Wilkinson (54.33) Erica Morningstar (54.35) Geneviève Saumur (54.68) Audrey Lacroix (54.96) | 3:38.32 | 4.56 |
The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay took place on 14 August at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece.
Magdalena Johanna Maria "Marleen" Veldhuis is a retired swimmer from the Netherlands. She was world record holder in four events. Veldhuis won eight world championships gold medals and 20 European championships gold medals. In the Olympics, she won a bronze medal in London 2012 in the 50 m freestyle, as well as three relay medals: bronze in Athens 2004, gold in Beijing 2008, and silver in London 2012.
Manon van Rooijen is a freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who was a member of the Dutch Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay Team that won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She did so alongside Inge de Bruijn, Wilma van Hofwegen and Thamar Henneken.
Chantal Groot is a butterfly and freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who has represented her country in many international championships since 1999. The best distance of Chantal Groot is the 50 m butterfly in which she won five European LC Championships medals, for the first time in 1999 in Istanbul, and became European Champion in 2008 in Eindhoven.
Inge Dekker is a Dutch former competitive swimmer who specialised in butterfly and freestyle events. She won the bronze medal with the Dutch women's 4×100-metre freestyle relay team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, alongside teammates Inge de Bruijn, Marleen Veldhuis and Chantal Groot. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Dekker became Olympic champion in the 4×100-metre freestyle together with Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Femke Heemskerk and Marleen Veldhuis, setting a then Olympic record. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was part of the Dutch 4 x 100 metre freestyle team that won the silver medal, with Veldhuis, Heemskerk and Kromowidjojo, behind the Australian team who set a new Olympic record.
Britta Steffen is a German competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle sprint events.
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Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk is a former Dutch competitive swimmer who mainly specializes in freestyle, but also has a strong backstroke and medley.
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