Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

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Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Venue London Aquatics Centre
DatesJuly 29, 2012 (heats & final)
Competitors80 from 15 nations
Winning time3:09.93
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svgFlag of France.svg  France  (FRA)
Amaury Leveaux, Fabien Gilot, Clément Lefert, Yannick Agnel, Alain Bernard*, Jérémy Stravius*
Silver medal icon.svgFlag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)
Nathan Adrian, Michael Phelps, Cullen Jones, Ryan Lochte, Jimmy Feigen*, Matt Grevers*, Ricky Berens*, Jason Lezak*
Bronze medal icon.svg

Flag of Russia.svg  Russia  (RUS)
Andrey Grechin, Nikita Lobintsev, Vladimir Morozov, Danila Izotov, Yevgeny Lagunov*, Sergey Fesikov*


*Indicates the swimmer only competed in the preliminary heats.
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2016  →

The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom. [1]

Four years after winning the silver medal in this event, the French men's team won gold for the first time as they edged out the Americans and the Australians with the help of a sterling anchor leg from Yannick Agnel. Trailing behind by 0.55 seconds at the final exchange, Agnel blistered the field with a remarkable split of 46.74 to deliver the foursome of Amaury Leveaux (48.13), Fabien Gilot (47.67), and Clément Lefert (47.39) a gold-medal time in 3:09.93. [2] [3] Meanwhile, the U.S. team of Nathan Adrian (47.89), Michael Phelps (47.15), and Cullen Jones (47.60) handed Ryan Lochte the anchor duties to maintain their lead, but Lochte's split of 47.74 was just a full second behind Agnel's anchor that sealed a stunning triumph for the French, leaving the U.S. with a silver medal in 3:10.38. [4] [5] With the second-place finish, Phelps also earned his first-ever Olympic silver medal to raise his overall tally to seventeen, (including 14 gold and 2 bronze), bringing him a single step closer to the all-time record held by Larisa Latynina. [6] [7]

The Russian quartet of Andrey Grechin (48.57), Nikita Lobintsev (47.39), Vladimir Morozov (47.85), and Danila Izotov (47.60) took home the bronze in 3:11.41 to edge out the more aggressive Aussie foursome of James Magnussen (48.03), Matt Targett (47.83), Eamon Sullivan (47.68), and James Roberts (48.09) by 0.22 seconds, finishing with a fourth-place time in 3:11.63. [8] [9] [10]

South Africa's solid foursome of Gideon Louw (48.48), Darian Townsend (48.36), Graeme Moore (48.36), and Roland Mark Schoeman (48.27) struggled to mount a challenge in a world-record race as they finished fifth in 3:13.45, holding off the hard-charging Germans Benjamin Starke (49.03), Markus Deibler (47.97), Christoph Fildebrandt (48.45), and Marco di Carli (48.07) by seven-hundredths of a second with a sixth-place finish (3:13.52). [11] Italy (3:14.13) and Belgium (3:14.40) also vied for an Olympic medal to round out a historic finish. [10]

In the absence of César Cielo on the morning prelims, Brazil's Nicolas Oliveira (49.31), Bruno Fratus (48.98), Nicholas Santos (49.68), and Marcelo Chierighini (48.17) missed the final roster by almost half a second (0.50) with a ninth-place effort (3:16.14), [12] repeating their performance from the 2011 World Aquatics Championships.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)
Michael Phelps (47.51)
Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02)
Cullen Jones (47.65)
Jason Lezak (46.06)		3:08.24 Beijing, China 11 August 2008 [13] [14]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)
Michael Phelps (47.51)
Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02)
Cullen Jones (47.65)
Jason Lezak (46.06)		3:08.24 Beijing, China 11 August 2008 [13] [14]

Results

Heats

[15]

RankHeatLaneNationSwimmersTimeNotes
124Flag of Australia.svg  Australia Cameron McEvoy (48.94)
James Roberts (48.22)
Tommaso D'Orsogna (47.78)
James Magnussen (47.35)		3:12.29Q
225Flag of the United States.svg  United States Jimmy Feigen (48.49)
Matt Grevers (47.54)
Ricky Berens (48.52)
Jason Lezak (48.04)		3:12.59Q
323Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Andrey Grechin (48.19)
Yevgeny Lagunov (48.34)
Sergey Fesikov (48.68)
Nikita Lobintsev (47.56)		3:12.77Q
414Flag of France.svg  France Amaury Leveaux (48.61)
Alain Bernard (48.31)
Clément Lefert (48.14)
Jérémy Stravius (48.32)		3:13.38Q
526Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Benjamin Starke (48.96)
Markus Deibler (47.99)
Christoph Fildebrandt (48.44)
Marco di Carli (48.12)		3:13.51Q, NR
622Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Dieter Dekoninck (48.79)
Jasper Aerents (48.58)
Emmanuel Vanluchene (48.55)
Pieter Timmers (47.97)		3:13.89Q, NR
713Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Roland Mark Schoeman (49.00)
Darian Townsend (48.26)
Gideon Louw (47.92)
Graeme Moore (48.75)		3:13.93Q
815Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Luca Dotto (49.27)
Andrea Rolla (49.46)
Michele Santucci (48.85)
Filippo Magnini (48.20)		3:15.78Q
912Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Nicolas Oliveira (49.31)
Bruno Fratus (48.98)
Nicholas Santos (49.68)
Marcelo Chierighini (48.17)		3:16.14
1017Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Brent Hayden (48.42)
Colin Russell (48.67)
Richard Hortness (49.12)
Thomas Gossland (50.21)		3:16.42
1121Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Lü Zhiwu (48.92)
Zhang Enjian (49.57)
He Jianbin (49.67)
Shi Tengfei (48.84)		3:17.00
1216Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Simon Burnett (50.47)
Grant Turner (48.31)
James Disney-May (48.99)
Craig Gibbons (49.31)		3:17.08
1328Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia Milorad Čavić (48.61)
Velimir Stjepanović (49.13)
Ivan Lenđer (50.58)
Radovan Siljevski (50.47)		3:18.79 NR
1427Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary Péter Bernek (50.29)
Gergő Kis (50.68)
Gábor Balog (51.47)
Krisztián Takács (49.47)		3:21.91
1511Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela Cristian Quintero Valero (49.77)
Octavio Alesi (50.04)
Marcos Lavado (52.59)
Crox Acuña (50.28)		3:22.68

Final

RankLaneNationSwimmersTimeTime behindNotes
Gold medal icon.svg6Flag of France.svg  France Amaury Leveaux (48.13)
Fabien Gilot (47.67)
Clément Lefert (47.39)
Yannick Agnel (46.74)		3:09.93
Silver medal icon.svg5Flag of the United States.svg  United States Nathan Adrian (47.89)
Michael Phelps (47.15)
Cullen Jones (47.60)
Ryan Lochte (47.74)		3:10.380.45
Bronze medal icon.svg3Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Andrey Grechin (48.57)
Nikita Lobintsev (47.39)
Vladimir Morozov (47.85)
Danila Izotov (47.60)		3:11.411.48
44Flag of Australia.svg  Australia James Magnussen (48.03)
Matt Targett (47.83)
Eamon Sullivan (47.68)
James Roberts (48.09)		3:11.631.70
51Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Gideon Louw (48.48)
Darian Townsend (48.36)
Graeme Moore (48.34)
Roland Mark Schoeman (48.27)		3:13.453.52
62Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Benjamin Starke (49.03)
Markus Deibler (47.97)
Christoph Fildebrandt (48.45)
Marco di Carli (48.07)		3:13.523.59
78Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Luca Dotto (48.73)
Marco Orsi (48.42)
Michele Santucci (48.88)
Filippo Magnini (48.10)		3:14.134.20
87Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Dieter Dekoninck (49.42)
Jasper Aerents (48.34)
Emmanuel Vanluchene (48.46)
Pieter Timmers (48.18)		3:14.404.47

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References

  1. ↑ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012 . NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Norlander, Matt (29 July 2012). "France gets revenge for the U.S. in 4x100 free; America takes silver". Fox News . Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "Olympic swimming: France defeat US in men's 4×100m relay". BBC Sport. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ Crouse, Karen (29 July 2012). "This Time, It's the U.S. Overtaken for the Gold". New York Times . Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "France pulls off upset for gold". ESPN. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  6. ↑ Liffey, Kevin (29 July 2012). "Pool records fall as Phelps gets 17th medal". Reuters . Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Phelps Earns First Silver Medal in Free Relay". Team USA. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  8. ↑ Jeffery, Nicole (30 July 2012). "Shocked Australian men's 4×100m freestyle relay team struggles to explain loss". The Australian . Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  9. ↑ Cowley, Michael (30 July 2012). "Missile bombs as men's relay team misses medal". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  10. 1 2 "2012 London Olympics: Four Years After Being on Wrong End of History, French Anchor Way to Men's 400-meter Freestyle Relay Triumph". Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Cameron hails 'perfect race'". News24. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "2012 London Olympics: James Magnussen Powers Australia to Top Seed in Men's 400 Free Relay". Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  13. 1 2 Abrahamson, Alan (11 August 2008). "Lezak's classic finish delivers gold". Beijing 2008 . NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  14. 1 2 Longman, Jere (11 August 2008). "As Swimming Records Fall, Technology Muddies the Water". New York Times . Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay – Heats". London2012.com. LOCOG. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
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