Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

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Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Venue London Aquatics Centre
DatesAugust 3, 2012 (heats)
August 4, 2012 (final)
Competitors84 from 16 nations
Winning time3:52.05 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svgFlag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)
Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer, Allison Schmitt, Rachel Bootsma*, Breeja Larson*, Claire Donahue*, Jessica Hardy*
Silver medal icon.svgFlag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)
Emily Seebohm, Leisel Jones, Alicia Coutts, Melanie Schlanger, Brittany Elmslie*
Bronze medal icon.svg

Flag of Japan.svg  Japan  (JPN)
Aya Terakawa, Satomi Suzuki, Yuka Kato, Haruka Ueda


*Indicates the swimmer only competed in the preliminary heats.
  2008
2016  

The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 3–4 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom. [1]

The U.S. women's team solidified their triumph to demolish a new world record and to recapture their Olympic title after twelve years. Leading from the start, the fearsome foursome of Missy Franklin (58.50), Rebecca Soni (1:04.82), Dana Vollmer (55.48), and Allison Schmitt (53.25) put together a perfect ending with a stunning gold-medal time in 3:52.05 to shave off China's global standard by 14-hundredths of a second from the 2009 World Championships at the peak of the high-tech bodysuit era. [2] [3] [4]

Australia's Emily Seebohm (59.01), Leisel Jones (1:06.06), Alicia Coutts (56.41), and Melanie Schlanger (52.54) trailed behind their formidable rivals by a couple of seconds, but managed to take home a magnificent silver in 3:54.02. [5] Pulling off a second-place finish, Jones also matched Ian Thorpe for the most medals by an Australian swimmer in her fourth straight Olympics with a remarkable overall tally of nine (three golds, five silver, and one bronze). [6] [7]

Japan's Aya Terakawa (58.99), Satomi Suzuki (1:05.96), Yuka Kato (57.36), and Haruka Ueda (53.42) ended on a spectacular fashion with a bronze medal in 3:55.73, holding off the robust Russian quartet of Anastasia Zuyeva (59.13), Yuliya Yefimova (1:04.98), Irina Bespalova (58.59), and Veronika Popova (53.33) by exactly three-tenths of a second (0.30), a fourth-place time in 3:56.03. [8] [9]

Outside the podium, China's Zhao Jing (59.86), Ji Liping (1:06.94), Lu Ying (56.80), and Tang Yi (52.81) could not produce a similar stellar performance in the medley relay with a fifth-place finish in 3:56.41, while the Dutch foursome of Sharon van Rouwendaal (1:00.72), Moniek Nijhuis (1:06.74), Inge Dekker (56.91), and star Ranomi Kromowidjojo (52.91), who captured another sprint freestyle title an hour earlier, claimed a distant sixth spot in 3:57.28. [9] Denmark (3:57.76) and Great Britain (3:59.46) rounded out the championship finale. [9] [10]

Records

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

World recordFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China  (CHN)
Zhao Jing (58.98)
Chen Huijia (1:04.12)
Jiao Liuyang (56.28)
Li Zhesi (52.81)
3:52.19 Rome, Italy 1 August 2009 [11]
Olympic recordFlag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)
Emily Seebohm (59.33)
Leisel Jones (1:04.58)
Jessicah Schipper (56.25)
Lisbeth Trickett (52.53)
3:52.69 Beijing, China 17 August 2008 [12]

The following records were established during the competition:

DateEventSwimmersNationTimeRecord
August 4Final Missy Franklin (58.50)
Rebecca Soni (1:04.82)
Dana Vollmer (55.48)
Allison Schmitt (53.25)
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:52.05 WR

Results

Heats

[13]

RankHeatLaneNationSwimmersTimeNotes
125Flag of Australia.svg  Australia Emily Seebohm (58.57)
Leisel Jones (1:05.96)
Alicia Coutts (57.45)
Brittany Elmslie (53.44)
3:55.42Q
223Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Aya Terakawa (59.19)
Satomi Suzuki (1:07.15)
Yuka Kato (57.73)
Haruka Ueda (53.80)
3:57.87Q
322Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Mie Østergaard Nielsen (1:00.27)
Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:07.15)
Jeanette Ottesen (56.74)
Pernille Blume (54.19)
3:58.35Q, NR
424Flag of the United States.svg  United States Rachel Bootsma (59.70)
Breeja Larson (1:06.66)
Claire Donahue (58.05)
Jessica Hardy (54.47)
3:58.88Q
517Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Sharon van Rouwendaal (1:00.98)
Moniek Nijhuis (1:06.98)
Inge Dekker (57.43)
Femke Heemskerk (53.80)
3:59.19Q
626Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Gemma Spofforth (1:00.02)
Siobhan-Marie O'Connor (1:08.10)
Jemma Lowe (57.56)
Amy Smith (53.69)
3:59.37Q
714Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Gao Chang (1:00.41)
Sun Ye (1:08.01)
Jiao Liuyang (57.56)
Tang Yi (53.40)
3:59.38Q
815Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Maria Gromova (1:01.53)
Yuliya Yefimova (1:05.84)
Irina Bespalova (58.33)
Veronika Popova (53.87)
3:59.57Q
913Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Jenny Mensing (1:01.02)
Sarah Poewe (1:07.19)
Alexandra Wenk (58.85)
Britta Steffen (52.89)
3:59.95
1027Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Sarah Sjöström (1:01.38)
Jennie Johansson (1:06.94)
Martina Granström (58.46)
Michelle Coleman (53.98)
4:00.76
1112Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Arianna Barbieri (1:00.80)
Michela Guzzetti (1:08.62)
Ilaria Bianchi (57.59)
Federica Pellegrini (55.19)
4:02.20
1216Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Julia Wilkinson (1:00.49)
Tera van Beilen (1:08.12)
Katerine Savard (59.00)
Samantha Cheverton (55.10)
4:02.71
1321Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Duane da Rocha (1:00.43)
Marina García Urzainqui (1:08.35)
Judit Ignacio Sorribes (59.07)
Melania Costa Schmid (55.20)
4:03.05 NR
1411Flag of France.svg  France Laure Manaudou (1:01.09)
Fanny Babou (1:09.14)
Justine Bruno (1:00.17)
Charlotte Bonnet (55.13)
4:05.53
1528Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Eygló Ósk Gústafsdóttir (1:01.74)
Hrafnhildur Lúthersdóttir (1:09.19)
Sarah Blake Bateman (1:00.04)
Eva Hannesdóttir (56.12)
4:07.09
18Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary Evelyn Verrasztó (1:03.39)
Anna Sztankovics (1:17.43)
Zsuzsanna Jakabos
Eszter Dara
DSQ

Final

RankLaneNationSwimmersTimeTime BehindNotes
Gold medal icon.svg6Flag of the United States.svg  United States Missy Franklin (58.50)
Rebecca Soni (1:04.82)
Dana Vollmer (55.48)
Allison Schmitt (53.25)
3:52.05 WR
Silver medal icon.svg4Flag of Australia.svg  Australia Emily Seebohm (59.01)
Leisel Jones (1:06.06)
Alicia Coutts (56.41)
Melanie Schlanger (52.54)
3:54.021.97
Bronze medal icon.svg5Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Aya Terakawa (58.99)
Satomi Suzuki (1:05.96)
Yuka Kato (57.36)
Haruka Ueda (53.42)
3:55.733.68 NR
48Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Anastasia Zuyeva (59.13)
Yuliya Yefimova (1:04.98)
Irina Bespalova (58.59)
Veronika Popova (53.33)
3:56.033.98 NR
51Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Zhao Jing (59.86)
Ji Liping (1:06.94)
Lu Ying (56.80)
Tang Yi (52.81)
3:56.414.36
62Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Sharon van Rouwendaal (1:00.72)
Moniek Nijhuis (1:06.74)
Inge Dekker (56.91)
Ranomi Kromowidjojo (52.91)
3:57.285.23 NR
73Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Mie Østergaard Nielsen (59.76)
Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:06.77)
Jeanette Ottesen (56.83)
Pernille Blume (54.40)
3:57.765.71 NR
87Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Gemma Spofforth (59.46)
Siobhan-Marie O'Connor (1:08.45)
Ellen Gandy (57.47)
Francesca Halsall (54.08)
3:59.467.41

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