Swimming at the 2016 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 XXXI Olympiad
Venue Olympic Aquatics Stadium
Dates12 August 2016 (heats)
13 August 2016 (final)
Competitors76 from 16 nations
Teams16
Winning time3:53.13
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svgFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Dana Vollmer, Simone Manuel, Olivia Smoliga*, Katie Meili*, Kelsi Worrell*, Abbey Weitzeil*
Silver medal icon.svgFlag of Australia.svg  Australia
Emily Seebohm, Taylor McKeown, Emma McKeon, Cate Campbell, Madison Wilson*, Madeline Groves*, Brittany Elmslie*
Bronze medal icon.svgFlag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
Mie Nielsen, Rikke Møller Pedersen, Jeanette Ottesen, Pernille Blume
*Indicates the swimmer only competed in the preliminary heats.
  2012
2020  

The women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 12–13 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. By winning gold, the U.S. women brought home America's 1000th gold medal in the nation's Summer Olympics history. [1]

Summary

The U.S. women's team outlasted the rest of the field to solidify its Olympic title defense in the medley relay final with the help of a freestyle anchor leg from Simone Manuel. Leading from the start, the foursome of Kathleen Baker (59.00), Lilly King (1:05.70), Dana Vollmer (56.00), and Manuel (52.43) put together a perfect ending with a final time of 3:53.13 to give the Americans their tenth gold medal in this event, and their thousandth overall in Summer Olympic history. [2] [3]

Australia's Emily Seebohm (58.83), Taylor McKeown (1:07.05), and Emma McKeon (56.95) struggled to hold on their momentum throughout the race, until Cate Campbell jumped into the pool at the final exchange. Then, Campbell produced a freestyle anchor split of 52.17 to deliver the Australian relay team a silver medal in 3:55.00. [4] After winning the 50 m freestyle title an hour earlier, anchor Pernille Blume (53.21) helped her fellow Danish swimmers Mie Nielsen (58.75), Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:06.62), and Jeanette Ottesen (56.43) shatter the European record for the bronze in 3:55.01, a hundredth of a second behind Australia. [5] [6]

China's Fu Yuanhui (59.53), Shi Jinglin (1:06.00), Lu Ying (56.49), and Zhu Menghui (53.16) slipped off the podium to fourth in 3:55.18, while the Canadian combination of Kylie Masse (58.77), Rachel Nicol (1:06.81), Penny Oleksiak (56.75), and Chantal van Landeghem (53.16) established a national record of 3:55.49 to take the fifth spot. [7] Russia's Anastasia Fesikova (59.49), Yuliya Yefimova (1:04.98), Svetlana Chimrova (57.54), and Veronika Popova (53.65) finished sixth with a 3:55.66, holding off the British quartet of Georgia Davies (59.43), Chloe Tutton (1:06.43), Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (57.47), and Francesca Halsall (53.63) by 1.3 seconds, a seventh-place time in 3:56.96. [8] Meanwhile, Italy (3:59.50), anchored by freestyle swimmer and four-time Olympian Federica Pellegrini, rounded out the championship field. [6]

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)
Missy Franklin (58.50)
Rebecca Soni (1:04.82)
Dana Vollmer (55.48)
Allison Schmitt (53.25)
3:52.05 London, United Kingdom 4 August 2012 [9] [10]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)
Missy Franklin (58.50)
Rebecca Soni (1:04.82)
Dana Vollmer (55.48)
Allison Schmitt (53.25)
3:52.05 London, United Kingdom 4 August 2012 [9] [10]

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and a final. The relay teams with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round. [1]

Results

Heats

A total of sixteen countries have qualified to participate. The best eight from two heats advanced to the final.

RankHeatLaneNationSwimmersTimeNotes
125Flag of the United States.svg  United States Olivia Smoliga (59.57)
Katie Meili (1:04.93)
Kelsi Worrell (56.47)
Abbey Weitzeil (53.70)
3:54.67Q
213Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Kylie Masse (58.66) NR
Rachel Nicol (1:06.97)
Noemie Thomas (57.66)
Taylor Ruck (53.51)
3:56.80Q, NR
315Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Mie Nielsen (59.48)
Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:06.88)
Jeanette Ottesen (57.38)
Pernille Blume (53.24)
3:56.98Q
412Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Anastasia Fesikova (1:00.16)
Yulia Efimova (1:05.78)
Svetlana Chimrova (57.65)
Veronika Popova (53.85)
3:57.44Q
523Flag of Australia.svg  Australia Madison Wilson (59.38)
Taylor McKeown (1:07.48)
Madeline Groves (57.87)
Brittany Elmslie (53.07)
3:57.80Q
624Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Fu Yuanhui (59.20)
Zhang Xinyu (1:07.86)
Lu Ying (57.45)
Shen Duo (53.72)
3:58.23Q
722Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Carlotta Zofkova (1:01.42)
Arianna Castiglioni (1:06.33)
Ilaria Bianchi (57.76)
Federica Pellegrini (53.58)
3:59.09Q
826Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Georgia Davies (59.35)
Chloe Tutton (1:07.25)
Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (57.61)
Georgia Coates (55.13)
3:59.34Q
914Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Michelle Coleman (1:01.13)
Jennie Johansson (1:06.62)
Sarah Sjöström (56.70)
Louise Hansson (55.00)
3:59.45
1016Flag of Japan.svg  Japan Natsumi Sakai (1:01.57)
Satomi Suzuki (1:07.40)
Rikako Ikee (56.73)
Miki Uchida (54.12)
3:59.82
1117Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Mimosa Jallow (1:01.03)
Jenna Laukkanen (1:06.49)
Emilia Pikkarainen (59.02)
Hanna-Maria Seppälä (55.07)
4:01.61
1227Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Jenny Mensing (1:01.27)
Vanessa Grimberg (1:07.99)
Alexandra Wenk (58.55)
Annika Bruhn (54.38)
4:02.19
1311Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Natalia de Luccas (1:01.93)
Jhennifer da Conceição (1:08.23)
Daynara de Paula (58.18)
Larissa Oliveira (54.49)
4:02.83
1418Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong Stephanie Au (1:01.55)
Yvette Kong (1:08.39)
Sze Hang Yu (59.54)
Camille Cheng (54.37)
4:03.85
21Flag of France.svg  France Béryl Gastaldello (1:00.60)
Fanny Deberghes (1:08.83)
Marie Wattel
Charlotte Bonnet
DSQ
28Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic Simona Baumrtová (1:01.27)
Martina Moravčíková
Lucie Svěcená
Barbora Seemanová
DSQ

Final

RankLaneNationSwimmersTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4Flag of the United States.svg  United States Kathleen Baker (59.00)
Lilly King (1:05.70)
Dana Vollmer (56.00)
Simone Manuel (52.43)
3:53.13
Silver medal icon.svg2Flag of Australia.svg  Australia Emily Seebohm (58.83)
Taylor McKeown (1:07.05)
Emma McKeon (56.95)
Cate Campbell (52.17)
3:55.00
Bronze medal icon.svg3Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Mie Nielsen (58.75)
Rikke Møller Pedersen (1:06.62)
Jeanette Ottesen (56.43)
Pernille Blume (53.21)
3:55.01 EU
47Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China Fu Yuanhui (59.53)
Shi Jinglin (1:06.00)
Lu Ying (56.49)
Zhu Menghui (53.16)
3:55.18
55Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Kylie Masse (58.77)
Rachel Nicol (1:06.81)
Penny Oleksiak (56.75)
Chantal van Landeghem (53.16)
3:55.49 NR
66Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Anastasia Fesikova (59.49)
Yulia Efimova (1:04.98)
Svetlana Chimrova (57.54)
Veronika Popova (53.65)
3:55.66 NR
78Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Georgia Davies (59.43)
Chloe Tutton (1:06.43)
Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (57.47)
Francesca Halsall (53.63)
3:56.96 NR
81Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Carlotta Zofkova (1:01.29)
Arianna Castiglioni (1:06.65)
Ilaria Bianchi (58.21)
Federica Pellegrini (53.35)
3:59.50

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