| Event: | Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay |
| Games: | 2004 Summer |
| Venue: | Olympic Aquatic Centre |
| Dates: | August 14, 2004 (heats & final) |
| Competitors: | 72 |
| Nations: | 16 |
| Win Value: | 3:35.96 |
| Gold: | Alice Mills, Lisbeth Lenton, Petria Thomas, Jodie Henry, Sarah Ryan* |
| Silver: | Kara Lynn Joyce, Natalie Coughlin, Amanda Weir, Jenny Thompson, Lindsay Benko*, Maritza Correia*, Colleen Lanne* |
| Bronze: | Chantal Groot, Inge Dekker, Marleen Veldhuis, Inge de Bruijn, Annabel Kosten* *Indicates the swimmer only competed in the preliminary heats. |
| Prev: | 2000 |
| Next: | 2008 |
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.[1]
For the first time in 48 years, Australia (Alice Mills, Lisbeth Lenton, Petria Thomas, and Jodie Henry) won the gold medal in the event, overhauling Team USA on the final leg. When Henry touched the wall at 3:35.94, the Australians broke a new world record under a 0.06-second mark set by the Germans in 2002 (3:36.00). Henry also unleashed a remarkable relay split of 52.95, the fastest of all-time in Olympic history.[2] [3] [4]
The U.S. team of Kara Lynn Joyce, Natalie Coughlin, Amanda Weir, and Jenny Thompson finished out an American record of 3:36.39 to earn a silver medal, while the Dutch took home the bronze in 3:37.59, after Inge de Bruijn swam a split of 53.37 to hold off the Germans anchored by Franziska van Almsick.[2] [5]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time behind | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Alice Mills (54.75) Lisbeth Lenton (53.57) Petria Thomas (54.67) Jodie Henry (52.95) | 3:35.94 | |||||
| 5 | Kara Lynn Joyce (54.74) Natalie Coughlin (53.83) Amanda Weir (54.05) Jenny Thompson (53.77) | 3:36.39 | 0.45 | AM | |||
| 3 | Chantal Groot (55.45) Inge Dekker (54.66) Marleen Veldhuis (54.11) Inge de Bruijn (53.37) | 3:37.59 | 1.65 | ||||
| 4 | 6 | Antje Buschschulte (54.67) Petra Dallmann (54.79) Daniela Götz (53.99) Franziska van Almsick (54.49) | 3:37.94 | 2.00 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Solenne Figuès (55.36) Céline Couderc (55.20) Aurore Mongel (55.72) Malia Metella (53.95) | 3:40.23 | 4.29 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Melanie Marshall (55.42) Kathryn Evans (54.33) Karen Pickering (55.58) Lisa Chapman (55.49) | 3:40.82 | 4.88 | |||
| 7 | 2 | Josefin Lillhage (55.77) Johanna Sjöberg (55.90) Therese Alshammar (54.18) Anna-Karin Kammerling (55.37) | 3:41.22 | 5.28 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Cheng Jiaru (56.20) Xu Yanwei (55.19) Yang Yu (56.08) Zhu Yingwen (55.43) | 3:42.90 | 6.96 |