| | Event type

4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Women

Date	28 – 29 July 2021
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Aquatics Centre, 2-1, 2chome, Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tatsumi-no-Mori Seaside Park, Tokyo, Japan
Participants	72 from 15 countries

The longer free relay was expected to be a three-way battle between Australia, China, and the United States. Contested at the Olympics since 1996, the USA had won five of the previous six gold medals, with Australia winning in 2008. At the World Championships, the United States had won 8 of the 10 4 x 200 gold medals since 2001, with China triumphing in 2009 and Australia in 2019.

All three qualified easily as Australia cruised in the preliminary round, winning by almost three seconds over the USA with China third. Australia would use an entirely new squad in the final, while the United States subbed in two swimmers and China one.

The biggest surprise of the event happened on the first leg as Yang Junxuan came home in the lead over Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, who had won the 200 free the day before, in which Yang finished only fourth. China was never headed, maintaining the lead after every leg, with Li Bingjie coming home for the gold medal.

Australia was second after three legs, but Leah Neale could not hold off Katie Ledecky on the anchor as Ledecky swam the fastest leg of the competition in 1:53.76 to get the United States the silver medal.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	People's Republic of China	CHN	7:48.98 (2 h1)	7:40.33 (1)	Gold
	Yang Junxuan • Tang Muhan • Zhang Yufei • Li Bingjie • Zhang Yifan • Dong Jie
2	United States	USA	7:47.57 (1 h1)	7:40.73 (2)	Silver
	Allison Schmitt • Paige Madden • Katie McLaughlin • Katie Ledecky • Bella Sims • Brooke Forde
3	Australia	AUS	7:44.61 (1 h2)	7:41.29 (3)	Bronze
	Ariarne Titmus • Emma McKeon • Madi Wilson • Leah Neale • Mollie O'Callaghan • Meg Harris • Brianna Throssell • Tamsin Cook
4	Canada	CAN	7:51.52 (2 h2)	7:43.77 (4)
	Summer McIntosh • Rebecca Smith • Kayla Sanchez • Penny Oleksiak • Katerine Savard • Mary-Sophie Harvey • Sydney Pickrem
5	ROC	ROC	7:52.04 (3 h2)	7:52.15 (5)
	Anna Yegorova • Valeriya Salamatina • Veronika Andrusenko • Anastasiya Guzhenkova
6	Germany	GER	7:52.06 (3 h1)	7:53.89 (6)
	Isabel Gose • Leonie Kullmann • Marie Pietruschka • Annika Bruhn
7	Hungary	HUN	7:56.16 (4 h2)	7:56.62 (7)
	Zsu Jakabos • Laura Veres • Ajna Késely • Boglárka Kapás • Evelyn Verrasztó
8	France	FRA	7:55.05 (4 h1)	7:58.15 (8)
	Charlotte Bonnet • Assia Touati • Lucile Tessariol • Margaux Fabre
9	Japan	JPN	7:58.39 (5 h1)	–
	Chihiro Igarashi • Rio Shirai • Nagisa Ikemoto • Aoi Masuda
10	Brazil	BRA	7:59.50 (5 h2)	–
	Aline Rodrigues • Larissa Oliveira • Naná Almeida • Gabi Roncatto
11	South Africa	RSA	8:01.56 (6 h1)	–
	Aimee Canny • Rebecca Meder • Duné Coetzee • Erin Gallagher
12	New Zealand	NZL	8:06.16 (6 h2)	–
	Erika Fairweather • Carina Doyle • Eve Thomas • Ali Galyer
13	Turkey	TUR	8:10.96 (7 h1)	–
	Viktoria Zeynep Güneş • Beril Böcekler • Deniz Ertan • Merve Tuncel
14	Republic of Korea	KOR	8:11.16 (8 h1)	–
	Jeong Hyeon-Yeong • Kim Seo-Yeong • Han Da-Gyeong • An Se-Hyeon
DQ	Italy	ITA	– (DQ h2)	–
	Stefania Pirozzi • Anna Chiara Mascolo • Giulia Vetrano • Federica Pellegrini
DNS	Hong Kong, China	HKG	– (DNS h2)	–

Round One

Date	28 July 2021 — 20:17

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time
1	–	Australia	AUS	7:44.61	Q
2	–	United States	USA	7:47.57	Q
3	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	7:48.98	Q
4	–	Canada	CAN	7:51.52	Q
5	–	ROC	ROC	7:52.04	Q
6	–	Germany	GER	7:52.06	Q
7	–	France	FRA	7:55.05	Q
8	–	Hungary	HUN	7:56.16	Q
9	–	Japan	JPN	7:58.39
10	–	Brazil	BRA	7:59.50
11	–	South Africa	RSA	8:01.56
12	–	New Zealand	NZL	8:06.16
13	–	Turkey	TUR	8:10.96
14	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	8:11.16
DQ	–	Italy	ITA	–
DNS	–	Hong Kong, China	HKG	–

Heat #1

Time	20:17

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	100 m Time	150 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	7:47.57	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Bella Sims		–	0.59	27.56	57.35	1:28.05	1:58.59 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Paige Madden		–	0.34	27.01	55.94	1:25.60	1:55.96 (1)	3:54.55 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Katie McLaughlin		–	0.30	26.45	55.68	1:25.66	1:56.02 (1)	5:50.57 (1)
Anchor	–	Brooke Forde		–	0.30	27.52	56.73	1:26.75	1:57.00 (2)	– (–)
2	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	7:48.98	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Tang Muhan		–	0.74	27.13	56.68	1:26.86	1:57.29 (=1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Zhang Yifan		–	0.32	26.60	56.43	1:27.17	1:57.63 (2)	3:54.92 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Dong Jie		–	0.50	27.15	56.52	1:26.74	1:57.77 (2)	5:52.69 (4)
Anchor	–	Li Bingjie		–	0.36	26.92	56.65	1:26.76	1:56.29 (1)	– (–)
3	–	Germany	GER	7:52.06	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Isabel Gose		–	0.74	27.59	57.13	1:27.33	1:57.29 (=1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Leonie Kullmann		–	0.20	27.59	57.19	1:27.69	1:59.00 (4)	3:56.29 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Marie Pietruschka		–	0.19	27.65	58.03	1:28.45	1:58.73 (3)	5:55.02 (2)
Anchor	–	Annika Bruhn		–	0.24	26.58	55.71	1:26.14	1:57.04 (3)	– (–)
4	–	France	FRA	7:55.05	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Charlotte Bonnet		–	0.70	27.42	57.46	1:27.81	1:57.61 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Assia Touati		–	0.23	27.46	57.68	1:28.27	1:58.59 (3)	3:56.20 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Lucile Tessariol		–	0.31	27.93	58.38	1:28.79	1:59.39 (4)	5:55.59 (3)
Anchor	–	Margaux Fabre		–	0.21	27.07	57.07	1:28.21	1:59.46 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Japan	JPN	7:58.39	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Chihiro Igarashi		–	0.59	27.52	57.66	1:28.17	1:57.87 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Rio Shirai		–	0.29	27.45	58.18	1:29.10	1:59.94 (5)	3:57.81 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Nagisa Ikemoto		–	0.08	26.88	57.15	1:28.43	2:00.25 (6)	5:58.06 (5)
Anchor	–	Aoi Masuda		–	0.07	27.06	57.22	1:28.56	2:00.33 (5)	– (–)
6	–	South Africa	RSA	8:01.56	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Aimee Canny		–	0.76	27.66	57.40	1:27.38	1:58.41 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Rebecca Meder		–	0.34	27.35	57.76	1:28.84	2:00.53 (7)	3:58.94 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Duné Coetzee		–	0.30	27.32	57.59	1:28.46	1:59.75 (5)	5:58.69 (6)
Anchor	–	Erin Gallagher		–	0.30	27.16	57.85	1:29.78	2:02.87 (7)	– (–)
7	–	Turkey	TUR	8:10.96	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Viktoria Zeynep Güneş		–	0.74	28.37	59.39	1:31.71	2:04.42 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Beril Böcekler		–	0.15	28.33	59.31	1:30.91	2:02.03 (8)	4:06.45 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Deniz Ertan		–	0.24	28.48	1:00.20	1:32.34	2:04.15 (7)	6:10.60 (8)
Anchor	–	Merve Tuncel		–	0.18	28.54	59.54	1:30.43	2:00.36 (6)	– (–)
8	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	8:11.16	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Jeong Hyeon-Yeong		–	0.66	28.09	58.78	1:30.08	2:01.27 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Kim Seo-Yeong		–	0.39	27.69	58.08	1:28.87	1:59.98 (6)	4:01.25 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Han Da-Gyeong		–	0.44	28.21	59.50	1:32.01	2:04.38 (8)	6:05.63 (7)
Anchor	–	An Se-Hyeon		–	0.30	28.67	1:00.60	1:33.35	2:05.53 (8)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	20:27

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	100 m Time	150 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Australia	AUS	7:44.61	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Mollie O'Callaghan		–	0.70	27.25	56.94	1:26.70	1:55.11 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Meg Harris		–	0.38	25.87	55.03	1:25.70	1:57.01 (2)	3:52.12 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Brianna Throssell		–	0.34	26.11	55.61	1:25.91	1:56.46 (1)	5:48.58 (1)
Anchor	–	Tamsin Cook		–	0.16	26.77	56.14	1:26.08	1:56.03 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Canada	CAN	7:51.52	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Katerine Savard		–	0.66	27.38	57.31	1:27.28	1:58.18 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Rebecca Smith		–	0.41	26.59	55.93	1:25.87	1:55.99 (1)	3:54.17 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Mary-Sophie Harvey		–	0.36	26.65	56.28	1:26.66	1:57.53 (2)	5:51.70 (2)
Anchor	–	Sydney Pickrem		–	0.03	27.27	57.86	1:29.54	1:59.82 (5)	– (–)
3	–	ROC	ROC	7:52.04	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Anastasiya Guzhenkova		–	0.78	27.73	57.45	1:27.36	1:57.26 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Valeriya Salamatina		–	0.25	27.70	57.84	1:28.78	1:58.87 (4)	3:56.13 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Veronika Popova-Andrusenko		–	0.19	27.34	57.13	1:27.81	1:57.77 (3)	5:53.90 (3)
Anchor	–	Anna Yegorova		–	0.30	27.24	57.24	1:27.56	1:58.14 (2)	– (–)
4	–	Hungary	HUN	7:56.16	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Zsu Jakabos		–	0.73	28.18	58.47	1:28.78	1:59.19 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Laura Veres		–	0.31	27.17	56.74	1:27.11	1:57.88 (3)	3:57.07 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Evelyn Verrasztó		–	0.33	27.94	58.62	1:29.56	2:00.35 (5)	5:57.42 (4)
Anchor	–	Ajna Késely		–	0.24	26.79	56.52	1:27.17	1:58.74 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Brazil	BRA	7:59.50	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Aline Rodrigues		–	0.66	28.04	57.99	1:29.13	2:00.15 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Larissa Oliveira		–	0.32	27.29	57.28	1:28.93	2:01.50 (5)	4:01.65 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Naná Almeida		–	0.34	27.62	57.44	1:28.39	1:59.18 (4)	6:00.83 (6)
Anchor	–	Gabi Roncatto		–	0.51	27.53	57.71	1:28.31	1:58.67 (3)	– (–)
6	–	New Zealand	NZL	8:06.16	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Erika Fairweather		–	0.71	27.30	56.97	1:27.34	1:57.38 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Carina Doyle		–	0.25	28.01	59.13	1:30.57	2:02.18 (6)	3:59.56 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Eve Thomas		–	0.04	28.64	59.87	1:30.62	2:00.75 (6)	6:00.31 (5)
Anchor	–	Ali Galyer		–	0.12	28.44	1:00.45	1:33.23	2:05.85 (6)	– (–)
DQ	–	Italy	ITA	–	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Stefania Pirozzi		–	[0.68]	[28.16]	[58.36]	[1:29.74]	[2:01.64] ([7])	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Anna Chiara Mascolo		–	[-0.05]	[27.09]	[57.86]	[1:29.20]	– (–)	[4:01.45] ([6])
3rd Leg	–	Giulia Vetrano		–	–	[27.97]	[58.72]	[1:29.86]	– (–)	[6:02.36] ([−])
Anchor	–	Federica Pellegrini		–	–	[26.86]	[56.53]	[1:26.76]	[1:56.81] (–)	– (–)
DNS	–	Hong Kong, China	HKG	–	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	29 July 2021 — 12:31

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	100 m Time	150 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	7:40.33	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Lead-off	–	Yang Junxuan		–	0.65	26.99	56.02	1:25.15	1:54.37 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Tang Muhan		–	0.33	26.88	56.81	1:26.33	1:55.00 (1)	3:49.37 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Zhang Yufei		–	0.48	26.81	56.74	1:27.03	1:55.66 (4)	5:45.03 (1)
Anchor	–	Li Bingjie		–	0.28	26.73	56.23	1:25.68	1:55.30 (3)	– (–)
2	–	United States	USA	7:40.73	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Allison Schmitt		–	0.71	27.70	56.70	1:26.21	1:56.34 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Paige Madden		–	0.31	27.00	56.17	1:25.57	1:55.25 (2)	3:51.59 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Katie McLaughlin		–	0.36	26.81	56.12	1:25.84	1:55.38 (1)	5:46.97 (3)
Anchor	–	Katie Ledecky		–	0.23	26.30	55.00	1:24.40	1:53.76 (1)	– (–)
3	–	Australia	AUS	7:41.29	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Ariarne Titmus		–	0.72	27.05	56.18	1:25.65	1:54.51 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Emma McKeon		–	0.36	26.62	56.20	1:25.83	1:55.31 (3)	3:49.82 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Madi Wilson		–	0.28	26.48	56.09	1:25.80	1:55.62 (3)	5:45.44 (2)
Anchor	–	Leah Neale		–	0.19	26.71	56.36	1:26.31	1:55.85 (4)	– (–)
4	–	Canada	CAN	7:43.77	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Summer McIntosh		–	0.78	27.05	56.10	1:25.86	1:55.74 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Rebecca Smith		–	0.32	26.90	56.41	1:26.85	1:57.30 (4)	3:53.04 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Kayla Sanchez		–	0.17	26.63	55.49	1:25.41	1:55.59 (2)	5:48.63 (4)
Anchor	–	Penny Oleksiak		–	0.23	25.67	54.62	1:24.64	1:55.14 (2)	– (–)
5	–	ROC	ROC	7:52.15	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Anna Yegorova		–	0.68	28.00	58.11	1:28.20	1:58.22 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Valeriya Salamatina		–	0.27	27.41	57.43	1:27.95	1:58.31 (5)	3:56.53 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Veronika Popova-Andrusenko		–	0.16	27.48	57.72	1:28.17	1:58.17 (6)	5:54.70 (5)
Anchor	–	Anastasiya Guzhenkova		–	0.18	26.90	56.81	1:27.09	1:57.45 (5)	– (–)
6	–	Germany	GER	7:53.89	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Isabel Gose		–	0.75	27.78	57.34	1:27.81	1:58.63 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Leonie Kullmann		–	0.08	27.95	57.94	1:28.61	1:59.19 (7)	3:57.82 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Marie Pietruschka		–	0.31	26.99	57.13	1:27.60	1:58.36 (7)	5:56.18 (6)
Anchor	–	Annika Bruhn		–	0.35	27.14	56.60	1:27.15	1:57.71 (6)	– (–)
7	–	Hungary	HUN	7:56.62	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Zsu Jakabos		–	0.72	28.12	58.17	1:28.52	1:58.61 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Laura Veres		–	0.28	27.63	57.93	1:29.05	1:59.71 (8)	3:58.32 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Ajna Késely		–	0.19	27.24	56.86	1:27.43	1:58.14 (5)	5:56.46 (7)
Anchor	–	Boglárka Kapás		–	0.30	27.81	58.09	1:29.37	2:00.16 (7)	– (–)
8	–	France	FRA	7:58.15	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Charlotte Bonnet		–	0.70	27.68	57.57	1:28.23	1:58.08 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Assia Touati		–	0.30	27.42	57.51	1:28.34	1:58.82 (6)	3:56.90 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Lucile Tessariol		–	0.26	27.65	58.32	1:29.37	2:00.86 (8)	5:57.76 (8)
Anchor	–	Margaux Fabre		–	0.33	27.80	58.15	1:29.71	2:00.39 (8)	– (–)