| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Medley Relay, Women

Date	30 July – 1 August 2021
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Aquatics Centre, 2-1, 2chome, Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tatsumi-no-Mori Seaside Park, Tokyo, Japan
Participants	79 from 16 countries

This was the final women’s event of the Tokyo 2020 swimming calendar. The favorites were Australia and the United States who had been the dominant nations in women’s swimming at Tokyo. Canada and China were also expected to contend for medals, those most likely bronze.

Australian Kaylee McKeown had won gold in both backstroke events in Tokyo and started off for the Aussies, but shockingly did not leave the water in first place, as she was touched out by Canada’s Kylie Masse, with the United States’ Regan Smith close behind.

The Americans took over on the second leg, as 100 metre breaststroke champion Lydia Jacoby had the fastest leg and took the lead. Emma McKeon, the 100 butterfly champion, swam the third leg for the Aussies, but American Torri Huske held her off, although the fastest butterfly leg was swum by Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil (55.27), followed by China’s Zhang Yufei (55.39).

The freestyle anchor legs were swum by Australia’s Cate Campbell, the United States’ Abbey Weitzeil, and Canada’s Penny Oleksiak. Weitzeil still led at the turn but could not hold off Campbell, who brought Australia home for the gold medal. Canada was one full second behind Australia in third while China was well-back in fourth.

For Emma McKeon this gave her seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics, matching the female Olympic best for a single Olympics set in 1952 at Helsinki by Soviet gymnast Mariya Gorokhovskaya. Kaylee McKeown also went home with four medals, three golds and a bronze in the mixed medley relay.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	Australia	AUS	3:55.39 (1 h1)	3:51.60 (1)	Gold
	Kaylee McKeown • Chelsea Hodges • Emma McKeon • Cate Campbell • Emily Seebohm • Brianna Throssell • Mollie O'Callaghan
2	United States	USA	3:55.18 (2 h2)	3:51.73 (2)	Silver
	Regan Smith • Lydia Jacoby • Torri Huske • Abbey Weitzeil • Rhyan White • Lilly King • Claire Curzan • Erika Brown
3	Canada	CAN	3:55.17 (1 h2)	3:52.60 (3)	Bronze
	Kylie Masse • Sydney Pickrem • Maggie Mac Neil • Penny Oleksiak • Taylor Ruck • Kayla Sanchez
4	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:57.70 (4 h1)	3:54.13 (4)
	Peng Xuwei • Tang Qianting • Zhang Yufei • Yang Junxuan • Chen Jie • Yu Yiting • Wu Qingfeng
5	Sweden	SWE	3:56.23 (3 h2)	3:54.27 (5)
	Michelle Coleman • Sophie Hansson • Louise Hansson • Sarah Sjöström
6	Italy	ITA	3:55.79 (2 h1)	3:56.68 (6)
	Margherita Panziera • Martina Carraro • Elena Di Liddo • Federica Pellegrini • Arianna Castiglioni
7	ROC	ROC	3:57.36 (4 h2)	3:56.93 (7)
	Mariya Kameneva • Yevgeniya Chikunova • Svetlana Chimrova • Arina Surkova • Anastasiya Fesikova • Yuliya Yefimova
8	Japan	JPN	3:57.17 (3 h1)	3:58.12 (8)
	Anna Konishi • Kanako Watanabe • Rikako Ikee • Chihiro Igarashi
9	Great Britain	GBR	3:58.12 (5 h1)	–
	Cassie Wild • Sarah Vasey • Harriet Jones • Freya Anderson
10	Netherlands	NED	3:59.89 (5 h2)	–
	Kira Toussaint • Tes Schouten • Maaike de Waard • Femke Heemskerk
11	Germany	GER	4:00.16 (6 h1)	–
	Laura Riedemann • Anna Elendt • Lisa Höpink • Annika Bruhn
12	Belarus	BLR	4:00.49 (6 h2)	–
	Anastasiya Shkurdai • Alina Zmushka • Anastasiya Kuliashova • Nastassia Karakouskaya
13	Hong Kong, China	HKG	4:02.86 (7 h2)	–
	Toto Wong • Jamie Yeung • Siobhán Haughey • Camille Lily Cheng
14	South Africa	RSA	4:03.02 (7 h1)	–
	Mariella Venter • Tatjana Schoenmaker • Erin Gallagher • Aimee Canny
15	Denmark	DEN	4:04.04 (8 h2)	–
	Karoline Sørensen • Clara Rybak-Andersen • Emilie Beckmann • Signe Bro
16	Spain	ESP	4:04.14 (8 h1)	–
	África Zamorano • Jessica Vall • Mireia Belmonte • Lidón Muñoz

Round One

Date	30 July 2021 — 20:57

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time
1	5	Canada	CAN	3:55.17	Q
2	4	United States	USA	3:55.18	Q
3	4	Australia	AUS	3:55.39	Q
4	3	Italy	ITA	3:55.79	Q
5	6	Sweden	SWE	3:56.23	Q
6	2	Japan	JPN	3:57.17	Q
7	3	ROC	ROC	3:57.36	Q
8	6	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:57.70	Q
9	5	Great Britain	GBR	3:58.12
10	2	Netherlands	NED	3:59.89
11	7	Germany	GER	4:00.16
12	7	Belarus	BLR	4:00.49
13	1	Hong Kong, China	HKG	4:02.86
14	1	South Africa	RSA	4:03.02
15	8	Denmark	DEN	4:04.04
16	8	Spain	ESP	4:04.14

Heat #1

Time	20:57

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	4	Australia	AUS	3:55.39	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Emily Seebohm		–	0.66	28.99	59.37 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Chelsea Hodges		–	0.45	30.57	1:06.16 (3)	2:05.53 (1)
Butterfly	–	Brianna Throssell		–	0.22	26.31	57.51 (3)	3:03.04 (2)
Freestyle	–	Mollie O'Callaghan		–	0.13	25.56	52.35 (1)	– (–)
2	3	Italy	ITA	3:55.79	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Margherita Panziera		–	0.67	29.32	1:00.55 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Arianna Castiglioni		–	0.10	30.77	1:05.26 (1)	2:05.81 (2)
Butterfly	–	Elena Di Liddo		–	0.14	26.33	56.74 (1)	3:02.55 (1)
Freestyle	–	Federica Pellegrini		–	0.10	25.55	53.24 (3)	– (–)
3	2	Japan	JPN	3:57.17	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Anna Konishi		–	0.56	29.06	59.75 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kanako Watanabe		–	0.23	30.84	1:06.34 (5)	2:06.09 (3)
Butterfly	–	Rikako Ikee		–	0.30	26.41	57.50 (2)	3:03.59 (3)
Freestyle	–	Chihiro Igarashi		–	0.07	25.37	53.58 (5)	– (–)
4	6	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:57.70	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Chen Jie		–	0.61	28.83	1:00.62 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Tang Qianting		–	0.27	30.10	1:05.73 (2)	2:06.35 (4)
Butterfly	–	Yu Yiting		–	0.54	26.90	57.84 (4)	3:04.19 (4)
Freestyle	–	Wu Qingfeng		–	0.37	25.50	53.51 (4)	– (–)
5	5	Great Britain	GBR	3:58.12	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Cassie Wild		–	0.62	29.02	1:01.10 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Sarah Vasey		–	0.25	30.67	1:06.49 (6)	2:07.59 (6)
Butterfly	–	Harriet Jones		–	0.16	26.39	57.95 (5)	3:05.54 (6)
Freestyle	–	Freya Anderson		–	-0.02	24.78	52.58 (2)	– (–)
6	7	Germany	GER	4:00.16	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Laura Riedemann		–	0.60	28.95	1:00.45 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Anna Elendt		–	0.12	30.92	1:06.17 (4)	2:06.62 (5)
Butterfly	–	Lisa Höpink		–	0.41	26.94	58.87 (6)	3:05.49 (5)
Freestyle	–	Annika Bruhn		–	0.38	26.09	54.67 (7)	– (–)
7	1	South Africa	RSA	4:03.02	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Mariella Venter		–	0.65	29.42	1:01.03 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Tatjana Schoenmaker		–	0.20	31.40	1:07.41 (8)	2:08.44 (7)
Butterfly	–	Erin Gallagher		–	0.07	26.84	59.76 (7)	3:08.20 (7)
Freestyle	–	Aimee Canny		–	0.41	26.22	54.82 (8)	– (–)
8	8	Spain	ESP	4:04.14	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	África Zamorano		–	0.53	29.93	1:01.78 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Jessica Vall		–	0.13	31.54	1:07.37 (7)	2:09.15 (8)
Butterfly	–	Mireia Belmonte		–	0.01	28.52	1:00.88 (8)	3:10.03 (8)
Freestyle	–	Lidón Muñoz		–	0.24	25.46	54.11 (6)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	21:03

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	5	Canada	CAN	3:55.17	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Taylor Ruck		–	0.63	28.61	59.64 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Sydney Pickrem		–	0.27	31.53	1:07.03 (4)	2:06.67 (4)
Butterfly	–	Maggie Mac Neil		–	0.13	25.77	55.82 (1)	3:02.49 (2)
Freestyle	–	Kayla Sanchez		–	0.08	25.32	52.68 (1)	– (–)
2	4	United States	USA	3:55.18	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Rhyan White		–	0.61	28.49	59.19 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Lilly King		–	0.26	30.17	1:05.51 (1)	2:04.70 (1)
Butterfly	–	Claire Curzan		–	0.56	26.20	57.65 (5)	3:02.35 (1)
Freestyle	–	Erika Brown		–	0.20	25.01	52.83 (2)	– (–)
3	6	Sweden	SWE	3:56.23	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Michelle Coleman		–	0.72	28.75	1:00.73 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Sophie Hansson		–	0.24	30.85	1:05.61 (2)	2:06.34 (2)
Butterfly	–	Louise Hansson		–	0.27	25.84	56.79 (2)	3:03.13 (3)
Freestyle	–	Sarah Sjöström		–	0.40	25.65	53.10 (4)	– (–)
4	3	ROC	ROC	3:57.36	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Anastasiya Fesikova		–	0.73	28.96	1:00.26 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Yuliya Yefimova		–	0.35	30.93	1:06.31 (3)	2:06.57 (3)
Butterfly	–	Svetlana Chimrova		–	0.27	26.31	56.95 (3)	3:03.52 (4)
Freestyle	–	Mariya Kameneva		–	0.12	25.51	53.84 (5)	– (–)
5	2	Netherlands	NED	3:59.89	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Kira Toussaint		–	0.52	28.36	58.99 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Tes Schouten		–	0.31	32.07	1:09.98 (8)	2:08.97 (6)
Butterfly	–	Maaike de Waard		–	0.22	25.96	58.01 (7)	3:06.98 (6)
Freestyle	–	Femke Heemskerk		–	0.22	25.11	52.91 (3)	– (–)
6	7	Belarus	BLR	4:00.49	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Anastasiya Shkurdai		–	0.64	29.41	1:00.64 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Alina Zmushka		–	0.15	30.91	1:07.25 (5)	2:07.89 (5)
Butterfly	–	Anastasiya Kuliashova		–	0.14	26.28	57.37 (4)	3:05.26 (5)
Freestyle	–	Nastassia Karakouskaya		–	0.36	26.22	55.23 (8)	– (–)
7	1	Hong Kong, China	HKG	4:02.86	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Toto Wong		–	0.56	29.17	1:01.61 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Jamie Yeung		–	0.17	31.85	1:08.69 (7)	2:10.30 (7)
Butterfly	–	Siobhán Haughey		–	0.29	26.43	57.67 (6)	3:07.97 (7)
Freestyle	–	Camille Lily Cheng		–	0.06	25.78	54.89 (7)	– (–)
8	8	Denmark	DEN	4:04.04	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Karoline Sørensen		–	0.61	30.29	1:02.53 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Clara Rybak-Andersen		–	0.24	31.81	1:08.09 (6)	2:10.62 (8)
Butterfly	–	Emilie Beckmann		–	0.34	27.13	58.99 (8)	3:09.61 (8)
Freestyle	–	Signe Bro		–	0.27	26.09	54.43 (6)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	1 August 2021 — 11:15

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	3	Australia	AUS	3:51.60	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	OR
Backstroke	–	Kaylee McKeown		–	0.56	28.57	58.01 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Chelsea Hodges		–	0.20	30.58	1:05.57 (2)	2:03.58 (2)
Butterfly	–	Emma McKeon		–	0.25	25.86	55.91 (3)	2:59.49 (2)
Freestyle	–	Cate Campbell		–	0.04	24.78	52.11 (1)	– (–)
2	5	United States	USA	3:51.73	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Regan Smith		–	0.60	28.44	58.05 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Lydia Jacoby		–	0.40	30.48	1:05.03 (1)	2:03.08 (1)
Butterfly	–	Torri Huske		–	0.27	25.42	56.16 (5)	2:59.24 (1)
Freestyle	–	Abbey Weitzeil		–	0.38	24.91	52.49 (3)	– (–)
3	4	Canada	CAN	3:52.60	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Kylie Masse		–	0.52	27.92	57.90 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Sydney Pickrem		–	0.25	31.57	1:07.17 (8)	2:05.07 (3)
Butterfly	–	Maggie Mac Neil		–	0.27	25.58	55.27 (1)	3:00.34 (3)
Freestyle	–	Penny Oleksiak		–	0.14	25.06	52.26 (2)	– (–)
4	8	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:54.13	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Peng Xuwei		–	0.60	28.99	59.63 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Tang Qianting		–	0.35	30.74	1:06.09 (6)	2:05.72 (5)
Butterfly	–	Zhang Yufei		–	0.46	25.48	55.39 (2)	3:01.11 (4)
Freestyle	–	Yang Junxuan		–	0.24	25.37	53.02 (5)	– (–)
5	2	Sweden	SWE	3:54.27	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Michelle Coleman		–	0.74	28.64	59.75 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Sophie Hansson		–	0.25	30.71	1:05.67 (3)	2:05.42 (4)
Butterfly	–	Louise Hansson		–	0.30	25.86	56.12 (4)	3:01.54 (5)
Freestyle	–	Sarah Sjöström		–	0.39	25.27	52.73 (4)	– (–)
6	6	Italy	ITA	3:56.68	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Margherita Panziera		–	0.67	29.29	1:00.03 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Martina Carraro		–	0.33	30.31	1:05.88 (4)	2:05.91 (6)
Butterfly	–	Elena Di Liddo		–	0.34	26.63	56.96 (7)	3:02.87 (7)
Freestyle	–	Federica Pellegrini		–	0.20	25.76	53.81 (7)	– (–)
7	1	ROC	ROC	3:56.93	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Mariya Kameneva		–	0.62	29.26	59.95 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Yevgeniya Chikunova		–	0.26	31.20	1:05.99 (5)	2:05.94 (7)
Butterfly	–	Svetlana Chimrova		–	0.27	26.21	56.70 (6)	3:02.64 (6)
Freestyle	–	Arina Surkova		–	0.27	25.37	54.29 (8)	– (–)
8	7	Japan	JPN	3:58.12	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Anna Konishi		–	0.53	29.32	59.92 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kanako Watanabe		–	0.23	31.35	1:06.61 (7)	2:06.53 (8)
Butterfly	–	Rikako Ikee		–	0.25	26.81	57.92 (8)	3:04.45 (8)
Freestyle	–	Chihiro Igarashi		–	0.16	25.63	53.67 (6)	– (–)