1. Home
  2. Games
  3. 2012 Summer Olympics
  4. Swimming
  5. 4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men
|
| Event type

4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date29 July 2012
StatusOlympic
LocationLondon Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park, Stratford, London
Participants71 from 15 countries

At Beijing France had been expected to win gold but were beaten on the anchor leg by the United States’ team. The defeat stung and they did not forget it. In the final Nathan Adrian, who would later win the 100 free, gave the US the lead, swimming the only sub-48 second opener. Australia was second, which was disappointing as they opened with 2011 100 free World Champion James Magnussen. Australia would fall back and the race would be between the USA and France.

On the second leg Michael Phelps kept the US in the lead and Cullen Jones extended that on the third leg. The anchor swimmers were France’s Yannick Agnel and American Ryan Lochte. They had swim earlier in the night in the 200 free with Agnel winning and Lochte placing fourth. Lochte was definitely stronger but not well-known as a sprinter and the question was if he could hold off Agnel.

The answer was no. Agnel closed quickly and won gold for France in 3:09.93, with Lochte coming home in 3:10.38 for the silver medal. Russia won a surprising bronze medal as they finished just ahead of Australia. For Phelps it was his 17th Olympic medal ever, and his first in London, but it was his first ever Olympic silver medal, after 14 golds, and two bronzes.

PosCompetitorsNOCR1Final
1FranceFRA3:13.38 (1 h1)3:09.93 (1)Gold
Amaury Leveaux • Fabien Gilot • Clément Lefert • Yannick Agnel • Alain Bernard • Jérémy Stravius
2United StatesUSA3:12.59 (2 h2)3:10.38 (2)Silver
Nathan Adrian • Michael Phelps • Cullen Jones • Ryan Lochte • Jimmy Feigen • Matt Grevers • Ricky Berens • Jason Lezak
3Russian FederationRUS3:12.77 (3 h2)3:11.41 (3)Bronze
Andrey Grechin • Nikita Lobintsev • Vladimir Morozov • Dan Izotov • Yevgeny Lagunov • Sergey Fesikov
4AustraliaAUS3:12.29 (1 h2)3:11.63 (4)
James Magnussen • Matt Targett • Eamon Sullivan • James Roberts • Cameron McEvoy • Tommaso D'Orsogna
5South AfricaRSA3:13.93 (2 h1)3:13.45 (5)
Gideon Louw • Darian Townsend • Graeme Moore • Roland Schoeman
6GermanyGER3:13.51 (4 h2)3:13.52 (6)
Benjamin Starke • Markus Deibler • Christoph Fildebrandt • Marco di Carli
7ItalyITA3:15.78 (3 h1)3:14.13 (7)
Luca Dotto • Marco Orsi • Michele Santucci • Filippo Magnini • Andrea Rolla
8BelgiumBEL3:13.89 (5 h2)3:14.40 (8)
Dieter Dekoninck • Jasper Aerents • Emmanuel Vanluchene • Pieter Timmers
9BrazilBRA3:16.14 (4 h1)–
Nicolas Oliveira • Bruno Fratus • Nicholas Santos • Marcelo Chierighini
10CanadaCAN3:16.42 (5 h1)–
Brent Hayden • Colin Russell • Richard Hortness • Thomas Gossland
11People's Republic of ChinaCHN3:17.00 (6 h2)–
Lü Zhiwu • Zhang Enjian • He Jianbin • Shi Tengfei
12Great BritainGBR3:17.08 (6 h1)–
Simon Burnett • Grant Turner • James Disney-May • Craig Gibbons
13SerbiaSRB3:18.79 (7 h2)–
Milorad Čavić • Velimir Stjepanović • Ivan Lenđer • Radovan Siljevski
14HungaryHUN3:21.91 (8 h2)–
Péter Bernek • Gergő Kis • Gábor Balog • Krisztián Takács
15VenezuelaVEN3:22.68 (7 h1)–
Cristian Quintero • Octavio Alesi • Marcos Lavado • Crox Acuña

Round One

Date29 July 2012 — 11:56
FormatFastest 8 teams advanced to the final round.
PosLaneTeamNOCTime
14AustraliaAUS3:12.29Q
25United StatesUSA3:12.59Q
33Russian FederationRUS3:12.77Q
44FranceFRA3:13.38Q
56GermanyGER3:13.51Q
62BelgiumBEL3:13.89Q
73South AfricaRSA3:13.93Q
85ItalyITA3:15.78Q
92BrazilBRA3:16.14
107CanadaCAN3:16.42
111People's Republic of ChinaCHN3:17.00
126Great BritainGBR3:17.08
138SerbiaSRB3:18.79
147HungaryHUN3:21.91
151VenezuelaVEN3:22.68

Heat #1

Time11:56
PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTimeReaction Time50 m TimeSplitExchange
14FranceFRA3:13.38––– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-off–Amaury Leveaux –0.7523.7648.61 (2)– (–)
2nd Leg–Alain Bernard –0.3023.0348.31 (=2)1:36.92 (1)
3rd Leg–Clément Lefert –0.1622.4448.14 (2)2:25.06 (1)
Anchor–Jérémy Stravius –0.3723.0948.32 (3)– (–)
23South AfricaRSA3:13.93––– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-off–Roland Schoeman –0.6123.1349.00 (3)– (–)
2nd Leg–Darian Townsend –0.0922.5748.26 (1)1:37.26 (3)
3rd Leg–Gideon Louw –0.1722.4447.92 (1)2:25.18 (2)
Anchor–Graeme Moore –0.1522.9948.75 (4)– (–)
35ItalyITA3:15.78––– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-off–Luca Dotto –0.8023.4249.27 (4)– (–)
2nd Leg–Andrea Rolla –0.3423.2049.46 (6)1:38.73 (5)
3rd Leg–Michele Santucci –0.1323.5248.85 (3)2:27.58 (4)
Anchor–Filippo Magnini –0.1223.0548.20 (2)– (–)
42BrazilBRA3:16.14––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Nicolas Oliveira –0.6823.7149.31 (5)– (–)
2nd Leg–Bruno Fratus –0.2123.0848.98 (5)1:38.29 (4)
3rd Leg–Nicholas Santos –0.0723.1949.68 (6)2:27.97 (6)
Anchor–Marcelo Chierighini –0.1823.0348.17 (1)– (–)
57CanadaCAN3:16.42––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Brent Hayden –0.6723.3448.42 (1)– (–)
2nd Leg–Colin Russell –0.1023.1948.67 (4)1:37.09 (2)
3rd Leg–Richard Hortness –0.3423.1249.12 (5)2:26.21 (3)
Anchor–Thomas Gossland –0.0323.4650.21 (6)– (–)
66Great BritainGBR3:17.08––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Simon Burnett –0.6623.9250.47 (7)– (–)
2nd Leg–Grant Turner –0.2022.5348.31 (=2)1:38.78 (6)
3rd Leg–James Disney-May –0.1022.7648.99 (4)2:27.77 (5)
Anchor–Craig Gibbons –0.0523.1949.31 (5)– (–)
71VenezuelaVEN3:22.68––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Cristian Quintero –0.7123.9749.77 (6)– (–)
2nd Leg–Octavio Alesi –0.4023.2750.04 (7)1:39.81 (7)
3rd Leg–Marcos Lavado –0.3626.6452.59 (7)2:32.40 (7)
Anchor–Crox Acuña –0.2123.7450.28 (7)– (–)

Heat #2

Time12:01
PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTimeReaction Time50 m TimeSplitExchange
14AustraliaAUS3:12.29––– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-off–Cameron McEvoy –0.6023.1248.94 (6)– (–)
2nd Leg–James Roberts –0.2622.6948.22 (3)1:37.16 (4)
3rd Leg–Tommaso D'Orsogna –0.3222.8347.78 (1)2:24.94 (2)
Anchor–James Magnussen –0.3922.8647.35 (1)– (–)
25United StatesUSA3:12.59––– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-off–Jimmy Feigen –0.6723.2048.49 (2)– (–)
2nd Leg–Matt Grevers –0.2322.0747.54 (1)1:36.03 (1)
3rd Leg–Ricky Berens –0.1723.4548.52 (3)2:24.55 (1)
Anchor–Jason Lezak –0.3323.0548.04 (4)– (–)
33Russian FederationRUS3:12.77––– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-off–Andrey Grechin –0.7322.8148.19 (1)– (–)
2nd Leg–Yevgeny Lagunov –0.2322.8248.34 (4)1:36.53 (2)
3rd Leg–Sergey Fesikov –0.2522.9048.68 (5)2:25.21 (3)
Anchor–Nikita Lobintsev –0.3522.4347.56 (2)– (–)
46GermanyGER3:13.51––– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-off–Benjamin Starke –0.7423.5748.96 (7)– (–)
2nd Leg–Markus Deibler –0.3522.4247.99 (2)1:36.95 (3)
3rd Leg–Christoph Fildebrandt –0.1922.7648.44 (2)2:25.39 (4)
Anchor–Marco di Carli –0.3122.7148.12 (5)– (–)
52BelgiumBEL3:13.89––– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-off–Dieter Dekoninck –0.6423.4248.79 (4)– (–)
2nd Leg–Jasper Aerents –0.2522.9948.58 (5)1:37.37 (5)
3rd Leg–Emmanuel Vanluchene –0.2723.0448.55 (4)2:25.92 (5)
Anchor–Pieter Timmers –0.2022.8547.97 (3)– (–)
61People's Republic of ChinaCHN3:17.00––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Lü Zhiwu –0.6623.7748.92 (5)– (–)
2nd Leg–Zhang Enjian –0.1823.3549.57 (7)1:38.49 (7)
3rd Leg–He Jianbin –0.1523.5849.67 (6)2:28.16 (6)
Anchor–Shi Tengfei –0.2022.6348.84 (6)– (–)
78SerbiaSRB3:18.79––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Milorad Čavić –0.7023.2948.61 (3)– (–)
2nd Leg–Velimir Stjepanović –0.2823.2749.13 (6)1:37.74 (6)
3rd Leg–Ivan Lenđer –0.3023.5750.58 (7)2:28.32 (7)
Anchor–Radovan Siljevski –0.3423.8750.47 (8)– (–)
87HungaryHUN3:21.91––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Péter Bernek –0.7724.0950.29 (8)– (–)
2nd Leg–Gergő Kis –0.1723.5750.68 (8)1:40.97 (8)
3rd Leg–Gábor Balog –0.3324.6051.47 (8)2:32.44 (8)
Anchor–Krisztián Takács –0.1623.2149.47 (7)– (–)

Final Round

Date29 July 2012 — 21:00
PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTimeReaction Time50 m TimeSplitExchange
16FranceFRA3:09.93––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Amaury Leveaux –0.7323.4348.13 (3)– (–)
2nd Leg–Fabien Gilot –0.2122.5347.67 (3)1:35.80 (2)
3rd Leg–Clément Lefert –0.1322.0947.39 (1)2:23.19 (2)
Anchor–Yannick Agnel –0.1522.1446.74 (1)– (–)
25United StatesUSA3:10.38––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Nathan Adrian –0.6522.7647.89 (1)– (–)
2nd Leg–Michael Phelps –0.1922.6347.15 (1)1:35.04 (1)
3rd Leg–Cullen Jones –0.2822.0747.60 (2)2:22.64 (1)
Anchor–Ryan Lochte –0.1122.3947.74 (3)– (–)
33Russian FederationRUS3:11.41––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Andrey Grechin –0.7322.9648.57 (5)– (–)
2nd Leg–Nikita Lobintsev –0.1422.3147.39 (2)1:35.96 (4)
3rd Leg–Vladimir Morozov –0.3222.7547.85 (4)2:23.81 (4)
Anchor–Dan Izotov –0.2622.6847.60 (2)– (–)
44AustraliaAUS3:11.63––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–James Magnussen –0.6822.9548.03 (2)– (–)
2nd Leg–Matt Targett –0.1422.6247.83 (4)1:35.86 (3)
3rd Leg–Eamon Sullivan –0.1422.2647.68 (3)2:23.54 (3)
Anchor–James Roberts –0.2623.1048.09 (5)– (–)
51South AfricaRSA3:13.45––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Gideon Louw –0.7322.9248.48 (4)– (–)
2nd Leg–Darian Townsend –0.2622.6348.36 (7)1:36.84 (5)
3rd Leg–Graeme Moore –0.1322.4548.34 (5)2:25.18 (5)
Anchor–Roland Schoeman –0.1022.6848.27 (8)– (–)
62GermanyGER3:13.52––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Benjamin Starke –0.7223.4849.03 (7)– (–)
2nd Leg–Markus Deibler –0.3022.6547.97 (5)1:37.00 (6)
3rd Leg–Christoph Fildebrandt –0.2823.1648.45 (6)2:25.45 (6)
Anchor–Marco di Carli –0.2323.0248.07 (4)– (–)
78ItalyITA3:14.13––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Luca Dotto –0.6623.0748.73 (6)– (–)
2nd Leg–Marco Orsi –0.1222.8848.42 (8)1:37.15 (7)
3rd Leg–Michele Santucci –0.2023.2248.88 (8)2:26.03 (7)
Anchor–Filippo Magnini –0.1723.0048.10 (6)– (–)
87BelgiumBEL3:14.40––– (–)– (–)
Lead-off–Dieter Dekoninck –0.6423.6449.42 (8)– (–)
2nd Leg–Jasper Aerents –0.2222.6348.34 (6)1:37.76 (8)
3rd Leg–Emmanuel Vanluchene –0.2123.0848.46 (7)2:26.22 (8)
Anchor–Pieter Timmers –0.1523.3548.18 (7)– (–)