| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	29 July 2012
Status	Olympic
Location	London Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park, Stratford, London
Participants	71 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.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	France	FRA	3:13.38 (1 h1)	3:09.93 (1)	Gold
	Amaury Leveaux • Fabien Gilot • Clément Lefert • Yannick Agnel • Alain Bernard • Jérémy Stravius
2	United States	USA	3:12.59 (2 h2)	3:10.38 (2)	Silver
	Nathan Adrian • Michael Phelps • Cullen Jones • Ryan Lochte • Jimmy Feigen • Matt Grevers • Ricky Berens • Jason Lezak
3	Russian Federation	RUS	3:12.77 (3 h2)	3:11.41 (3)	Bronze
	Andrey Grechin • Nikita Lobintsev • Vladimir Morozov • Dan Izotov • Yevgeny Lagunov • Sergey Fesikov
4	Australia	AUS	3:12.29 (1 h2)	3:11.63 (4)
	James Magnussen • Matt Targett • Eamon Sullivan • James Roberts • Cameron McEvoy • Tommaso D'Orsogna
5	South Africa	RSA	3:13.93 (2 h1)	3:13.45 (5)
	Gideon Louw • Darian Townsend • Graeme Moore • Roland Schoeman
6	Germany	GER	3:13.51 (4 h2)	3:13.52 (6)
	Benjamin Starke • Markus Deibler • Christoph Fildebrandt • Marco di Carli
7	Italy	ITA	3:15.78 (3 h1)	3:14.13 (7)
	Luca Dotto • Marco Orsi • Michele Santucci • Filippo Magnini • Andrea Rolla
8	Belgium	BEL	3:13.89 (5 h2)	3:14.40 (8)
	Dieter Dekoninck • Jasper Aerents • Emmanuel Vanluchene • Pieter Timmers
9	Brazil	BRA	3:16.14 (4 h1)	–
	Nicolas Oliveira • Bruno Fratus • Nicholas Santos • Marcelo Chierighini
10	Canada	CAN	3:16.42 (5 h1)	–
	Brent Hayden • Colin Russell • Richard Hortness • Thomas Gossland
11	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:17.00 (6 h2)	–
	Lu Zhiwu • Zhang Enjian • He Jianbin • Shi Tengfei
12	Great Britain	GBR	3:17.08 (6 h1)	–
	Simon Burnett • Grant Turner • James Disney-May • Craig Gibbons
13	Serbia	SRB	3:18.79 (7 h2)	–
	Milorad Čavić • Velimir Stjepanović • Ivan Lenđer • Radovan Siljevski
14	Hungary	HUN	3:21.91 (8 h2)	–
	Péter Bernek • Gergő Kis • Gábor Balog • Krisztián Takács
15	Venezuela	VEN	3:22.68 (7 h1)	–
	Cristian Quintero • Octavio Alesi • Marcos Lavado • Crox Acuña

Round One

Date	29 July 2012 — 11:56
Format	Fastest eight teams advanced to final

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	Australia	AUS	3:12.29	Q
2	–	United States	USA	3:12.59	Q
3	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:12.77	Q
4	–	France	FRA	3:13.38	Q
5	–	Germany	GER	3:13.51	Q
6	–	Belgium	BEL	3:13.89	Q
7	–	South Africa	RSA	3:13.93	Q
8	–	Italy	ITA	3:15.78	Q
9	–	Brazil	BRA	3:16.14
10	–	Canada	CAN	3:16.42
11	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:17.00
12	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:17.08
13	–	Serbia	SRB	3:18.79
14	–	Hungary	HUN	3:21.91
15	–	Venezuela	VEN	3:22.68

Heat #1

Time	11:56

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	France	FRA	3:13.38	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Amaury Leveaux		–	0.75	23.76	48.61 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Alain Bernard		–	0.30	23.03	48.31 (=2)	1:36.92 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Clément Lefert		–	0.16	22.44	48.14 (2)	2:25.06 (1)
Anchor	–	Jérémy Stravius		–	0.37	23.09	48.32 (3)	– (–)
2	–	South Africa	RSA	3:13.93	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Roland Schoeman		–	0.61	23.13	49.00 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Darian Townsend		–	0.09	22.57	48.26 (1)	1:37.26 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Gideon Louw		–	0.17	22.44	47.92 (1)	2:25.18 (2)
Anchor	–	Graeme Moore		–	0.15	22.99	48.75 (4)	– (–)
3	–	Italy	ITA	3:15.78	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Luca Dotto		–	0.80	23.42	49.27 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Andrea Rolla		–	0.34	23.20	49.46 (6)	1:38.73 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Michele Santucci		–	0.13	23.52	48.85 (3)	2:27.58 (4)
Anchor	–	Filippo Magnini		–	0.12	23.05	48.20 (2)	– (–)
4	–	Brazil	BRA	3:16.14	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Nicolas Oliveira		–	0.68	23.71	49.31 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Bruno Fratus		–	0.21	23.08	48.98 (5)	1:38.29 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Nicholas Santos		–	0.07	23.19	49.68 (6)	2:27.97 (6)
Anchor	–	Marcelo Chierighini		–	0.18	23.03	48.17 (1)	– (–)
5	–	Canada	CAN	3:16.42	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Brent Hayden		–	0.67	23.34	48.42 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Colin Russell		–	0.10	23.19	48.67 (4)	1:37.09 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Richard Hortness		–	0.34	23.12	49.12 (5)	2:26.21 (3)
Anchor	–	Thomas Gossland		–	0.03	23.46	50.21 (6)	– (–)
6	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:17.08	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Simon Burnett		–	0.66	23.92	50.47 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Grant Turner		–	0.20	22.53	48.31 (=2)	1:38.78 (6)
3rd Leg	–	James Disney-May		–	0.10	22.76	48.99 (4)	2:27.77 (5)
Anchor	–	Craig Gibbons		–	0.05	23.19	49.31 (5)	– (–)
7	–	Venezuela	VEN	3:22.68	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Cristian Quintero		–	0.71	23.97	49.77 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Octavio Alesi		–	0.40	23.27	50.04 (7)	1:39.81 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Marcos Lavado		–	0.36	26.64	52.59 (7)	2:32.40 (7)
Anchor	–	Crox Acuña		–	0.21	23.74	50.28 (7)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	12:01

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Australia	AUS	3:12.29	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Cameron McEvoy		–	0.60	23.12	48.94 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	James Roberts		–	0.26	22.69	48.22 (3)	1:37.16 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Tommaso D'Orsogna		–	0.32	22.83	47.78 (1)	2:24.94 (2)
Anchor	–	James Magnussen		–	0.39	22.86	47.35 (1)	– (–)
2	–	United States	USA	3:12.59	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Jimmy Feigen		–	0.67	23.20	48.49 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Matt Grevers		–	0.23	22.07	47.54 (1)	1:36.03 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Ricky Berens		–	0.17	23.45	48.52 (3)	2:24.55 (1)
Anchor	–	Jason Lezak		–	0.33	23.05	48.04 (4)	– (–)
3	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:12.77	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Andrey Grechin		–	0.73	22.81	48.19 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Yevgeny Lagunov		–	0.23	22.82	48.34 (4)	1:36.53 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Sergey Fesikov		–	0.25	22.90	48.68 (5)	2:25.21 (3)
Anchor	–	Nikita Lobintsev		–	0.35	22.43	47.56 (2)	– (–)
4	–	Germany	GER	3:13.51	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Benjamin Starke		–	0.74	23.57	48.96 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Markus Deibler		–	0.35	22.42	47.99 (2)	1:36.95 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Christoph Fildebrandt		–	0.19	22.76	48.44 (2)	2:25.39 (4)
Anchor	–	Marco di Carli		–	0.31	22.71	48.12 (5)	– (–)
5	–	Belgium	BEL	3:13.89	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Dieter Dekoninck		–	0.64	23.42	48.79 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Jasper Aerents		–	0.25	22.99	48.58 (5)	1:37.37 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Emmanuel Vanluchene		–	0.27	23.04	48.55 (4)	2:25.92 (5)
Anchor	–	Pieter Timmers		–	0.20	22.85	47.97 (3)	– (–)
6	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:17.00	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Lu Zhiwu		–	0.66	23.77	48.92 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Zhang Enjian		–	0.18	23.35	49.57 (7)	1:38.49 (7)
3rd Leg	–	He Jianbin		–	0.15	23.58	49.67 (6)	2:28.16 (6)
Anchor	–	Shi Tengfei		–	0.20	22.63	48.84 (6)	– (–)
7	–	Serbia	SRB	3:18.79	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Milorad Čavić		–	0.70	23.29	48.61 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Velimir Stjepanović		–	0.28	23.27	49.13 (6)	1:37.74 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Ivan Lenđer		–	0.30	23.57	50.58 (7)	2:28.32 (7)
Anchor	–	Radovan Siljevski		–	0.34	23.87	50.47 (8)	– (–)
8	–	Hungary	HUN	3:21.91	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Péter Bernek		–	0.77	24.09	50.29 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Gergő Kis		–	0.17	23.57	50.68 (8)	1:40.97 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Gábor Balog		–	0.33	24.60	51.47 (8)	2:32.44 (8)
Anchor	–	Krisztián Takács		–	0.16	23.21	49.47 (7)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	29 July 2012 — 21:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	France	FRA	3:09.93	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Amaury Leveaux		–	0.73	23.43	48.13 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Fabien Gilot		–	0.21	22.53	47.67 (3)	1:35.80 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Clément Lefert		–	0.13	22.09	47.39 (1)	2:23.19 (2)
Anchor	–	Yannick Agnel		–	0.15	22.14	46.74 (1)	– (–)
2	–	United States	USA	3:10.38	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Nathan Adrian		–	0.65	22.76	47.89 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Michael Phelps		–	0.19	22.63	47.15 (1)	1:35.04 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Cullen Jones		–	0.28	22.07	47.60 (2)	2:22.64 (1)
Anchor	–	Ryan Lochte		–	0.11	22.39	47.74 (3)	– (–)
3	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:11.41	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Andrey Grechin		–	0.73	22.96	48.57 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Nikita Lobintsev		–	0.14	22.31	47.39 (2)	1:35.96 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Vladimir Morozov		–	0.32	22.75	47.85 (4)	2:23.81 (4)
Anchor	–	Dan Izotov		–	0.26	22.68	47.60 (2)	– (–)
4	–	Australia	AUS	3:11.63	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	James Magnussen		–	0.68	22.95	48.03 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Matt Targett		–	0.14	22.62	47.83 (4)	1:35.86 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Eamon Sullivan		–	0.14	22.26	47.68 (3)	2:23.54 (3)
Anchor	–	James Roberts		–	0.26	23.10	48.09 (5)	– (–)
5	–	South Africa	RSA	3:13.45	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Gideon Louw		–	0.73	22.92	48.48 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Darian Townsend		–	0.26	22.63	48.36 (7)	1:36.84 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Graeme Moore		–	0.13	22.45	48.34 (5)	2:25.18 (5)
Anchor	–	Roland Schoeman		–	0.10	22.68	48.27 (8)	– (–)
6	–	Germany	GER	3:13.52	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Benjamin Starke		–	0.72	23.48	49.03 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Markus Deibler		–	0.30	22.65	47.97 (5)	1:37.00 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Christoph Fildebrandt		–	0.28	23.16	48.45 (6)	2:25.45 (6)
Anchor	–	Marco di Carli		–	0.23	23.02	48.07 (4)	– (–)
7	–	Italy	ITA	3:14.13	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Luca Dotto		–	0.66	23.07	48.73 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Marco Orsi		–	0.12	22.88	48.42 (8)	1:37.15 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Michele Santucci		–	0.20	23.22	48.88 (8)	2:26.03 (7)
Anchor	–	Filippo Magnini		–	0.17	23.00	48.10 (6)	– (–)
8	–	Belgium	BEL	3:14.40	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Dieter Dekoninck		–	0.64	23.64	49.42 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Jasper Aerents		–	0.22	22.63	48.34 (6)	1:37.76 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Emmanuel Vanluchene		–	0.21	23.08	48.46 (7)	2:26.22 (8)
Anchor	–	Pieter Timmers		–	0.15	23.35	48.18 (7)	– (–)