| | Event type
4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women
| Date | 30 July – 1 August 1952 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Helsingin Uimastadion, Helsinki |
| Participants | 53 from 13 countries |
Hungary had broken the Danish team’s long standing world record earlier in 1952 although this record would not be ratified until after the Olympics. The Hungarians lived up to their status as favourites by dominating their opponents. The three members who raced in the individual event actually improved their times for the relay and the Hungarians finished well clear and three seconds inside their own world record. The silver medal went to Holland which finished ahead of the USA.
Round One (30 July 1952 — 10:00)
Fastest eight advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Hungary |  HUN | 4:32.5 | |||||
| Mária Littomeritzky | – | 1:09.1 | 1:09.1 (1) | ||||||
| Éva Novák | – | 1:06.2 | 2:15.3 (1) | ||||||
| Ilona Novák | – | 1:08.5 | 3:23.8 (1) | ||||||
| Katalin Szőke | – | 1:08.7 | 4:32.5 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | Great Britain |  GBR | 4:36.0 | |||||
| Margaret Linton | – | 1:09.5 | 1:09.5 (2) | ||||||
| Jean Botham | – | 1:09.0 | 2:18.5 (2) | ||||||
| Angela Barnwell | – | 1:08.3 | 3:26.8 (2) | ||||||
| Lillian Preece | – | 1:09.2 | 4:36.0 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 4 | Denmark |  DEN | 4:36.4 | |||||
| Rita Larsen | – | 1:11.0 | 1:11.0 (3) | ||||||
| Mette Ove Petersen | – | 1:09.1 | 2:20.1 (3) | ||||||
| Greta Andersen | – | 1:10.1 | 3:30.2 (3) | ||||||
| Ragnhild Hveger | – | 1:06.2 | 4:36.4 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 3 | Unified Team of Germany |  GER | 4:42.7 | |||||
| Wera Schäferkordt | – | 1:12.1 | 1:12.1 (4) | ||||||
| Kati Jansen | – | 1:12.6 | 2:24.7 (4) | ||||||
| Elisabeth Rechlin | – | 1:08.8 | 3:33.5 (4) | ||||||
| Gisela Jacob-Arendt | – | 1:09.2 | 4:42.7 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 6 | Italy |  ITA | 4:52.6 | |||||
| Maria Nardi | – | 1:14.0 | 1:14.0 (5) | ||||||
| Fides Benini | – | 1:11.2 | 2:25.2 (5) | ||||||
| Eva Belaise | – | 1:15.2 | 3:40.4 (5) | ||||||
| Romana Calligaris | – | 1:12.2 | 4:52.6 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | 1 | Japan |  JPN | 4:54.0 | |||||
| Yasuko Oishi | – | 1:14.1 | 1:14.1 (6) | ||||||
| Fumiko Sakaguchi | – | 1:13.8 | 2:27.9 (6) | ||||||
| Misako Tamura | – | 1:13.7 | 3:41.6 (6) | ||||||
| Sadako Yamashita | – | 1:12.4 | 4:54.0 (6) |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | United States |  USA | 4:28.1 | |||||
| Evelyn Kawamoto | – | 1:08.3 | 1:08.3 (2) | ||||||
| Jackie LaVine | – | 1:06.7 | 2:15.0 (1) | ||||||
| Marilee Stepan | – | 1:07.0 | 3:22.0 (1) | ||||||
| Jody Alderson | – | 1:06.1 | 4:28.1 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 1 | Netherlands |  NED | 4:30.6 | |||||
| Marie-Louise Linssen-Vaessen | – | 1:07.5 | 1:07.5 (1) | ||||||
| Koosje van Voorn | – | 1:08.3 | 2:15.8 (2) | ||||||
| Hannie Termeulen | – | 1:07.2 | 3:23.0 (2) | ||||||
| Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher | – | 1:07.6 | 4:30.6 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | Sweden |  SWE | 4:38.1 | |||||
| Marianne Lundquist | – | 1:10.3 | 1:10.3 (4) | ||||||
| Anita Andersson | – | 1:10.6 | 2:20.9 (4) | ||||||
| Maud Berglund | – | 1:09.7 | 3:30.6 (3) | ||||||
| Ingegärd Fredin | – | 1:07.5 | 4:38.1 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 5 | France |  FRA | 4:42.0 | |||||
| Josette Arène | – | 1:08.6 | 1:08.6 (3) | ||||||
| Maryse Morandini | – | 1:11.9 | 2:20.5 (3) | ||||||
| Gaby Tanguy | – | 1:11.2 | 3:31.7 (4) | ||||||
| Ginette Jany | – | 1:10.3 | 4:42.0 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 4 | Canada |  CAN | 4:54.8 | |||||
| Irene Strong | – | 1:14.2 | 1:14.2 (7) | ||||||
| Lenora Fisher | – | 1:17.3 | 2:31.5 (7) | ||||||
| Gladys Priestley | – | 1:11.8 | 3:43.3 (6) | ||||||
| Kay McNamee | – | 1:11.5 | 4:54.8 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | Belgium |  BEL | 4:54.8 | |||||
| Nicole Guilini | – | 1:13.6 | 1:13.6 (=5) | ||||||
| Huguette Peeters | – | 1:15.2 | 2:28.8 (5) | ||||||
| Irène Possemiers | – | 1:12.8 | 3:41.6 (5) | ||||||
| Sybille Verckist | – | 1:13.2 | 4:54.8 (5) | ||||||
| 7 | 2 | Finland |  FIN | 4:56.0 | |||||
| Raili Riuttala | – | 1:13.6 | 1:13.6 (=5) | ||||||
| Ritva Koivula | – | 1:16.5 | 2:30.1 (6) | ||||||
| Anneli Haaranen | – | 1:15.1 | 3:45.2 (7) | ||||||
| Ritva Järvinen | – | 1:10.8 | 4:56.0 (7) |
Final (1 August 1952 — 17:00)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Hungary | HUN | 4:24.4 | |||||
| Ilona Novák | – | 1:07.8 | 1:07.8 (1) | ||||||
| Judit Temes | – | 1:05.8 | 2:13.6 (1) | ||||||
| Éva Novák | – | 1:05.1 | 3:18.7 (1) | ||||||
| Katalin Szőke | – | 1:05.7 | 4:24.4 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | – | Netherlands | NED | 4:29.0 | |||||
| Marie-Louise Linssen-Vaessen | – | 1:08.1 | 1:08.1 (2) | ||||||
| Koosje van Voorn | – | 1:07.8 | 2:15.9 (3) | ||||||
| Hannie Termeulen | – | 1:06.5 | 3:22.4 (3) | ||||||
| Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher | – | 1:06.6 | 4:29.0 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | – | United States | USA | 4:30.1 | |||||
| Jackie LaVine | – | 1:08.1 | 1:08.1 (2) | ||||||
| Marilee Stepan | – | 1:07.7 | 2:15.8 (2) | ||||||
| Jody Alderson | – | 1:06.3 | 3:22.1 (2) | ||||||
| Evelyn Kawamoto | – | 1:08.0 | 4:30.1 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | – | Denmark | DEN | 4:36.2 | |||||
| Rita Larsen | – | 1:10.1 | 1:10.1 (=5) | ||||||
| Mette Ove Petersen | – | 1:08.6 | 2:18.7 (4) | ||||||
| Greta Andersen | – | 1:10.5 | 3:29.2 (5) | ||||||
| Ragnhild Hveger | – | 1:07.0 | 4:36.2 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 4:37.8 | |||||
| Margaret Linton | – | 1:10.1 | 1:10.1 (=5) | ||||||
| Jean Botham | – | 1:09.7 | 2:19.8 (6) | ||||||
| Angela Barnwell | – | 1:07.8 | 3:27.6 (4) | ||||||
| Lillian Preece | – | 1:10.2 | 4:37.8 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | – | Sweden | SWE | 4:39.0 | |||||
| Marianne Lundquist | – | 1:10.7 | 1:10.7 (7) | ||||||
| Anita Andersson | – | 1:10.2 | 2:20.9 (7) | ||||||
| Maud Berglund | – | 1:10.3 | 3:31.2 (6) | ||||||
| Ingegärd Fredin | – | 1:07.8 | 4:39.0 (6) | ||||||
| 7 | – | Unified Team of Germany | GER | 4:40.3 | |||||
| Elisabeth Rechlin | – | 1:09.2 | 1:09.2 (4) | ||||||
| Wera Schäferkordt | – | 1:10.0 | 2:19.2 (5) | ||||||
| Kati Jansen | – | 1:12.4 | 3:31.6 (7) | ||||||
| Gisela Jacob-Arendt | – | 1:08.7 | 4:40.3 (7) | ||||||
| 8 | – | France | FRA | 4:44.1 | |||||
| Gaby Tanguy | – | 1:11.2 | 1:11.2 (8) | ||||||
| Maryse Morandini | – | 1:12.5 | 2:23.7 (8) | ||||||
| Ginette Jany | – | 1:09.8 | 3:33.5 (8) | ||||||
| Josette Arène | – | 1:10.6 | 4:44.1 (8) |