| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Medley Relay, Women

Date	24 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul
Participants	79 from 18 countries

The world record was 4:03.69 set by East Germany in winning the 1984 Friendship Games, and they had held the record since 1973. They were the defending World and European Champions. While the United States had won the 1987 Pan Pacs, they were in a different league. The 100 strokes had all been decided in Seoul by the time this event started and the best East German times added up to 4:03.90, while the best American times came to only 4:07.77. The biggest problem for East Germany was where to put Kristin Otto, who had won the 100 free, 100 back, and 100 fly. They rested her in the prelims and then had her lead off on backstroke in the final. Her 1:01.03 split had her over 1½ seconds ahead of the USA’s Beth Barr and the race for gold was over. East Germany increased their margin on each leg, winning in 4:03.74, the second fastest time ever. The USA was well back for silver, finishing in 4:07.90, but that was also almost three seconds ahead of the Canadians, who finished third. The East German victory gave Kristin Otto her fifth gold medal in Seoul. She would later win a sixth in the 50 free.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	East Germany	GDR	4:08.53 (1 h2)	4:03.74 (1)	Gold
Backstroke	177	Kristin Otto		–	–
Breaststroke	172	Silke Hörner		–	–
Butterfly	183	Birte Weigang		–	–
Freestyle	174	Katrin Meißner		–	–
Backstroke	180	Cornelia Sirch		–	–
Freestyle	181	Manuela Stellmach		–	–
2	–	United States	USA	4:10.38 (1 h3)	4:07.90 (2)	Silver
Backstroke	316	Beth Barr		–	–
Breaststroke	330	Tracey McFarlane		–	–
Butterfly	324	Janel Jorgensen		–	–
Freestyle	340	Mary Wayte		–	–
Backstroke	332	Betsy Mitchell		–	–
Butterfly	331	Mary T. Meagher		–	–
Freestyle	338	Dara Torres		–	–
3	–	Canada	CAN	4:14.23 (2 h2)	4:10.49 (3)	Bronze
Backstroke	64	Lori Melien		–	–
Breaststroke	60	Allison Higson		–	–
Butterfly	61	Jane Kerr		–	–
Freestyle	66	Andrea Nugent		–	–
Breaststroke	57	Keltie Duggan		–	–
Freestyle	65	Patricia Noall		–	–
4	–	Australia	AUS	4:14.32 (1 h1)	4:11.57 (4)
Backstroke	22	Nicole Livingstone-Stevenson		–	–
Breaststroke	18	Lara Hooiveld		–	–
Butterfly	12	Fiona Alessandri		–	–
Freestyle	27	Karen Van Wirdum		–	–
5	–	Netherlands	NED	4:11.82 (2 h3)	4:12.19 (5)
Backstroke	193	Jolanda de Rover		–	–
Breaststroke	195	Linda Moes		–	–
Butterfly	198	Conny van Bentum		–	–
Freestyle	192	Karin Brienesse		–	–
6	–	Bulgaria	BUL	4:15.22 (3 h2)	4:12.36 (6)
Backstroke	47	Bistra Gospodinova		–	–
Breaststroke	45	Tanya Bogomilova-Dangalakova		–	–
Butterfly	49	Nevyana Miteva		–	–
Freestyle	48	Natasha Hristova		–	–
7	–	West Germany	FRG	4:13.19 (3 h3)	4:12.89 (7)
Backstroke	141	Svenja Schlicht		–	–
Breaststroke	127	Britta Dahm		–	–
Butterfly	138	Gabi Reha		–	–
Freestyle	125	Marion Aizpors		–	–
8	–	Italy	ITA	4:14.68 (2 h1)	4:13.85 (8)
Backstroke	220	Lorenza Vigarani		–	–
Breaststroke	214	Manuela Dalla Valle		–	–
Butterfly	219	Ilaria Tocchini		–	–
Freestyle	218	Silvia Persi		–	–
9	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:16.18 (4 h3)	–
Backstroke	161	Kathy Read		–	–
Breaststroke	147	Suki Brownsdon		–	–
Butterfly	152	Caroline Foot		–	–
Freestyle	148	Joanna Coull		–	–
10	–	France	FRA	4:16.21 (5 h3)	–
Backstroke	117	Laurence Guillou		–	–
Breaststroke	119	Pascaline Louvrier		–	–
Butterfly	121	Catherine Plewinski		–	–
Freestyle	115	Jacqueline Delord		–	–
11	–	Sweden	SWE	4:17.72 (4 h2)	–
Backstroke	288	Johanna Larsson		–	–
Breaststroke	291	Anna-Karin Persson		–	–
Butterfly	285	Agneta Eriksson		–	–
Freestyle	290	Eva Nyberg		–	–
12	–	Japan	JPN	4:18.88 (3 h1)	–
Backstroke	228	Satoko Morishita		–	–
Breaststroke	233	Yoshie Nishioka		–	–
Butterfly	236	Kiyomi Takahashi		–	–
Freestyle	232	Ayako Nakano		–	–
13	–	Spain	ESP	4:21.84 (4 h1)	–
Backstroke	102	Natalia Autric		–	–
Breaststroke	109	Silvia Parera		–	–
Butterfly	106	María Luisa Fernández		–	–
Freestyle	107	Amaya Garbayo		–	–
14	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	4:28.90 (6 h3)	–
Backstroke	241	Hong Ji-Hui		–	–
Breaststroke	248	Park Seong-Won		–	–
Butterfly	246	Lee Hong-Mi		–	–
Freestyle	240	Han Yeong-Hui		–	–
15	–	Costa Rica	CRC	4:31.75 (5 h2)	–
Backstroke	93	Sylvia Poll		–	–
Breaststroke	348	Sigrid Niehaus		–	–
Butterfly	90	Marcela Cuesta		–	–
Freestyle	92	Carolina Mauri		–	–
16	–	Chinese Taipei	TPE	4:39.49 (5 h1)	–
Backstroke	298	Wang Chi		–	–
Breaststroke	297	Seto Car-Wai		–	–
Butterfly	294	Chang Hui-Chien		–	–
Freestyle	295	Kim Chen		–	–
DQ	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	– (DQ h1)	–
Backstroke	86	Yang Wenyi		–	–
Breaststroke	73	Huang Xiaomin		–	–
Butterfly	79	Qian Hong		–	–
Freestyle	88	Zhuang Yong		–	–
DQ	–	Denmark	DEN	– (DQ h2)	–
Backstroke	94	Mette Jacobsen		–	–
Breaststroke	100	Pia Sørensen		–	–
Butterfly	97	Annette Moldrup Jørgensen		–	–
Freestyle	95	Gitta Jensen		–	–

Round One

Date	24 September 1988 — 10:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	East Germany	GDR	4:08.53	Q
2	–	United States	USA	4:10.38	Q
3	–	Netherlands	NED	4:11.82	Q
4	–	West Germany	FRG	4:13.19	Q
5	–	Canada	CAN	4:14.23	Q
6	–	Australia	AUS	4:14.32	Q
7	–	Italy	ITA	4:14.68	Q
8	–	Bulgaria	BUL	4:15.22	Q
9	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:16.18
10	–	France	FRA	4:16.21
11	–	Sweden	SWE	4:17.72
12	–	Japan	JPN	4:18.88
13	–	Spain	ESP	4:21.84
14	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	4:28.90
15	–	Costa Rica	CRC	4:31.75
16	–	Chinese Taipei	TPE	4:39.49
DQ	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	–
DQ	–	Denmark	DEN	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Australia	AUS	4:14.32	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Nicole Livingstone-Stevenson		–	1:04.07 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Lara Hooiveld		–	1:10.97 (1)	2:15.04 (2)
Butterfly	–	Fiona Alessandri		–	1:02.12 (2)	3:17.16 (2)
Freestyle	–	Karen Van Wirdum		–	57.16 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Italy	ITA	4:14.68	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Lorenza Vigarani		–	1:03.64 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Manuela Dalla Valle		–	1:11.17 (2)	2:14.81 (1)
Butterfly	–	Ilaria Tocchini		–	1:02.24 (3)	3:17.05 (1)
Freestyle	–	Silvia Persi		–	57.63 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Japan	JPN	4:18.88	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Satoko Morishita		–	1:05.23 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Yoshie Nishioka		–	1:13.63 (3)	2:18.86 (3)
Butterfly	–	Kiyomi Takahashi		–	1:01.95 (1)	3:20.81 (3)
Freestyle	–	Ayako Nakano		–	58.07 (4)	– (–)
4	–	Spain	ESP	4:21.84	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Natalia Autric		–	1:06.74 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Silvia Parera		–	1:14.87 (4)	2:21.61 (4)
Butterfly	–	María Luisa Fernández		–	1:02.45 (4)	3:24.06 (4)
Freestyle	–	Amaya Garbayo		–	57.78 (3)	– (–)
5	–	Chinese Taipei	TPE	4:39.49	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Wang Chi		–	1:10.75 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Seto Car-Wai		–	1:15.45 (5)	2:26.20 (5)
Butterfly	–	Chang Hui-Chien		–	1:07.95 (5)	3:34.15 (5)
Freestyle	–	Kim Chen		–	1:05.34 (5)	– (–)
DQ	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Yang Wenyi		–	– (–)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Huang Xiaomin		–	– (–)	– (–)
Butterfly	–	Qian Hong		–	– (–)	– (–)
Freestyle	–	Zhuang Yong		–	– (–)	– (–)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	East Germany	GDR	4:08.53	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Cornelia Sirch		–	1:02.34 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Silke Hörner		–	1:09.37 (2)	2:11.71 (1)
Butterfly	–	Birte Weigang		–	1:00.75 (1)	3:12.46 (1)
Freestyle	–	Manuela Stellmach		–	56.07 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Canada	CAN	4:14.23	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Lori Melien		–	1:03.80 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Keltie Duggan		–	1:11.58 (3)	2:15.38 (3)
Butterfly	–	Jane Kerr		–	1:02.42 (2)	3:17.80 (3)
Freestyle	–	Patricia Noall		–	56.43 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Bulgaria	BUL	4:15.22	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Bistra Gospodinova		–	1:05.23 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Tanya Bogomilova-Dangalakova		–	1:09.31 (1)	2:14.54 (2)
Butterfly	–	Nevyana Miteva		–	1:02.82 (3)	3:17.36 (2)
Freestyle	–	Natasha Hristova		–	57.86 (4)	– (–)
4	–	Sweden	SWE	4:17.72	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Johanna Larsson		–	1:05.10 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Anna-Karin Persson		–	1:12.40 (4)	2:17.50 (4)
Butterfly	–	Agneta Eriksson		–	1:02.95 (4)	3:20.45 (4)
Freestyle	–	Eva Nyberg		–	57.27 (3)	– (–)
5	–	Costa Rica	CRC	4:31.75	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Sylvia Poll		–	1:04.02 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Sigrid Niehaus		–	1:17.56 (5)	2:21.58 (5)
Butterfly	–	Marcela Cuesta		–	1:09.89 (5)	3:31.47 (5)
Freestyle	–	Carolina Mauri		–	1:00.28 (5)	– (–)
DQ	–	Denmark	DEN	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Mette Jacobsen		–	– (–)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Pia Sørensen		–	– (–)	– (–)
Butterfly	–	Annette Moldrup Jørgensen		–	– (–)	– (–)
Freestyle	–	Gitta Jensen		–	– (–)	– (–)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	4:10.38	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Betsy Mitchell		–	1:02.66 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Tracey McFarlane		–	1:10.33 (1)	2:12.99 (1)
Butterfly	–	Mary T. Meagher		–	1:01.64 (4)	3:14.63 (1)
Freestyle	–	Dara Torres		–	55.75 (2)	– (–)
2	–	Netherlands	NED	4:11.82	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Jolanda de Rover		–	1:04.03 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Linda Moes		–	1:10.74 (2)	2:14.77 (2)
Butterfly	–	Conny van Bentum		–	1:00.62 (2)	3:15.39 (2)
Freestyle	–	Karin Brienesse		–	56.43 (3)	– (–)
3	–	West Germany	FRG	4:13.19	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Svenja Schlicht		–	1:03.56 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Britta Dahm		–	1:12.56 (4)	2:16.12 (3)
Butterfly	–	Gabi Reha		–	1:01.54 (3)	3:17.66 (3)
Freestyle	–	Marion Aizpors		–	55.53 (1)	– (–)
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:16.18	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Kathy Read		–	1:04.86 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Suki Brownsdon		–	1:11.74 (3)	2:16.60 (4)
Butterfly	–	Caroline Foot		–	1:01.97 (5)	3:18.57 (4)
Freestyle	–	Joanna Coull		–	57.61 (5)	– (–)
5	–	France	FRA	4:16.21	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Laurence Guillou		–	1:05.28 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Pascaline Louvrier		–	1:13.72 (5)	2:19.00 (5)
Butterfly	–	Catherine Plewinski		–	59.86 (1)	3:18.86 (5)
Freestyle	–	Jacqueline Delord		–	57.35 (4)	– (–)
6	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	4:28.90	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Hong Ji-Hui		–	1:08.52 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Park Seong-Won		–	1:14.57 (6)	2:23.09 (6)
Butterfly	–	Lee Hong-Mi		–	1:05.73 (6)	3:28.82 (6)
Freestyle	–	Han Yeong-Hui		–	1:00.08 (6)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	24 September 1988 — 20:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	East Germany	GDR	4:03.74	– (–)	– (–)	OR
Backstroke	–	Kristin Otto		–	1:01.03 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Silke Hörner		–	1:08.20 (3)	2:09.23 (1)
Butterfly	–	Birte Weigang		–	59.51 (1)	3:08.74 (1)
Freestyle	–	Katrin Meißner		–	55.00 (1)	– (–)
2	–	United States	USA	4:07.90	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Beth Barr		–	1:02.56 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Tracey McFarlane		–	1:10.22 (4)	2:12.78 (3)
Butterfly	–	Janel Jorgensen		–	59.84 (2)	3:12.62 (2)
Freestyle	–	Mary Wayte		–	55.28 (=2)	– (–)
3	–	Canada	CAN	4:10.49	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Lori Melien		–	1:04.25 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Allison Higson		–	1:08.15 (2)	2:12.40 (2)
Butterfly	–	Jane Kerr		–	1:01.78 (5)	3:14.18 (3)
Freestyle	–	Andrea Nugent		–	56.31 (4)	– (–)
4	–	Australia	AUS	4:11.57	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Nicole Livingstone-Stevenson		–	1:03.43 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Lara Hooiveld		–	1:10.49 (5)	2:13.92 (5)
Butterfly	–	Fiona Alessandri		–	1:00.87 (4)	3:14.79 (4)
Freestyle	–	Karen Van Wirdum		–	56.78 (=6)	– (–)
5	–	Netherlands	NED	4:12.19	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Jolanda de Rover		–	1:03.76 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Linda Moes		–	1:11.40 (7)	2:15.16 (7)
Butterfly	–	Conny van Bentum		–	1:00.30 (3)	3:15.46 (5)
Freestyle	–	Karin Brienesse		–	56.73 (5)	– (–)
6	–	Bulgaria	BUL	4:12.36	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Bistra Gospodinova		–	1:04.87 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Tanya Bogomilova-Dangalakova		–	1:07.95 (1)	2:12.82 (4)
Butterfly	–	Nevyana Miteva		–	1:02.76 (8)	3:15.58 (6)
Freestyle	–	Natasha Hristova		–	56.78 (=6)	– (–)
7	–	West Germany	FRG	4:12.89	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Svenja Schlicht		–	1:03.46 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Britta Dahm		–	1:12.36 (8)	2:15.82 (8)
Butterfly	–	Gabi Reha		–	1:01.79 (6)	3:17.61 (8)
Freestyle	–	Marion Aizpors		–	55.28 (=2)	– (–)
8	–	Italy	ITA	4:13.85	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Lorenza Vigarani		–	1:03.96 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Manuela Dalla Valle		–	1:10.63 (6)	2:14.59 (6)
Butterfly	–	Ilaria Tocchini		–	1:01.93 (7)	3:16.52 (7)
Freestyle	–	Silvia Persi		–	57.33 (8)	– (–)