| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Medley Relay, Women

Date	30 July 1992
Status	Olympic
Location	Piscinas Bernat Picornell, Barcelona
Participants	78 from 17 countries

The world record was still the 4:03.69 set by East Germany to win the 1984 Friendship Games in Moscow. But the drug-enhanced East German swimmers were no more, their swimming hegemony ended by the political dissolution of the two Germanies. Germany had not even won the 1991 Europeans, that going to the Netherlands. The United States was favored in Barcelona, having won the 1991 World Championship and Pan Pacifics, trailed at both races by Australia. The USA qualified only third fastest, behind the Unified Team and Germany, but they had used only their B team in the prelims. In the final Lea Loveless put the US well in front on the opening backstroke leg, splitting an American record 1:00.82, with Germany second, but 0.79 seconds behind. On the breaststroke leg, Russian Yelena Rudkovskaya finished in 1:07.44, the second fastest ever breaststroke split, which almost caught the USA’s Anita Nall, and moved the Unifieds into second. Crissy Ahmann-Leighton then swam fly for the US, putting the race away, as Germany and the Unified Team settled into second and third. That is how they would finish, Jenny Thompson anchoring the Americans on freestyle for the gold medal, splitting 54.47 for the third-fastest split of all-time. The USA won in 4:02.54, breaking the world record which had been held by an East German team since 1973.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	United States	USA	4:10.83 (1 h3)	4:02.54 (1)	Gold
Backstroke	621	Lea Loveless		–	–
Breaststroke	624	Anita Nall		–	–
Butterfly	600	Crissy Ahmann-Leighton		–	–
Freestyle	635	Jenny Thompson		–	–
Backstroke	637	Janie Wagstaff		–	–
Breaststroke	620	Megan Kleine		–	–
Butterfly	628	Summer Sanders		–	–
Freestyle	610	Nicole Haislett		–	–
2	–	Germany	GER	4:10.62 (2 h1)	4:05.19 (2)	Silver
Backstroke	272	Dagmar Hase		–	–
Breaststroke	268	Jana Dörries		–	–
Butterfly	292	Franziska van Almsick		–	–
Freestyle	277	Daniela Hunger		–	–
Breaststroke	267	Daniela Brendel		–	–
Butterfly	291	Bettina Ustrowski		–	–
Freestyle	281	Simone Osygus		–	–
3	–	Unified Team	EUN	4:10.37 (1 h1)	4:06.44 (3)	Bronze
Backstroke	175	Nina Zhivanevskaya		–	–
Breaststroke	189	Alena Rudkouskaya		–	–
Butterfly	177	Olga Kirichenko		–	–
Freestyle	183	Nataliya Meshcheryakova		–	–
Freestyle	170	Yelena Shubina		–	–
4	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	4:12.55 (3 h3)	4:06.78 (4)
Backstroke	112	Lin Li		–	–
Breaststroke	113	Lou Xia		–	–
Butterfly	116	Qian Hong		–	–
Freestyle	110	Le Jingyi		–	–
Backstroke	109	He Cihong		–	–
5	–	Australia	AUS	4:12.54 (2 h2)	4:07.01 (5)
Backstroke	39	Nicole Livingstone-Stevenson		–	–
Breaststroke	34	Sam Riley		–	–
Butterfly	30	Susie O'Neill		–	–
Freestyle	13	Lisa Curry-Kenny		–	–
Backstroke	28	Joanne Meehan		–	–
6	–	Canada	CAN	4:11.67 (1 h2)	4:09.26 (6)
Backstroke	86	Nikki Dryden		–	–
Breaststroke	84	Guylaine Cloutier		–	–
Butterfly	105	Kristin Topham		–	–
Freestyle	98	Andrea Nugent		–	–
7	–	Japan	JPN	4:11.48 (2 h3)	4:09.92 (7)
Backstroke	393	Yoko Koikawa		–	–
Breaststroke	386	Kyoko Iwasaki		–	–
Butterfly	387	Yoko Kando		–	–
Freestyle	379	Suzu Chiba		–	–
8	–	Netherlands	NED	4:11.25 (3 h1)	4:10.87 (8)
Backstroke	445	Ellen Elzerman		–	–
Breaststroke	443	Kira Bulten		–	–
Butterfly	444	Inge de Bruijn		–	–
Freestyle	447	Marianne Muis		–	–
9	–	Italy	ITA	4:12.77 (4 h3)	–
Backstroke	378	Lorenza Vigarani		–	–
Breaststroke	361	Manuela Dalla Valle		–	–
Butterfly	376	Ilaria Tocchini		–	–
Freestyle	374	Ilaria Sciorelli		–	–
10	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:16.51 (3 h2)	–
Backstroke	242	Joanne Deakins		–	–
Breaststroke	238	Suki Brownsdon		–	–
Butterfly	239	Madeleine Campbell		–	–
Freestyle	257	Karen Pickering		–	–
11	–	Denmark	DEN	4:17.20 (4 h1)	–
Backstroke	130	Mette Jacobsen		–	–
Breaststroke	137	Britta Vestergaard		–	–
Butterfly	135	Berit Puggaard		–	–
Freestyle	131	Gitta Jensen		–	–
12	–	Romania	ROU	4:17.91 (4 h2)	–
Backstroke	517	Claudia Stănescu		–	–
Breaststroke	509	Beatrice Coadă-Cășlaru		–	–
Butterfly	518	Diana Ureche		–	–
Freestyle	510	Luminița Dobrescu		–	–
13	–	Spain	ESP	4:19.27 (5 h1)	–
Backstroke	145	Núria Castelló		–	–
Breaststroke	161	Rocío Ruiz		–	–
Butterfly	155	María Peláez		–	–
Freestyle	151	Claudia Franco		–	–
14	–	France	FRA	4:21.19 (5 h3)	–
Backstroke	212	Céline Bonnet		–	–
Breaststroke	221	Audrey Guérit		–	–
Butterfly	217	Jacqueline Delord		–	–
Freestyle	211	Julie Blaise		–	–
15	–	Finland	FIN	4:23.07 (5 h2)	–
Backstroke	203	Anne Lackman		–	–
Breaststroke	209	Riikka Ukkola		–	–
Butterfly	205	Marja Pärssinen-Päivinen		–	–
Freestyle	206	Minna Salmela		–	–
16	–	South Africa	RSA	4:24.28 (6 h3)	–
Backstroke	519	Jill Brukman		–	–
Breaststroke	522	Penny Heyns		–	–
Butterfly	527	Jeanine Steenkamp		–	–
Freestyle	525	Marianne Kriel		–	–
17	–	Mexico	MEX	4:26.73 (6 h1)	–
Backstroke	426	Heike Koerner		–	–
Breaststroke	427	Ana Mendoza		–	–
Butterfly	423	Gabriela Gaja		–	–
Freestyle	428	Laura Sánchez		–	–

Round One

Date	30 July 1992 — 13:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	Unified Team	EUN	4:10.37	Q
2	–	Germany	GER	4:10.62	Q
3	–	United States	USA	4:10.83	Q
4	–	Netherlands	NED	4:11.25	Q
5	–	Japan	JPN	4:11.48	Q
6	–	Canada	CAN	4:11.67	Q
7	–	Australia	AUS	4:12.54	Q
8	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	4:12.55	Q
9	–	Italy	ITA	4:12.77
10	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:16.51
11	–	Denmark	DEN	4:17.20
12	–	Romania	ROU	4:17.91
13	–	Spain	ESP	4:19.27
14	–	France	FRA	4:21.19
15	–	Finland	FIN	4:23.07
16	–	South Africa	RSA	4:24.28
17	–	Mexico	MEX	4:26.73

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Unified Team	EUN	4:10.37	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Nina Zhivanevskaya		–	30.46	1:02.24 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Alena Rudkouskaya		–	33.31	1:10.04 (1)	2:12.28 (1)
Butterfly	–	Olga Kirichenko		–	28.20	1:01.55 (2)	3:13.83 (1)
Freestyle	–	Yelena Shubina		–	26.96	56.54 (3)	– (–)
2	–	Germany	GER	4:10.62	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Dagmar Hase		–	30.94	1:02.67 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Daniela Brendel		–	32.83	1:10.27 (2)	2:12.94 (2)
Butterfly	–	Bettina Ustrowski		–	28.19	1:01.93 (3)	3:14.87 (2)
Freestyle	–	Simone Osygus		–	26.56	55.75 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Netherlands	NED	4:11.25	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Ellen Elzerman		–	31.13	1:04.19 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kira Bulten		–	33.25	1:10.84 (3)	2:15.03 (3)
Butterfly	–	Inge de Bruijn		–	27.13	1:00.64 (1)	3:15.67 (3)
Freestyle	–	Marianne Muis		–	26.50	55.58 (1)	– (–)
4	–	Denmark	DEN	4:17.20	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Mette Jacobsen		–	31.95	1:04.06 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Britta Vestergaard		–	34.24	1:12.58 (4)	2:16.64 (4)
Butterfly	–	Berit Puggaard		–	29.90	1:03.89 (5)	3:20.53 (4)
Freestyle	–	Gitta Jensen		–	27.45	56.67 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Spain	ESP	4:19.27	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Núria Castelló		–	31.56	1:04.87 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Rocío Ruiz		–	34.08	1:12.86 (5)	2:17.73 (5)
Butterfly	–	María Peláez		–	29.84	1:03.54 (4)	3:21.27 (5)
Freestyle	–	Claudia Franco		–	27.32	58.00 (5)	– (–)
6	–	Mexico	MEX	4:26.73	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Heike Koerner		–	32.62	1:06.77 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ana Mendoza		–	35.30	1:16.42 (6)	2:23.19 (6)
Butterfly	–	Gabriela Gaja		–	29.57	1:04.57 (6)	3:27.76 (6)
Freestyle	–	Laura Sánchez		–	28.29	58.97 (6)	– (–)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Canada	CAN	4:11.67	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Nikki Dryden		–	31.33	1:03.96 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Guylaine Cloutier		–	33.02	1:10.16 (1)	2:14.12 (1)
Butterfly	–	Kristin Topham		–	27.96	1:01.06 (1)	3:15.18 (1)
Freestyle	–	Andrea Nugent		–	26.88	56.49 (2)	– (–)
2	–	Australia	AUS	4:12.54	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Joanne Meehan		–	30.98	1:03.70 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Sam Riley		–	32.41	1:10.83 (2)	2:14.53 (2)
Butterfly	–	Susie O'Neill		–	28.29	1:01.28 (2)	3:15.81 (2)
Freestyle	–	Lisa Curry-Kenny		–	27.06	56.73 (3)	– (–)
3	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:16.51	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Joanne Deakins		–	31.83	1:04.51 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Suki Brownsdon		–	34.03	1:13.52 (4)	2:18.03 (3)
Butterfly	–	Madeleine Campbell		–	29.32	1:02.70 (4)	3:20.73 (3)
Freestyle	–	Karen Pickering		–	26.75	55.78 (1)	– (–)
4	–	Romania	ROU	4:17.91	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Claudia Stănescu		–	31.41	1:04.90 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Beatrice Coadă-Cășlaru		–	34.34	1:13.35 (3)	2:18.25 (4)
Butterfly	–	Diana Ureche		–	28.98	1:02.51 (3)	3:20.76 (4)
Freestyle	–	Luminița Dobrescu		–	27.57	57.15 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Finland	FIN	4:23.07	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Anne Lackman		–	32.35	1:06.56 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Riikka Ukkola		–	35.24	1:15.58 (5)	2:22.14 (5)
Butterfly	–	Marja Pärssinen-Päivinen		–	29.00	1:03.07 (5)	3:25.21 (5)
Freestyle	–	Minna Salmela		–	27.70	57.86 (5)	– (–)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	4:10.83	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Janie Wagstaff		–	30.79	1:03.19 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Megan Kleine		–	33.65	1:12.05 (4)	2:15.24 (4)
Butterfly	–	Summer Sanders		–	27.89	1:00.15 (1)	3:15.39 (3)
Freestyle	–	Nicole Haislett		–	27.02	55.44 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Japan	JPN	4:11.48	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Yoko Koikawa		–	31.13	1:02.81 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kyoko Iwasaki		–	34.17	1:11.11 (3)	2:13.92 (2)
Butterfly	–	Yoko Kando		–	28.72	1:01.14 (3)	3:15.06 (1)
Freestyle	–	Suzu Chiba		–	27.36	56.42 (2)	– (–)
3	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	4:12.55	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	He Cihong		–	31.41	1:04.48 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Lou Xia		–	32.49	1:10.47 (2)	2:14.95 (3)
Butterfly	–	Qian Hong		–	28.43	1:00.82 (2)	3:15.77 (4)
Freestyle	–	Le Jingyi		–	27.47	56.78 (3)	– (–)
4	–	Italy	ITA	4:12.77	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Lorenza Vigarani		–	31.26	1:03.97 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Manuela Dalla Valle		–	32.49	1:09.60 (1)	2:13.57 (1)
Butterfly	–	Ilaria Tocchini		–	28.73	1:01.67 (4)	3:15.24 (2)
Freestyle	–	Ilaria Sciorelli		–	27.40	57.53 (5)	– (–)
5	–	France	FRA	4:21.19	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Céline Bonnet		–	32.08	1:05.73 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Audrey Guérit		–	34.35	1:12.90 (5)	2:18.63 (5)
Butterfly	–	Jacqueline Delord		–	30.13	1:05.10 (5)	3:23.73 (5)
Freestyle	–	Julie Blaise		–	27.59	57.46 (4)	– (–)
6	–	South Africa	RSA	4:24.28	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Jill Brukman		–	31.97	1:05.78 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Penny Heyns		–	34.19	1:14.43 (6)	2:20.21 (6)
Butterfly	–	Jeanine Steenkamp		–	30.61	1:06.19 (6)	3:26.40 (6)
Freestyle	–	Marianne Kriel		–	27.56	57.88 (6)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	30 July 1992 — 20:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	4:02.54	–	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Backstroke	–	Lea Loveless		–	29.55	1:00.82 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Anita Nall		–	32.28	1:08.67 (2)	2:09.49 (1)
Butterfly	–	Crissy Ahmann-Leighton		–	27.18	58.58 (1)	3:08.07 (1)
Freestyle	–	Jenny Thompson		–	26.72	54.47 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Germany	GER	4:05.19	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Dagmar Hase		–	30.51	1:01.61 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Jana Dörries		–	32.86	1:09.43 (3)	2:11.04 (3)
Butterfly	–	Franziska van Almsick		–	27.40	59.08 (3)	3:10.12 (2)
Freestyle	–	Daniela Hunger		–	26.44	55.07 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Unified Team	EUN	4:06.44	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Nina Zhivanevskaya		–	30.47	1:02.54 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Alena Rudkouskaya		–	31.55	1:07.44 (1)	2:09.98 (2)
Butterfly	–	Olga Kirichenko		–	28.28	1:00.98 (8)	3:10.96 (3)
Freestyle	–	Nataliya Meshcheryakova		–	25.87	55.48 (=5)	– (–)
4	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	4:06.78	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Lin Li		–	31.09	1:02.90 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Lou Xia		–	31.88	1:09.51 (4)	2:12.41 (5)
Butterfly	–	Qian Hong		–	27.94	58.97 (2)	3:11.38 (4)
Freestyle	–	Le Jingyi		–	26.60	55.40 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Australia	AUS	4:07.01	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Nicole Livingstone-Stevenson		–	30.68	1:02.09 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Sam Riley		–	32.18	1:10.06 (6)	2:12.15 (4)
Butterfly	–	Susie O'Neill		–	27.47	59.38 (4)	3:11.53 (5)
Freestyle	–	Lisa Curry-Kenny		–	26.15	55.48 (=5)	– (–)
6	–	Canada	CAN	4:09.26	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Nikki Dryden		–	31.29	1:03.51 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Guylaine Cloutier		–	32.64	1:09.55 (5)	2:13.06 (6)
Butterfly	–	Kristin Topham		–	27.65	1:00.38 (5)	3:13.44 (6)
Freestyle	–	Andrea Nugent		–	26.28	55.82 (8)	– (–)
7	–	Japan	JPN	4:09.92	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Yoko Koikawa		–	31.35	1:03.12 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kyoko Iwasaki		–	34.05	1:10.75 (7)	2:13.87 (7)
Butterfly	–	Yoko Kando		–	28.65	1:00.51 (7)	3:14.38 (7)
Freestyle	–	Suzu Chiba		–	26.59	55.54 (7)	– (–)
8	–	Netherlands	NED	4:10.87	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Ellen Elzerman		–	31.21	1:03.81 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kira Bulten		–	33.41	1:11.30 (8)	2:15.11 (8)
Butterfly	–	Inge de Bruijn		–	27.57	1:00.39 (6)	3:15.50 (8)
Freestyle	–	Marianne Muis		–	26.39	55.37 (3)	– (–)