| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	15 August 2004
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiako Kentro Ugrou Stivou, Olympiako Athletiko Kentro Athinon Spiros Loues, Athina (Main Pool)
Participants	75 from 16 countries

Before the Sydney Olympics it seemed to many as if there was an extra rule written into the laws of Olympic swimming which read “America turns up at the Olympics, America wins the men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay “. Australia’s victory on home soil in 2000 had broken US invincibility in the event and they added the world title in 2001 with Russia following as World Champions 2 years later. In that 2003 World Championships final South Africa had trailed in last but a year later they were the fastest qualifiers from the heat. Even with that qualifying performance the talk was still of the more favoured nations of the USA, Australia, the Netherlands and Russia, with each country having at least one bona fide superstar in their ranks. The South Africans sent out Roland Schoeman, their fastest swimmer, on the opening leg and he opened up a lead that never looked like being closed down. Ryk Neethling anchored the team to a new world record as they finished over a second ahead of a fast finishing Netherlands team with the USA having to settle for third place.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	South Africa	RSA	3:13.84 (1 h1)	3:13.17 (1)	Gold
	Lyndon Ferns		–	–
	Ryk Neethling		–	–
	Roland Schoeman		–	–
	Darian Townsend		–	–
2	Netherlands	NED	3:16.42 (4 h1)	3:14.36 (2)	Silver
	Johan Kenkhuis		–	–
	Pieter van den Hoogenband		–	–
	Mitja Zastrow		–	–
	Klaas-Erik Zwering		–	–
	Mark Veens		–	–
3	United States	USA	3:15.83 (2 h1)	3:14.62 (3)	Bronze
	Nate Dusing		–	–
	Jason Lezak		–	–
	Michael Phelps		–	–
	Neil Walker		–	–
	Ian Crocker		–	–
	Gary Hall, Jr.		–	–
	Gabe Woodward		–	–
=4	Russian Federation	RUS	3:17.46 (1 h2)	3:15.75 (=4)
	Andrey Kapralov		–	–
	Yevgeny Lagunov		–	–
	Denis Pimankov		–	–
	Aleksandr Popov		–	–
	Ivan Usov		–	–
=4	Italy	ITA	3:16.18 (3 h1)	3:15.75 (=4)
	Christian Galenda		–	–
	Filippo Magnini		–	–
	Michele Scarica		–	–
	Lorenzo Vismara		–	–
	Alessandro Calvi		–	–
6	Australia	AUS	3:17.64 (=2 h2)	3:15.77 (6)
	Michael Klim		–	–
	Todd Pearson		–	–
	Eamon Sullivan		–	–
	Ian Thorpe		–	–
	Ashley Callus		–	–
	Jono Van Hazel		–	–
7	France	FRA	3:17.64 (=2 h2)	3:16.23 (7)
	Romain Barnier		–	–
	Fréd Bousquet		–	–
	Fabien Gilot		–	–
	Julien Sicot		–	–
	Amaury Leveaux		–	–
8	Germany	GER	3:17.97 (5 h1)	3:17.18 (8)
	Lars Conrad		–	–
	Stefan Herbst		–	–
	Jens Schreiber		–	–
	Torsten Spanneberg		–	–
	Christian Keller		–	–
	Stephan Kunzelmann		–	–
9	Canada	CAN	3:18.35 (4 h2)	–
	Brent Hayden		–	–
	Riley Janes		–	–
	Yannick Lupien		–	–
	Mike Mintenko		–	–
10	Ukraine	UKR	3:18.95 (5 h2)	–
	Pavlo Khnykin		–	–
	Andriy Serdinov		–	–
	Denys Syzonenko		–	–
	Yuriy Yehoshyn		–	–
11	Lithuania	LTU	3:19.28 (6 h1)	–
	Saulius Binevičius		–	–
	Rolandas Gimbutis		–	–
	Vytautas Janušaitis		–	–
	Paulius Viktoravičius		–	–
12	Brazil	BRA	3:20.20 (6 h2)	–
	Gustavo Borges		–	–
	Rodrigo Castro		–	–
	Carlos Jayme		–	–
	Jader Souza		–	–
13	Croatia	CRO	3:21.01 (7 h1)	–
	Igor Čerenšek		–	–
	Mario Delač		–	–
	Duje Draganja		–	–
	Ivan Mladina		–	–
14	Greece	GRE	3:24.26 (7 h2)	–
	Spyros Bitsakis		–	–
	Aris Grigoriadis		–	–
	Alexandros Tsoltos		–	–
	Andreas Zisimos		–	–
15	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:24.31 (8 h1)	–
	Chen Zuo		–	–
	Huang Shaohua		–	–
	Liu Weijia		–	–
	Zheng Kunliang		–	–
DQ	Sweden	SWE	– (DQ h2)	–
	Lars Frölander		–	–
	Eric la Fleur		–	–
	Stefan Nystrand		–	–
	Mattias Ohlin		–	–

Round One

Date	15 August 2004
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	South Africa	RSA	3:13.84	Q
2	–	United States	USA	3:15.83	Q
3	–	Italy	ITA	3:16.18	Q
4	–	Netherlands	NED	3:16.42	Q
5	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:17.46	Q
=6	–	Australia	AUS	3:17.64	Q
=6	–	France	FRA	3:17.64	Q
8	–	Germany	GER	3:17.97	Q
9	–	Canada	CAN	3:18.35
10	–	Ukraine	UKR	3:18.95
11	–	Lithuania	LTU	3:19.28
12	–	Brazil	BRA	3:20.20
13	–	Croatia	CRO	3:21.01
14	–	Greece	GRE	3:24.26
15	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:24.31
DQ	–	Sweden	SWE	–

Heat #1

Time	12:01

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	South Africa	RSA	3:13.84	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Roland Schoeman		–	0.66	22.89	48.38 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Lyndon Ferns		–	0.20	22.89	48.34 (1)	1:36.72 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Darian Townsend		–	0.27	22.84	49.13 (3)	2:25.85 (1)
Anchor	–	Ryk Neethling		–	0.39	22.79	47.99 (1)	– (–)
2	–	United States	USA	3:15.83	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Gabe Woodward		–	0.70	23.62	49.93 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Nate Dusing		–	0.14	23.12	49.01 (4)	1:38.94 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Neil Walker		–	0.19	22.57	48.16 (1)	2:27.10 (2)
Anchor	–	Gary Hall, Jr.		–	0.08	22.91	48.73 (4)	– (–)
3	–	Italy	ITA	3:16.18	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Lorenzo Vismara		–	0.82	24.06	49.67 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Michele Scarica		–	0.11	23.78	48.92 (3)	1:38.59 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Alessandro Calvi		–	0.15	23.73	49.35 (4)	2:27.94 (4)
Anchor	–	Christian Galenda		–	0.26	22.66	48.24 (2)	– (–)
4	–	Netherlands	NED	3:16.42	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Mark Veens		–	0.81	23.72	49.73 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Johan Kenkhuis		–	0.23	23.07	48.80 (2)	1:38.53 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Mitja Zastrow		–	0.26	23.39	48.90 (2)	2:27.43 (3)
Anchor	–	Klaas-Erik Zwering		–	0.34	23.47	48.99 (5)	– (–)
5	–	Germany	GER	3:17.97	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Stephan Kunzelmann		–	0.84	23.75	50.09 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Christian Keller		–	0.11	23.72	50.16 (6)	1:40.25 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Torsten Spanneberg		–	0.31	23.46	49.36 (5)	2:29.61 (5)
Anchor	–	Lars Conrad		–	0.13	23.19	48.36 (3)	– (–)
6	–	Lithuania	LTU	3:19.28	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Rolandas Gimbutis		–	0.77	23.44	49.11 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Saulius Binevičius		–	0.32	24.14	50.35 (7)	1:39.46 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Paulius Viktoravičius		–	0.27	22.89	50.20 (7)	2:29.66 (6)
Anchor	–	Vytautas Janušaitis		–	0.29	23.44	49.62 (6)	– (–)
7	–	Croatia	CRO	3:21.01	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Duje Draganja		–	0.81	23.74	50.38 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Mario Delač		–	0.15	23.67	49.75 (5)	1:40.13 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Ivan Mladina		–	0.18	23.75	50.16 (6)	2:30.29 (7)
Anchor	–	Igor Čerenšek		–	0.04	23.65	50.72 (7)	– (–)
8	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:24.31	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Chen Zuo		–	0.78	24.6	50.75 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Liu Weijia		–	0.24	24.39	51.15 (8)	1:41.90 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Zheng Kunliang		–	0.39	24.74	51.34 (8)	2:33.24 (8)
Anchor	–	Huang Shaohua		–	0.48	24.43	51.07 (8)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	12:08

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:17.46	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Andrey Kapralov		–	0.80	23.85	49.12 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Yevgeny Lagunov		–	0.22	23.58	49.68 (6)	1:38.80 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Ivan Usov		–	0.21	23.71	49.86 (6)	2:28.66 (2)
Anchor	–	Denis Pimankov		–	0.36	22.99	48.80 (1)	– (–)
=2	–	Australia	AUS	3:17.64	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Ashley Callus		–	0.76	24.16	50.04 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Eamon Sullivan		–	0.22	23.49	49.13 (2)	1:39.17 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Jono Van Hazel		–	0.19	23.11	49.65 (4)	2:28.82 (3)
Anchor	–	Todd Pearson		–	0.21	23.48	48.82 (2)	– (–)
=2	–	France	FRA	3:17.64	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Romain Barnier		–	0.73	24.15	49.73 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Julien Sicot		–	0.36	23.73	49.29 (3)	1:39.02 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Fabien Gilot		–	0.21	23.43	49.21 (1)	2:28.23 (1)
Anchor	–	Amaury Leveaux		–	0.26	23.73	49.41 (4)	– (–)
4	–	Canada	CAN	3:18.35	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Yannick Lupien		–	0.73	23.87	50.16 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Riley Janes		–	0.11	23.11	49.49 (4)	1:39.65 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Mike Mintenko		–	0.21	23.39	49.60 (3)	2:29.25 (4)
Anchor	–	Brent Hayden		–	0.29	23.32	49.10 (3)	– (–)
5	–	Ukraine	UKR	3:18.95	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Denys Syzonenko		–	0.93	24.37	50.05 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Andriy Serdinov		–	0.22	23.95	49.94 (7)	1:39.99 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Pavlo Khnykin		–	0.27	23.52	49.47 (2)	2:29.46 (6)
Anchor	–	Yuriy Yehoshyn		–	0.17	23.4	49.49 (5)	– (–)
6	–	Brazil	BRA	3:20.20	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Jader Souza		–	0.74	24.07	50.89 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Gustavo Borges		–	0.09	23.9	49.59 (5)	1:40.48 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Carlos Jayme		–	0.11	23.18	49.67 (5)	2:30.15 (7)
Anchor	–	Rodrigo Castro		–	0.06	23.99	50.05 (6)	– (–)
7	–	Greece	GRE	3:24.26	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Aris Grigoriadis		–	0.89	24.56	50.15 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Alexandros Tsoltos		–	0.10	23.94	51.03 (8)	1:41.18 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Spyros Bitsakis		–	0.32	24.34	52.25 (8)	2:33.43 (8)
Anchor	–	Andreas Zisimos		–	0.35	24.92	50.83 (7)	– (–)
DQ	–	Sweden	SWE	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Eric la Fleur		–	[0.77]	[24.28]	[50.43] ([7])	– (–)		1
2nd Leg	–	Stefan Nystrand		–	[0.13]	[22.73]	[48.61] ([1])	[1:39.04] ([3])
3rd Leg	–	Mattias Ohlin		–	[0.07]	[23.45]	[50.24] ([7])	[2:29.28] ([5])
Anchor	–	Lars Frölander		–	[-0.12]	–	– (–)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	15 August 2004 — 21:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	South Africa	RSA	3:13.17	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Lead-off	–	Roland Schoeman		–	0.65	22.62	48.17 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Lyndon Ferns		–	0.18	22.51	48.13 (1)	1:36.30 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Darian Townsend		–	0.21	23.11	48.96 (4)	2:25.26 (1)
Anchor	–	Ryk Neethling		–	0.27	22.32	47.91 (3)	– (–)
2	–	Netherlands	NED	3:14.36	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Johan Kenkhuis		–	0.78	23.63	49.81 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Mitja Zastrow		–	0.17	23.62	49.25 (7)	1:39.06 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Klaas-Erik Zwering		–	0.15	23.16	48.51 (2)	2:27.57 (5)
Anchor	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband		–	0.21	22.25	46.79 (1)	– (–)
3	–	United States	USA	3:14.62	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Ian Crocker		–	0.76	23.64	50.05 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Michael Phelps		–	0.44	23.43	48.74 (4)	1:38.79 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Neil Walker		–	0.16	22.54	47.97 (1)	2:26.76 (4)
Anchor	–	Jason Lezak		–	0.15	22.25	47.86 (2)	– (–)
=4	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:15.75	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Andrey Kapralov		–	0.81	23.89	49.27 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Yevgeny Lagunov		–	0.33	23.58	49.17 (6)	1:38.44 (=3)
3rd Leg	–	Denis Pimankov		–	0.40	22.92	49.25 (8)	2:27.69 (3)
Anchor	–	Aleksandr Popov		–	0.40	22.5	48.06 (4)	– (–)
=4	–	Italy	ITA	3:15.75	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Lorenzo Vismara		–	0.81	23.41	49.16 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Filippo Magnini		–	0.09	22.91	48.30 (2)	1:37.46 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Michele Scarica		–	0.14	23.85	49.21 (6)	2:26.67 (2)
Anchor	–	Christian Galenda		–	0.14	23.24	49.08 (7)	– (–)
6	–	Australia	AUS	3:15.77	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Michael Klim		–	0.74	23.48	49.37 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Todd Pearson		–	0.15	23.3	49.07 (5)	1:38.44 (=3)
3rd Leg	–	Eamon Sullivan		–	0.18	23.4	49.19 (5)	2:27.63 (6)
Anchor	–	Ian Thorpe		–	0.11	22.97	48.14 (5)	– (–)
7	–	France	FRA	3:16.23	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Romain Barnier		–	0.69	23.75	49.65 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Julien Sicot		–	0.10	23.57	49.31 (8)	1:38.96 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Fabien Gilot		–	0.12	23.08	48.95 (3)	2:27.91 (8)
Anchor	–	Fréd Bousquet		–	0.42	22.67	48.32 (6)	– (–)
8	–	Germany	GER	3:17.18	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Jens Schreiber		–	0.83	23.93	49.88 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Lars Conrad		–	0.19	23.41	48.72 (3)	1:38.60 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Torsten Spanneberg		–	0.18	23.21	49.24 (7)	2:27.84 (7)
Anchor	–	Stefan Herbst		–	0.30	23.41	49.34 (8)	– (–)