| | Event type

4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Women

Date	18 August 2004
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiako Kentro Ugrou Stivou, Olympiako Athletiko Kentro Athinon Spiros Loues, Athina (Main Pool)
Participants	74 from 16 countries

On 18 August 1987 a foursome from the German Democratic Republic set a world record for the longer of the two women’s freestyle relays at the European Swimming Championships in Strasbourg, France. It stood largely unchallenged for exactly 17 years, almost to the hour, until a USA quartet of Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer, and Kaitlin Sandeno took it apart in the process of winning Olympic gold in Athens.

As a race, the final was decided on the first leg where Coughlin took a 1½ second lead so the interest shifted to the question of how fast the Americans could swim and whether the final world record held by the East Germans would be deleted from the record books. The answer was in the affirmative as more than two seconds were sliced off the time of the GDR quartet. China were runners-up with Germany holding off a fast finishing Australia for bronze.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	8:00.81 (1 h2)	7:53.42 (1)	Gold
	Natalie Coughlin		–	–
	Carly Piper		–	–
	Kaitlin Sandeno		–	–
	Dana Vollmer		–	–
	Lindsay Benko		–	–
	Rhi Jeffrey		–	–
	Rachel Komisarz		–	–
2	People's Republic of China	CHN	8:05.38 (3 h2)	7:55.97 (2)	Silver
	Pang Jiaying		–	–
	Xu Yanwei		–	–
	Yang Yu		–	–
	Zhu Yingwen		–	–
	Li Ji		–	–
3	Germany	GER	8:03.22 (3 h1)	7:57.35 (3)	Bronze
	Antje Buschschulte		–	–
	Petra Dallmann		–	–
	Hannah Stockbauer		–	–
	Franziska van Almsick		–	–
	Janina-Kristin Götz		–	–
	Sara Harstick		–	–
4	Australia	AUS	8:01.85 (2 h1)	7:57.40 (4)
	Elka Graham		–	–
	Alice Mills		–	–
	Shayne Reese		–	–
	Petria Thomas		–	–
	Linda MacKenzie		–	–
	Giaan Rooney		–	–
5	Great Britain	GBR	8:01.77 (1 h1)	7:59.11 (5)
	Georgina Lee		–	–
	Melanie Marshall		–	–
	Caitlin McClatchey		–	–
	Karen Pickering		–	–
	Jo Jackson		–	–
6	Spain	ESP	8:03.67 (2 h2)	8:02.11 (6)
	Melissa Caballero		–	–
	Arantxa Ramos		–	–
	Tatiana Rouba		–	–
	Erika Villaécija		–	–
7	Brazil	BRA	8:05.58 (4 h1)	8:05.29 (7)
	Paula Baracho		–	–
	Mariana Brochado		–	–
	Monique Ferreira		–	–
	Joanna Maranhão		–	–
8	Sweden	SWE	8:07.17 (5 h1)	8:08.34 (8)
	Josefin Lillhage		–	–
	Ida Mattsson		–	–
	Malin Svahnström		–	–
	Lotta Wänberg		–	–
	Johanna Sjöberg		–	–
9	Netherlands	NED	8:08.96 (4 h2)	–
	Chantal Groot		–	–
	Celina Lemmen		–	–
	Haike van Stralen		–	–
	Marleen Veldhuis		–	–
10	France	FRA	8:09.42 (6 h1)	–
	Céline Couderc		–	–
	Solenne Figuès		–	–
	Elsa N'Guessan		–	–
	Katarin Quelennec		–	–
11	Romania	ROU	8:09.67 (5 h2)	–
	Beatrice Căşlaru		–	–
	Larisa Lăcusță		–	–
	Simona Păduraru		–	–
	Camelia Potec		–	–
12	Switzerland	SUI	8:10.41 (6 h2)	–
	Hanna Miluska		–	–
	Flavia Rigamonti		–	–
	Chantal Strasser		–	–
	Nicole Zahnd		–	–
13	New Zealand	NZL	8:14.76 (7 h2)	–
	Nathalie Bernard		–	–
	Alison Fitch		–	–
	Rebecca Linton		–	–
	Helen Norfolk		–	–
14	Italy	ITA	8:15.30 (7 h1)	–
	Cristina Chiuso		–	–
	Alessia Filippi		–	–
	Sara Parise		–	–
	Cecilia Vianini		–	–
15	Greece	GRE	8:16.69 (8 h1)	–
	Zoi Dimoschaki		–	–
	Marianna Lymperta		–	–
	Georgia Manoli		–	–
	Evi Tsagka		–	–
16	Slovenia	SLO	8:16.89 (8 h2)	–
	Lavra Babič		–	–
	Anja Čarman		–	–
	Sara Isakovič		–	–
	Anja Klinar		–	–

Round One

Date	18 August 2004
Format	Fastest 8 advanced to the final round.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	4	United States	USA	8:00.81	Q
2	5	Great Britain	GBR	8:01.77	Q
3	4	Australia	AUS	8:01.85	Q
4	2	Germany	GER	8:03.22	Q
5	3	Spain	ESP	8:03.67	Q
6	5	People's Republic of China	CHN	8:05.38	Q
7	1	Brazil	BRA	8:05.58	Q
8	3	Sweden	SWE	8:07.17	Q
9	6	Netherlands	NED	8:08.96
10	6	France	FRA	8:09.42
11	2	Romania	ROU	8:09.67
12	7	Switzerland	SUI	8:10.41
13	1	New Zealand	NZL	8:14.76
14	7	Italy	ITA	8:15.30
15	8	Greece	GRE	8:16.69
16	8	Slovenia	SLO	8:16.89

Heat #1

Time	11:39

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	100 m Time	150 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	5	Great Britain	GBR	8:01.77	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Karen Pickering		–	0.74	28.44	58.76	1:29.62	2:00.90 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Jo Jackson		–	0.11	27.95	58.48	1:29.97	2:00.89 (4)	4:01.79 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Caitlin McClatchey		–	0.20	27.86	58.82	1:30.02	2:00.65 (3)	6:02.44 (3)
Anchor	–	Melanie Marshall		–	0.33	27.30	57.69	1:28.74	1:59.33 (1)	– (–)
2	4	Australia	AUS	8:01.85	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Shayne Reese		–	0.81	28.10	58.38	1:29.15	2:00.13 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Elka Graham		–	0.28	27.69	57.64	1:28.37	1:58.83 (1)	3:58.96 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Linda MacKenzie		–	0.37	28.20	59.08	1:30.03	2:00.55 (2)	5:59.51 (1)
Anchor	–	Giaan Rooney		–	0.35	28.82	59.95	1:31.16	2:02.34 (5)	– (–)
3	2	Germany	GER	8:03.22	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Petra Dallmann		–	0.87	28.57	58.80	1:30.23	2:00.78 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Janina-Kristin Götz		–	0.45	28.29	58.59	1:29.67	2:00.87 (3)	4:01.65 (=2)
3rd Leg	–	Hannah Stockbauer		–	0.33	27.81	58.38	1:29.76	2:00.35 (1)	6:02.00 (2)
Anchor	–	Sara Harstick		–	0.29	27.76	58.20	1:29.63	2:01.22 (4)	– (–)
4	1	Brazil	BRA	8:05.58	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Joanna Maranhão		–	0.72	28.95	59.60	1:30.59	2:01.38 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Monique Ferreira		–	0.31	28.18	58.71	1:30.01	2:01.40 (5)	4:02.78 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Mariana Brochado		–	0.29	28.18	58.76	1:30.24	2:01.68 (4)	6:04.46 (4)
Anchor	–	Paula Baracho		–	0.34	28.51	59.44	1:30.35	2:01.12 (3)	– (–)
5	3	Sweden	SWE	8:07.17	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Ida Mattsson		–	0.84	28.56	59.00	1:30.77	2:02.46 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Josefin Lillhage		–	0.33	27.74	57.58	1:28.38	1:59.19 (2)	4:01.65 (=2)
3rd Leg	–	Lotta Wänberg		–	0.41	28.67	59.40	1:30.98	2:02.85 (5)	6:04.50 (5)
Anchor	–	Johanna Sjöberg		–	0.07	27.52	58.36	1:30.44	2:02.67 (6)	– (–)
6	6	France	FRA	8:09.42	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Céline Couderc		–	0.86	28.56	59.02	1:30.57	2:02.50 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Elsa N'Guessan		–	0.40	29.23	1:00.98	1:32.55	2:03.26 (7)	4:05.76 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Katarin Quelennec		–	0.36	29.30	1:00.26	1:32.02	2:03.56 (7)	6:09.32 (6)
Anchor	–	Solenne Figuès		–	0.33	28.67	59.27	1:29.99	2:00.10 (2)	– (–)
7	7	Italy	ITA	8:15.30	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Alessia Filippi		–	0.96	29.37	1:00.41	1:32.17	2:04.09 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Sara Parise		–	0.35	28.82	59.92	1:31.63	2:03.69 (8)	4:07.78 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Cecilia Vianini		–	0.27	28.65	1:00.22	1:31.84	2:03.52 (6)	6:11.30 (8)
Anchor	–	Cristina Chiuso		–	0.37	28.67	1:00.48	1:32.61	2:04.00 (7)	– (–)
8	8	Greece	GRE	8:16.69	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Zoi Dimoschaki		–	0.83	29.65	1:00.40	1:31.68	2:02.33 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Marianna Lymperta		–	0.53	29.34	1:00.15	1:31.63	2:02.71 (6)	4:05.04 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Evi Tsagka		–	0.41	29.31	1:00.67	1:33.18	2:05.99 (8)	6:11.03 (7)
Anchor	–	Georgia Manoli		–	0.23	29.01	1:00.84	1:33.13	2:05.66 (8)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	11:49

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	100 m Time	150 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	4	United States	USA	8:00.81	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Lindsay Benko		–	0.77	28.54	58.64	1:29.76	2:00.73 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Rhi Jeffrey		–	0.44	29.14	1:00.17	1:31.24	2:01.46 (3)	4:02.19 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Carly Piper		–	0.49	27.66	57.89	1:28.81	1:59.37 (1)	6:01.56 (1)
Anchor	–	Rachel Komisarz		–	0.28	28.35	58.64	1:29.11	1:59.25 (1)	– (–)
2	3	Spain	ESP	8:03.67	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Tatiana Rouba		–	0.85	28.84	59.13	1:30.15	2:00.80 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Melissa Caballero		–	0.52	28.43	59.17	1:30.03	2:00.64 (1)	4:01.44 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Erika Villaécija		–	0.20	27.87	58.68	1:29.83	2:00.34 (3)	6:01.78 (2)
Anchor	–	Arantxa Ramos		–	0.38	29.03	59.77	1:31.04	2:01.89 (3)	– (–)
3	5	People's Republic of China	CHN	8:05.38	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Zhu Yingwen		–	0.79	28.29	58.79	1:30.03	2:00.89 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Li Ji		–	0.55	28.82	59.44	1:30.77	2:01.68 (4)	4:02.57 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Yang Yu		–	0.26	27.57	57.70	1:28.98	1:59.91 (2)	6:02.48 (3)
Anchor	–	Pang Jiaying		–	0.33	28.13	59.75	1:31.25	2:02.90 (5)	– (–)
4	6	Netherlands	NED	8:08.96	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Celina Lemmen		–	0.81	28.74	59.50	1:30.70	2:02.21 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Haike van Stralen		–	0.29	28.26	59.19	1:30.71	2:01.80 (5)	4:04.01 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Chantal Groot		–	0.36	27.53	58.17	1:30.77	2:02.87 (5)	6:06.88 (4)
Anchor	–	Marleen Veldhuis		–	0.29	28.50	59.62	1:30.70	2:02.08 (4)	– (–)
5	2	Romania	ROU	8:09.67	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Simona Păduraru		–	0.80	28.77	59.12	1:30.10	2:00.97 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Larisa Lăcusță		–	0.55	28.52	59.97	1:31.71	2:03.80 (8)	4:04.77 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Beatrice Căşlaru		–	0.63	28.91	1:00.21	1:32.43	2:04.20 (7)	6:08.97 (8)
Anchor	–	Camelia Potec		–	0.47	28.05	58.75	1:29.73	2:00.70 (2)	– (–)
6	7	Switzerland	SUI	8:10.41	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Chantal Strasser		–	0.94	29.07	59.73	1:31.40	2:02.90 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Hanna Miluska		–	0.05	27.87	58.86	1:30.91	2:02.75 (6)	4:05.65 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Nicole Zahnd		–	0.13	28.12	58.81	1:29.89	2:01.60 (4)	6:07.25 (5)
Anchor	–	Flavia Rigamonti		–	0.22	28.75	1:00.09	1:31.95	2:03.16 (6)	– (–)
7	1	New Zealand	NZL	8:14.76	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Helen Norfolk		–	0.73	29.11	59.21	1:30.30	2:01.89 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Alison Fitch		–	0.37	28.05	59.15	1:30.32	2:00.70 (2)	4:02.59 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Rebecca Linton		–	0.32	28.45	59.71	1:32.09	2:05.17 (8)	6:07.76 (6)
Anchor	–	Nathalie Bernard		–	0.26	28.61	59.79	1:32.69	2:07.00 (7)	– (–)
8	8	Slovenia	SLO	8:16.89	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Sara Isakovič		–	0.86	29.13	59.95	1:31.04	2:01.82 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Anja Klinar		–	0.20	28.88	1:00.25	1:31.94	2:03.44 (7)	4:05.26 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Anja Čarman		–	0.18	28.75	59.98	1:31.69	2:03.19 (6)	6:08.45 (7)
Anchor	–	Lavra Babič		–	0.40	29.41	1:01.69	1:34.72	2:08.44 (8)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	18 August 2004 — 21:01

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m Time	100 m Time	150 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	4	United States	USA	7:53.42	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Lead-off	–	Natalie Coughlin		–	0.69	27.93	58.49	1:28.11	1:57.74 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Carly Piper		–	0.52	27.98	57.99	1:28.81	1:59.39 (3)	3:57.13 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Dana Vollmer		–	0.29	27.73	57.67	1:28.20	1:58.12 (1)	5:55.25 (1)
Anchor	–	Kaitlin Sandeno		–	0.43	27.72	57.31	1:27.62	1:58.17 (2)	– (–)
2	7	People's Republic of China	CHN	7:55.97	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Zhu Yingwen		–	0.79	27.96	58.15	1:29.41	1:59.75 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Xu Yanwei		–	0.28	26.97	57.03	1:27.82	1:58.45 (1)	3:58.20 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Yang Yu		–	0.18	27.11	57.39	1:28.26	1:59.50 (3)	5:57.70 (2)
Anchor	–	Pang Jiaying		–	0.26	27.55	57.39	1:27.75	1:58.27 (3)	– (–)
3	6	Germany	GER	7:57.35	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Franziska van Almsick		–	0.83	27.66	57.63	1:28.70	1:59.61 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Petra Dallmann		–	0.34	27.90	58.69	1:29.62	2:00.06 (4)	3:59.67 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Antje Buschschulte		–	0.28	26.40	55.70	1:26.71	1:58.46 (2)	5:58.13 (3)
Anchor	–	Hannah Stockbauer		–	0.22	27.81	58.39	1:29.33	1:59.22 (6)	– (–)
4	3	Australia	AUS	7:57.40	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Alice Mills		–	0.75	27.87	58.19	1:29.52	2:00.38 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Elka Graham		–	0.45	27.76	58.12	1:28.78	1:59.18 (2)	3:59.56 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Shayne Reese		–	0.33	28.22	59.97	1:30.64	2:00.64 (5)	6:00.20 (4)
Anchor	–	Petria Thomas		–	0.24	27.22	57.03	1:27.36	1:57.20 (1)	– (–)
5	5	Great Britain	GBR	7:59.11	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Melanie Marshall		–	0.72	27.81	57.94	1:28.62	1:59.39 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Georgina Lee		–	0.17	27.92	58.08	1:29.47	2:00.50 (5)	3:59.89 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Caitlin McClatchey		–	0.18	28.52	58.99	1:30.04	2:00.48 (4)	6:00.37 (5)
Anchor	–	Karen Pickering		–	0.18	27.32	57.17	1:27.80	1:58.74 (4)	– (–)
6	2	Spain	ESP	8:02.11	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Tatiana Rouba		–	0.84	28.00	58.29	1:29.38	2:00.18 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Melissa Caballero		–	0.32	28.05	58.55	1:29.64	2:00.57 (6)	4:00.75 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Arantxa Ramos		–	0.38	28.87	59.65	1:31.09	2:02.32 (7)	6:03.07 (6)
Anchor	–	Erika Villaécija		–	0.10	27.54	57.77	1:28.92	1:59.04 (5)	– (–)
7	1	Brazil	BRA	8:05.29	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Joanna Maranhão		–	0.73	28.86	59.30	1:30.20	2:01.20 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Monique Ferreira		–	0.19	28.11	58.77	1:30.21	2:01.42 (7)	4:02.62 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Mariana Brochado		–	0.26	27.97	58.66	1:30.13	2:01.15 (6)	6:03.77 (7)
Anchor	–	Paula Baracho		–	0.31	28.32	59.15	1:30.31	2:01.52 (7)	– (–)
8	8	Sweden	SWE	8:08.34	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Josefin Lillhage		–	0.83	28.14	58.34	1:29.29	1:59.86 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Ida Mattsson		–	0.26	27.93	58.52	1:30.03	2:01.45 (8)	4:01.31 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Malin Svahnström		–	0.30	28.21	59.82	1:31.88	2:03.68 (8)	6:04.99 (8)
Anchor	–	Lotta Wänberg		–	0.47	28.83	1:00.00	1:31.64	2:03.35 (8)	– (–)