Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay
| Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
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| Venue | Olympic Aquatics Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | 6 August 2016 (heats & final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 71 from 16 nations | |||||||||
| Teams | 16 | |||||||||
| Winning time | 3:30.65 WR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
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 AustraliaBrittany Elmslie, Bronte Campbell, Cate Campbell, Emma McKeon, Madison Wilson* |
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 United StatesKatie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil, Dana Vollmer, Amanda Weir*, Lia Neal*, Allison Schmitt* |
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 CanadaChantal Van Landeghem, Sandrine Mainville, Taylor Ruck, Penny Oleksiak, Michelle Williams* *Indicates the swimmer only competed in the preliminary heats. |
The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 6 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
As expected, the Australian women's team solidified its triumph to set a new world record and defend the Olympic title in one of the program's freestyle relay races with the help of sterling final legs from sisters Bronte and Cate Campbell. Trailing half of the race with a marginal lead from the Americans, Bronte booted the Australians to the front with a third-leg split of 52.15, before her sister Cate (51.97) put on a fastest finish at the anchor leg to deliver the foursome of Emma McKeon (53.41) and Brittany Elmslie (53.12) a gold-medal time in 3:30.65. Moreover, they managed to break their own world record by just a third of a second (3:30.98), set at the Commonwealth Games two years earlier.
The U.S. team of Simone Manuel (53.36) and Abbey Weitzeil (52.56) handed Dana Vollmer the third-leg duties to maintain their lead, but Vollmer's split of 53.18 was just almost a second behind Bronte Campbell that pushed Australia to the front. As Katie Ledecky dove into the pool at the final exchange with a split of 52.79, she could not catch Cate Campbell near the wall to leave the Americans with a silver medal in 3:31.89. Meanwhile, Sandrine Mainville (53.86), Chantal Van Landeghem (53.12), Taylor Ruck (53.19), and Penny Oleksiak (52.72) ended Canada's 20-year medal drought for the female swimmers by taking home the bronze in 3:32.89.
The Dutch quartet of Marrit Steenbergen (54.29), Femke Heemskerk (53.47), Inge Dekker (53.85), and three-time gold medalist Ranomi Kromowidjojo (52.20) fell short of the medal podium with a fourth-place time in 3:33.81, while Sweden (3:35.90), Italy (3:36.78), France (3:37.45), and Japan (3:37.78) also vied for an Olympic medal.
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