| Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | London Aquatics Centre | |||||||||
| Dates | August 1, 2012 (heats & final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 84 from 16 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 7:42.92 OR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
← 2008
2016 →
| ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Qualification | ||
| Freestyle | ||
| 50 m | men | women |
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 800 m | women | |
| 1500 m | men | |
| Backstroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Breaststroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Butterfly | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Individual medley | ||
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| Freestyle relay | ||
| 4 × 100 m | men | women |
| 4 × 200 m | men | women |
| Medley relay | ||
| 4 × 100 m | men | women |
| Marathon | ||
| 10 km | men | women |
|
| ||
The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1 August at the London Aquatics CentreinLondon, United Kingdom.[1]
The U.S. women's team smashed a new Olympic record to recapture their freestyle relay title with the help of a sterling anchor leg from Allison Schmitt. Trailing throughout most of the race with a back-to-back lead from Australia and France before the final exchange, Schmitt demolished the field with a remarkable split of 1:54.09 to deliver the American foursome of Missy Franklin (1:55.96), Dana Vollmer (1:56.02), and Shannon Vreeland (1:56.85) a gold medal and an Olympic record in 7:42.92.[2][3]
Australia's Bronte Barratt (1:55.76), Melanie Schlanger (1:55.62), and Kylie Palmer (1:56.91) handed Alicia Coutts the anchor duties at the final exchange with a 0.54-second lead, but Coutts' split of 1:56.12 was just over a full-body length behind Schmitt's stunning anchor, leaving them with a silver medal in 7:44.41.[4][5] Meanwhile, the fantastic French quartet of Camille Muffat (1:55.51), Charlotte Bonnet (1:57.78), Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne (1:58.05), and Coralie Balmy (1:56.15) took home the bronze in 7:47.49.[6][7]
Canada's Barbara Jardin (1:57.96), Samantha Cheverton (1:56.91), Amanda Reason (1:59.32), and Brittany MacLean (1:56.46) missed the podium with a fourth-place time in 7:50.65, while Great Britain's home favorite foursome of Caitlin McClatchey (1:58.66), Rebecca Turner (1:57.39), Hannah Miley (1:58.12), and Joanne Jackson (1:58.20) struggled to mount a challenge in an Olympic-medal race as they finished fifth in 7:52.37.[8][9] China (7:53.11), led by medley double champion Ye Shiwen, Italy (7:56.30), and Japan (7:56.73) rounded out the championship finale.[7]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  China (CHN)Yang Yu (1:55.47) Zhu Qianwei (1:55.79) Liu Jing (1:56.09) Pang Jiaying (1:54.73) |
7:42.08 | Rome, Italy | 30 July 2009 | [10][11] |
| Olympic record |  Australia (AUS)Stephanie Rice (1:56.60) Bronte Barratt (1:56.58) Kylie Palmer (1:55.22) Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91) |
7:44.31 | Beijing, China | 14 August 2008 | [12] |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1 | Final | Missy Franklin (1:55.96) Dana Vollmer (1:56.02) Shannon Vreeland (1:56.85) Allison Schmitt (1:54.09) |
 United States |
7:42.92 | OR |
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time Behind | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
5 | United States |
Missy Franklin (1:55.96) Dana Vollmer (1:56.02) Shannon Vreeland (1:56.85) Allison Schmitt (1:54.09) |
7:42.92 | OR | |
 |
4 | Australia |
Bronte Barratt (1:55.76) Melanie Schlanger (1:55.62) Kylie Palmer (1:56.91) Alicia Coutts (1:56.12) |
7:44.41 | 1.49 | |
 |
2 |  France |
Camille Muffat (1:55.51) Charlotte Bonnet (1:57.78) Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne (1:58.05) Coralie Balmy (1:56.15) |
7:47.49 | 4.57 | NR |
| 4 | 3 |  Canada |
Barbara Jardin (1:57.96) Samantha Cheverton (1:56.91) Amanda Reason (1:59.32) Brittany MacLean (1:56.46) |
7:50.65 | 7.73 | |
| 5 | 1 |  Great Britain |
Caitlin McClatchey (1:58.66) Rebecca Turner (1:57.39) Hannah Miley (1:58.12) Joanne Jackson (1:58.20) |
7:52.37 | 9.45 | |
| 6 | 7 |  China |
Wang Shijia (1:58.32) Ye Shiwen (1:57.37) Liu Jing (1:59.51) Tang Yi (1:57.91) |
7:53.11 | 10.19 | |
| 7 | 6 |  Italy |
Alice Mizzau (1:58.93) Alice Nesti (2:00.03) Diletta Carli (1:59.73) Federica Pellegrini (1:57.61) |
7:56.30 | 13.38 | |
| 8 | 8 |  Japan |
Haruka Ueda (1:58.23) Hanae Ito (1:58.26) Yayoi Matsumoto (2:00.82) Aya Takano (1:59.42) |
7:56.73 | 13.81 |
