Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay
| Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
| Dates | September 16, 2000 (heats & final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 61 from 13 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 3:36.61 WR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| 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 |
The women's 4×100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 16 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
The U.S. women's team dominated the race from the start to break the six-year-old world record and most importantly, to defend an Olympic title in the event. The foursome of Amy Van Dyken (55.08), Dara Torres (53.51), Courtney Shealy (54.40), and Jenny Thompson (53.62) put together a stellar time of 3:36.61 to capture the relay gold medal, shaving off China's 1994 world record by 1.3 seconds. As the Americans celebrated their triumph in the pool, Thompson picked up her eighth career medal to become the nation's most successful woman in Olympic history. She also tied with former East Germany's Kristin Otto for the most golds by a female, a total of six.[2][3][4]
The Netherlands nearly pulled a worst-to-first effort, building from an eighth-place turn by Manon van Rooijen (56.35), seventh by Wilma van Rijn (55.19), and sixth by Thamar Henneken (54.88) until they delivered rising star Inge de Bruijn for the final exchange. Swimming the anchor leg, De Bruijn surged powerfully past the entire field with a fastest split of 53.41 to take home the silver for the Dutch in a European record of 3:39.83. Meanwhile, Sweden's Louise Jöhncke (55.93), Therese Alshammar (53.78), Johanna Sjöberg (55.06), and Anna-Karin Kammerling (55.58) came up with a spectacular swim to grab a bronze in 3:40.30, a national record, holding off a sprint battle from the fast-pacing German team of Antje Buschschulte (55.67), Katrin Meissner (54.92), Franziska van Almsick (55.02), and Sandra Völker (54.70) by a hundredth of a second.[5][6][7]
Great Britain's Karen Pickering (56.01), Alison Sheppard (54.95), Rosalind Brett (54.92), and Sue Rolph (54.66) pulled off a fifth-place finish in 3:40.54. Susie O'Neill recorded a split of 54.79 to produce a powerful lead on the first length by the delight of a home crowd, but the Aussies settled only for sixth place with a time of 3:40.91. Canada (3:42.92) and Italy (3:44.49) rounded out the championship finale.[7]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Le Ying (54.31) Shan Ying (54.38) Lü Bin (55.09) Le Jingyi (54.13) | 3:37.91 | Rome, Italy | 7 September 1994 |
| Olympic record |  Angel Martino (55.34) Amy Van Dyken (53.91) Catherine Fox (55.93) Jenny Thompson (54.11) | 3:39.29 | Atlanta, United States | 22 July 1996 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 16 | Final | Amy Van Dyken (55.08) Dara Torres (53.51) Courtney Shealy (54.40) Jenny Thompson (53.62) | | 3:36.61 | WR |
Results
Heats
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Final
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time behind | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | | Amy Van Dyken (55.08) Dara Torres (53.51) Courtney Shealy (54.40) Jenny Thompson (53.62) | 3:36.61 | WR | |
 | 5 |  | Manon van Rooijen (56.35) Wilma van Rijn (55.19) Thamar Henneken (54.88) Inge de Bruijn (53.41) | 3:39.83 | 3.22 | EU |
 | 7 |  | Louise Jöhncke (55.93) Therese Alshammar (53.78) Johanna Sjöberg (55.06) Anna-Karin Kammerling (55.53) | 3:40.30 | 3.69 | NR |
| 4 | 6 |  | Antje Buschschulte (55.67) Katrin Meissner (54.92) Franziska van Almsick (55.02) Sandra Völker (54.70) | 3:40.31 | 3.70 | NR |
| 5 | 3 |  | Karen Pickering (56.01) Alison Sheppard (54.95) Rosalind Brett (54.92) Sue Rolph (54.66) | 3:40.54 | 3.93 | |
| 6 | 2 |  | Susie O'Neill (54.79) Sarah Ryan (54.80) Elka Graham (55.57) Giaan Rooney (55.75) | 3:40.91 | 4.30 | |
| 7 | 1 |  | Marianne Limpert (56.32) Shannon Shakespeare (55.10) Laura Nicholls (55.30) Jessica Deglau (56.20) | 3:42.92 | 6.31 | |
| 8 | 8 |  | Cecilia Vianini (55.96) Luisa Striani (56.22) Sara Parise (55.88) Cristina Chiuso (56.43) | 3:44.49 | 7.88 |
References
- ↑ "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ↑ Harris, Beth (16 September 2000). "Thorpe Sets World Mark, Thompson Wins 6th Gold". ABC News. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ↑ Longman, Jere (17 September 2000). "Sydney 2000: Swimming; Australia Aglow As Young Star Gets Two Golds". New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ↑ "Klochkova sets the gold standard". BBC Sport. 16 September 2000. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ↑ "U.S. men lose relay for first time". ESPN. 16 September 2000. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ↑ "Five world records broken on first day of swimming". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 16 September 2000. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- 1 2 Whitten, Phillip (16 September 2000). "Olympic Day 1 Finals (Complete)". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ↑
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