Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay
| Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
| Date | September 22, 2000 (heats) September 23, 2000 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 81 from 18 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 3:58.30 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 medley relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
The U.S. women's team established a new world record to defend their Olympic title in the event for the third consecutive streak. Leading the race from the start, Barbara Bedford (1:01.39), Megan Quann (1:06.29), Jenny Thompson (57.25), and Dara Torres (53.37) put together in a sterling time of 3:58.30 to clear the four-minute barrier and to smash China's six-year-old world record by 3.37 seconds.[2][3] Capturing another relay title for the Americans, Thompson also picked up her eighth gold medal and tenth career as the nation's most successful female athlete in Olympic history.[4][5]
The Aussie team of Dyana Calub (1:01.83), Leisel Jones (1:08.08), Petria Thomas (57.39), and Susie O'Neill (54.29) finished behind their greatest rivals by over three seconds, but powered home with the silver in an Oceanian record of 4:01.59. Meanwhile, Japan's Mai Nakamura (1:02.08), Masami Tanaka (1:08.65), Junko Onishi (58.72), and Sumika Minamoto (54.71) moved from fifth at the start to produce a spectacular fashion for the bronze in a national record of 4:04.16, holding off a mighty German team of Antje Buschschulte (1:02.05), Sylvia Gerasch (1:08.67), Franziska van Almsick (59.67), and Katrin Meissner (54.04) by 17-hundredths of a second, a time of 4:04.33.[6][7]
South Africa's Charlene Wittstock (1:02.74), Sarah Poewe (1:07.83), Mandy Loots (59.81), and Helene Muller (54.77) established an African standard to strike the field with a fifth-place effort in 4:05.15. Canada (4:07.55), Great Britain (4:07.61), and China (4:07.83) completed a close finish at the rear of the championship finale.[7]
Records[edit]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  China (CHN)He Cihong (1:00.16) Dai Guohong (1:09.04) Liu Limin (58.66) Le Jingyi (53.81) |
4:01.67 | Rome, Italy | 10 September 1994 | [8] |
| Olympic record |  United States (USA)Lea Loveless (1:00.82) Anita Nall (1:08.67) Crissy Ahmann-Leighton (58.58) Jenny Thompson (54.47) |
4:02.54 | Barcelona, Spain | 30 July 1992 | [8] |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 23 | Final | Barbara Bedford (1:01.39) Megan Quann (1:06.29) Jenny Thompson (57.25) Dara Torres (53.37) |
United States |
3:58.30 | WR |
Results[edit]
Heats[edit]
Final[edit]
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time behind | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
6 | United States |
Barbara Bedford (1:01.39) Megan Quann (1:06.29) Jenny Thompson (57.25) Dara Torres (53.37) |
3:58.30 | WR | |
 |
4 |  Australia |
Dyana Calub (1:01.83) Leisel Jones (1:08.08) Petria Thomas (57.39) Susie O'Neill (54.29) |
4:01.59 | 3.29 | OC |
 |
5 |  Japan |
Mai Nakamura (1:02.08) Masami Tanaka (1:08.65) Junko Onishi (58.72) Sumika Minamoto (54.71) |
4:04.16 | 5.86 | NR |
| 4 | 3 |  Germany |
Antje Buschschulte (1:02.05) Sylvia Gerasch (1:08.57) Franziska van Almsick (59.67) Katrin Meissner (54.04) |
4:04.33 | 6.03 | NR |
| 5 | 2 |  South Africa |
Charlene Wittstock (1:02.74) Sarah Poewe (1:07.83) Mandy Loots (59.81) Helene Muller (54.77) |
4:05.15 | 6.85 | AF |
| 6 | 8 |  Canada |
Kelly Stefanyshyn (1:02.73) Christin Petelski (1:09.14) Jen Button (1:00.13) Marianne Limpert (55.55) |
4:07.55 | 9.23 | NR |
| 7 | 7 |  Great Britain |
Katy Sexton (1:02.05) Heidi Earp (1:10.25) Sue Rolph (1:00.05) Karen Pickering (55.26) |
4:07.61 | 9.31 | NR |
| 8 | 1 |  China |
Zhan Shu (1:02.70) Qi Hui (1:09.40) Liu Limin (59.33) Han Xue (56.40) |
4:07.83 | 9.53 |
References[edit]
- ^ "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Frank (23 September 2000). "U.S. Swimmers Didn't Take A Back Seat Australia Was Expected To Dominate In The Pool At This Olympics. The Americans Proved That Wrong". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ Clarey, Christopher (23 September 2000). "Sydney 2000: Swimming; U.S. Makes Biggest, and the Final, Waves". New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ "More gold: U.S. medley teams race to world records". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 23 September 2000. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ "Thompson wins eighth gold medal". ESPN. 22 September 2000. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ Betti, Leeroy (25 September 2000). "Japan improves record in the pool". The Japan Times. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ a b Whitten, Phillip (23 September 2000). "Olympic Day 8 Finals – Complete". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ a b c "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 4×100m Medley Relay Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 366–367. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
