Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay
# Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

## Records

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 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 |

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 |

## Results

### Heats

| Rank | Heat | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Australia | Brittany Elmslie (1:57.50) Angie Bainbridge (1:57.70) Jade Neilsen (1:57.25) Blair Evans (1:56.99) | 7:49.44 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | United States | Lauren Perdue (1:58.07) Shannon Vreeland (1:57.04) Alyssa Anderson (1:57.33) Dana Vollmer (1:58.31) | 7:50.75 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Canada | Barbara Jardin (1:57.76) Samantha Cheverton (1:57.38) Amanda Reason (1:58.51) Brittany MacLean (1:57.19) | 7:50.84 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 6 | Italy | Alice Mizzau (1:57.95) Alice Nesti (1:59.80) Diletta Carli (1:58.54) Federica Pellegrini (1:56.46) | 7:52.75 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | 3 | France | Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne (1:58.43) Margaux Farrell (2:00.06) Mylène Lazare (1:58.82) Camille Muffat (1:55.57) | 7:52.88 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 5 | China | Zhu Qianwei (1:59.23) Liu Jing (1:58.00) Chen Qian (1:58.17) Pang Jiaying (1:58.26) | 7:53.66 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 6 | Great Britain | Caitlin McClatchey (1:58.22) Rebecca Turner (1:57.87) Ellie Faulkner (1:59.36) Joanne Jackson (1:58.86) | 7:54.31 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 2 | Japan | Haruka Ueda (1:57.70) Hanae Ito (1:58.12) Yayoi Matsumoto (1:59.67) Aya Takano (1:59.07) | 7:54.56 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 3 | Hungary | Ágnes Mutina (2:00.06) Zsuzsanna Jakabos (1:57.59) Katinka Hosszú (1:57.84) Evelyn Verrasztó (1:59.09) | 7:54.58 | |
| 10 | 1 | 1 | Spain | Melania Costa Schmid (1:57.66) Patricia Castro (1:58.09) Lydia Morant (1:59.66) Mireia Belmonte García (1:59.18) | 7:54.59 | NR |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | New Zealand | Natasha Hind (1:58.79) Samantha Lucie-Smith (1:58.89) Amaka Gessler (1:59.03) Melissa Ingram (1:59.21) | 7:55.92 | NR |
| 12 | 1 | 7 | Russia | Mariya Baklakova (2:00.75) Elena Sokolova (1:58.33) Veronika Popova (1:58.48) Daria Belyakina (1:58.94) | 7:56.50 | |
| 13 | 2 | 7 | Germany | Silke Lippok (1:58.43) Theresa Michalak (2:00.65) Annika Bruhn (1:59.61) Daniela Schreiber (2:00.24) | 7:58.93 | |
| 14 | 2 | 1 | Slovenia | Sara Isaković (1:59.58) Anja Klinar (2:00.53) Urša Bežan (2:01.92) Mojca Sagmeister (2:02.66) | 8:04.69 | |
| 15 | 1 | 8 | Ukraine | Daryna Zevina (1:59.68) Ganna Dzerkal (2:04.68) Darya Stepanyuk (2:05.49) Iryna Glavnyk (2:02.82) | 8:12.67 | |
| 16 | 2 | 8 | Poland | Katarzyna Wilk (2:05.46) Karolina Szczepaniak (2:02.99) Diana Sokołowska (2:01.45) Alexandra Putra (2:03.86) | 8:13.76 | |

### Final

| 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 | |
