Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay
The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay took place on 15 August at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece.[1]
| Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Olympic Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
| Dates | August 15, 2004 (heats & final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 75 from 16 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 3:13.17 WR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
The South African team (Roland Mark Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend, and Ryk Neethling) set a new world record of 3:13.17 to solidify their country's triumph with a gold medal in the event. Defending Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband swam a fastest split of 46.79 to take the silver for the Dutch in a national record of 3:14.36, leaving the U.S. team of Ian Crocker, Michael Phelps, Neil Walker, and Jason Lezak with the bronze in 3:14.62, their worst result in Olympic history.[2][3]
Records edit
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Australia (AUS)Michael Klim (48.18) Chris Fydler (48.48) Ashley Callus (48.71) Ian Thorpe (48.30) |
3:13.67 | Sydney, Australia | 17 September 2000 |
| Olympic record | Australia (AUS) Michael Klim (48.18) Chris Fydler (48.48) Ashley Callus (48.71) Ian Thorpe (48.30) |
3:13.67 | Sydney, Australia | 17 September 2000 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 15 | Final | Roland Mark Schoeman (48.17) Lyndon Ferns (48.13) Darian Townsend (48.96) Ryk Neethling (47.91) |
 South Africa |
3:13.17 | WR |
Results edit
Heats edit
Final edit
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time behind | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | South Africa |
Roland Mark Schoeman (48.17) AF Lyndon Ferns (48.13) Darian Townsend (48.96) Ryk Neethling (47.91) |
3:13.17 | WR | |
 |
6 |  Netherlands |
Johan Kenkhuis (49.81) Mitja Zastrow (49.25) Klaas-Erik Zwering (48.51) Pieter van den Hoogenband (46.79) |
3:14.36 | 1.19 | NR |
 |
5 |  United States |
Ian Crocker (50.05) Michael Phelps (48.74) Neil Walker (47.97) Jason Lezak (47.86) |
3:14.62 | 1.45 | |
| 4 | 2 |  Russia |
Andrey Kapralov (49.27) Yevgeny Lagunov (49.17) Denis Pimankov (49.25) Alexander Popov (48.06) |
3:15.75 | 2.68 | |
| 3 |  Italy |
Lorenzo Vismara (49.16) Filippo Magnini (48.30) Michele Scarica (49.21) Christian Galenda (49.08) |
||||
| 6 | 1 | Australia |
Michael Klim (49.37) Todd Pearson (49.07) Eamon Sullivan (49.19) Ian Thorpe (48.14) |
3:15.77 | 2.70 | |
| 7 | 7 |  France |
Romain Barnier (49.65) Julien Sicot (49.31) Fabien Gilot (48.95) Frédérick Bousquet (48.32) |
3:16.23 | 3.06 | |
| 8 | 8 |  Germany |
Jens Schreiber (49.88) Lars Conrad (48.72) Torsten Spanneberg (49.24) Stefan Herbst (49.34) |
3:17.18 | 4.01 |
References edit
- ^ "Swimming schedule". BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- ^ "South African Men Take a Historic Relay Victory in 400 free – Smash World Record". Swimming World Magazine. 15 August 2004. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ^ Zinser, Lynn (16 August 2012). "Olympics: Swimming; South Africa's Relay Upset Leaves U.S. and Phelps 3rd". New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2013.