# Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay took place on 18 August at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece.
The U.S. women's swimming team (Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer, and Kaitlin Sandeno) broke the oldest world record in the book, when they clocked at 7:53.42, slashing 2.05 seconds off the old, mark set by the East Germans exactly 17 years ago. Leading off the race, Coughlin swam a fastest split and a personal best of 1:57.74, which became quicker than a gold-medal performance of 1:58.03 set by Romania's Camelia Potec in the individual 200 m freestyle.
With Team USA taking its third straight title since the event's Olympic debut in 1996, China made a surprise packet with a silver medal, in an Asian record of 7:55.97. Meanwhile, the unified Germans held off the Aussies for the bronze in 7:57.35, 45-hundredths of a second under an old Olympic record set by Team USA in 2000. Despite missing the podium by 0.05 of a second, the Australians broke their national record of 7:57.40 to settle only for fourth place.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | East Germany (GDR) Manuela Stellmach (2:00.23) Astrid Strauss (1:58.90) Anke Möhring (1:58.73) Heike Friedrich (1:57.61) | 7:55.47 | Strasbourg, France | 18 August 1987 |
| Olympic record | United States (USA) Samantha Arsenault (1:59.92) Diana Munz (1:59.19) Lindsay Benko (1:59.34) Jenny Thompson (1:59.35) | 7:57.80 | Sydney, Australia | 20 September 2000 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| August 18 | Final | Natalie Coughlin (1:57.74) Carly Piper (1:59.39) Dana Vollmer (1:58.12) Kaitlin Sandeno (1:58.17) | United States | 7:53.42 | WR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Heat | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | United States | Lindsay Benko (2:00.73) Rhi Jeffrey (2:01.46) Carly Piper (1:59.37) Rachel Komisarz (1:59.25) | 8:00.81 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 5 | Great Britain | Karen Pickering (2:00.90) Joanne Jackson (2:00.89) Caitlin McClatchey (2:00.65) Melanie Marshall (1:59.33) | 8:01.77 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 4 | Australia | Shayne Reese (2:00.13) Elka Graham (1:58.83) Linda Mackenzie (2:00.55) Giaan Rooney (2:02.34) | 8:01.85 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 2 | Germany | Petra Dallmann (2:00.78) Janina Götz (2:00.87) Hannah Stockbauer (2:00.35) Sara Harstick (2:01.22) | 8:03.22 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | Spain | Tatiana Rouba (2:00.80) Melissa Caballero (2:00.64) Erika Villaécija (2:00.34) Arantxa Ramos (2:01.89) | 8:03.67 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 5 | China | Zhu Yingwen (2:00.89) Li Ji (2:01.68) Yang Yu (1:59.91) Pang Jiaying (2:02.90) | 8:05.38 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 1 | Brazil | Joanna Melo (2:01.38) Monique Ferreira (2:01.40) Mariana Brochado (2:01.68) Paula Baracho (2:01.12) | 8:05.58 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | Sweden | Ida Mattsson (2:02.46) Josefin Lillhage (1:59.19) Lotta Wanberg (2:02.85) Johanna Sjöberg (2:02.67) | 8:07.17 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 6 | Netherlands | Celina Lemmen (2:02.21) Haike van Stralen (2:01.80) Chantal Groot (2:02.87) Marleen Veldhuis (2:02.08) | 8:08.96 | |
| 10 | 1 | 6 | France | Céline Couderc (2:02.50) Elsa N'Guessan (2:03.26) Katarin Quelennec (2:03.56) Solenne Figuès (2:00.10) | 8:09.42 | |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | Romania | Simona Păduraru (2:00.97) Larisa Lăcustă (2:03.80) Beatrice Câșlaru (2:04.20) Camelia Potec (2:00.70) | 8:09.67 | |
| 12 | 2 | 7 | Switzerland | Chantal Strasser (2:02.90) Hanna Miluska (2:02.75) Nicole Zahnd (2:01.60) Flavia Rigamonti (2:03.16) | 8:10.41 | |
| 13 | 2 | 1 | New Zealand | Helen Norfolk (2:01.89) Alison Fitch (2:00.70) Rebecca Linton (2:05.17) Nathalie Bernard (2:07.00) | 8:14.76 | |
| 14 | 1 | 7 | Italy | Alessia Filippi (2:04.09) Sara Parise (2:03.69) Cecilia Vianini (2:03.52) Cristina Chiuso (2:04.00) | 8:15.30 | |
| 15 | 1 | 8 | Greece | Zoi Dimoschaki (2:02.33) Marianna Lymperta (2:02.71) Evangelia Tsagka (2:05.99) Georgia Manoli (2:05.66) | 8:16.69 | |
| 16 | 2 | 8 | Slovenia | Sara Isaković (2:01.82) Anja Klinar (2:03.44) Anja Čarman (2:03.19) Lavra Babič (2:08.44) | 8:16.89 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time behind | Notes |
| | 4 | United States | Natalie Coughlin (1:57.74) Carly Piper (1:59.39) Dana Vollmer (1:58.12) Kaitlin Sandeno (1:58.17) | 7:53.42 | | WR |
| | 7 | China | Zhu Yingwen (1:59.75) Xu Yanwei (1:58.45) Yang Yu (1:59.50) Pang Jiaying (1:58.27) | 7:55.97 | 2.55 | AS |
| | 6 | Germany | Franziska van Almsick (1:59.61) Petra Dallmann (2:00.06) Antje Buschschulte (1:58.46) Hannah Stockbauer (1:59.22) | 7:57.35 | 3.93 | |
| 4 | 3 | Australia | Alice Mills (2:00.38) Elka Graham (1:59.18) Shayne Reese (2:00.64) Petria Thomas (1:57.20) | 7:57.40 | 3.98 | OC |
| 5 | 5 | Great Britain | Melanie Marshall (1:59.39) Georgina Lee (2:00.50) Caitlin McClatchey (2:00.48) Karen Pickering (1:58.74) | 7:59.11 | 5.69 | |
| 6 | 2 | Spain | Tatiana Rouba (2:00.18) Melissa Caballero (2:00.57) Arantxa Ramos (2:02.32) Erika Villaécija (1:59.04) | 8:02.11 | 8.69 | |
| 7 | 1 | Brazil | Joanna Melo (2:01.20) Monique Ferreira (2:01.42) Mariana Brochado (2:01.15) Paula Baracho (2:01.52) | 8:05.29 | 11.87 | |
| 8 | 8 | Sweden | Josefin Lillhage (1:59.86) Ida Mattsson (2:01.45) Malin Svahnström (2:03.68) Lotta Wanberg (2:03.35) | 8:08.34 | 14.92 | |