# Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on 25 July at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, United States. This event was officially included to the women's swimming program for the first time in Olympic history.

## 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 | Inaugural event | — | — | — |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 25 July | Heat 2 | Lisa Jacob (2:01.31) Ashley Whitney (2:01.77) Sheila Taormina (2:00.57) Annette Salmeen (2:01.34) | United States | 8:04.99 | OR |
| 25 July | Final | Trina Jackson (1:59.71) Cristina Teuscher (1:58.86) Sheila Taormina (2:01.29) Jenny Thompson (2:00.01) | United States | 7:59.87 | OR |

## Results
### Heats

Rule: The eight fastest teams advance to the final (Q).
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | United States | Lisa Jacob (2:01.31) Ashley Whitney (2:01.77) Sheila Taormina (2:00.57) Annette Salmeen (2:01.34) | 8:04.99 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | Germany | Simone Osygus (2:03.45) Meike Freitag (2:02.36) Anke Scholz (2:02.14) Franziska van Almsick (2:00.63) | 8:08.58 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | 5 | Australia | Julia Greville (2:01.48) Lise Mackie (2:03.75) Emma Johnson (2:02.65) Susie O'Neill (2:01.45) | 8:09.33 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 5 | Japan | Eri Yamanoi (2:02.64) Naoko Imoto (2:01.88) Aiko Miyake (2:04.52) Suzu Chiba (2:00.42) | 8:09.46 | Q, NR |
| 5 | 3 | 6 | Romania | Luminița Dobrescu (2:01.50) Loredana Zisu (2:05.05) Lorena Diaconescu (2:02.25) Carla Negrea (2:01.97) | 8:10.77 | Q, NR |
| 6 | 2 | 5 | Canada | Joanne Malar (2:04.10) Sophie Simard (2:02.94) Marianne Limpert (2:02.90) Jessica Deglau (2:02.09) | 8:12.03 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 3 | Netherlands | Minouche Smit (2:03.27) Patricia Stokkers (2:03.35) Karin Brienesse (2:04.06) Carla Geurts (2:02.10) | 8:12.78 | Q, NR |
| 8 | 1 | 4 | China | Chen Yan (2:03.63) Pu Yiqi (2:04.49) Wang Luna (2:03.16) Nian Yun (2:02.01) | 8:13.29 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 3 | Sweden | Louise Jöhncke (2:02.73) Johanna Sjöberg (2:03.04) Josefin Lillhage (2:03.85) Åsa Sandlund (2:04.02) | 8:13.64 | |
| 10 | 2 | 6 | Great Britain | Claire Huddart (2:05.34) Vicky Horner (2:03.11) Janine Belton (2:04.10) Karen Pickering (2:02.37) | 8:14.92 | NR |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | New Zealand | Sarah Catherwood (2:03.66) Alison Fitch (2:03.30) Anna Wilson (2:05.83) Dionne Bainbridge (2:02.19) | 8:14.98 | |
| 12 | 3 | 2 | Russia | Tatyana Litovchenko (2:04.96) Inna Yaitskaya (2:04.31) Yelena Nazemnova (2:04.27) Nadezhda Chemezova (2:02.52) | 8:16.06 | |
| 13 | 3 | 3 | Denmark | Ditte Jensen (2:04.89) Britta Vestergaard (2:04.44) Britt Raaby (2:03.98) Berit Puggaard (2:03.01) | 8:16.32 | |
| 14 | 1 | 6 | France | Marianne Le Verge (2:05.33) Hélène Ricardo (2:05.50) Laëtitia Choux (2:04.90) Solenne Figuès (2:03.17) | 8:18.90 | |
| 15 | 3 | 1 | Czech Republic | Hana Černá (2:02.95) Kristýna Kyněrová (2:03.31) Pavla Chrástová (2:08.02) Olga Šplíchalová (2:06.91) | 8:21.19 | NR |
| 16 | 1 | 2 | Switzerland | Sandrine Paquier (2:05.39) Dominique Diezi (2:05.38) Nicole Zahnd (2:06.10) Chantal Strasser (2:04.68) | 8:21.55 | NR |
| 17 | 1 | 7 | Belarus | Sviatlana Zhidko (2:04.89) Inga Borodich (2:06.27) Natalya Baranovskaya (2:05.87) Alena Popchanka (2:04.67) | 8:21.70 | NR |
| 18 | 2 | 1 | South Korea | Jeong Eun-na (2:06.15) Lee Bo-eun (2:04.32) Lee Jie-hyun (2:05.18) Seo So-yung (2:07.25) | 8:22.90 | |
| 19 | 2 | 7 | Chinese Taipei | Tsai Shu-min (2:04.61) Chang Wei-chia (2:08.07) Hsieh Shu-ting (2:09.12) Lin Chi-chan (2:05.81) | 8:27.61 | |
| 20 | 3 | 7 | Kyrgyzstan | Viktoriya Poleyayeva (2:09.68) Olga Titova (2:13.11) Olga Korotayeva (2:11.55) Olga Bogatyreva (2:11.42) | 8:45.76 | |
| 21 | 1 | 1 | Argentina | María del Pilar Pereyra (2:09.42) Alicia Barrancos (2:08.43) Valeria Álvarez (2:12.25) María Bertelloti (2:16.26) | 8:46.36 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | United States | Trina Jackson (1:59.71) Cristina Teuscher (1:58.86) Sheila Taormina (2:01.29) Jenny Thompson (2:00.01) | 7:59.87 | OR |
| | 5 | Germany | Franziska van Almsick (1:58.14) Kerstin Kielgaß (2:00.86) Anke Scholz (2:02.47) Dagmar Hase (2:00.08) | 8:01.55 | |
| | 3 | Australia | Julia Greville (2:01.06) Nicole Stevenson (2:03.23) Emma Johnson (2:01.21) Susie O'Neill (1:59.97) | 8:05.47 | |
| 4 | 6 | Japan | Eri Yamanoi (2:01.03) Naoko Imoto (2:01.47) Aiko Miyake (2:04.07) Suzu Chiba (2:00.89) | 8:07.46 | NR |
| 5 | 7 | Canada | Marianne Limpert (2:03.09) Shannon Shakespeare (2:00.72) Andrea Schwartz (2:02.01) Jessica Deglau (2:02.34) | 8:08.16 | |
| 6 | 1 | Netherlands | Carla Geurts (2:01.53) Patricia Stokkers (2:03.00) Minouche Smit (2:02.05) Kirsten Vlieghuis (2:01.90) | 8:08.48 | NR |
| 7 | 2 | Romania | Luminița Dobrescu (2:01.40) Loredana Zisu (2:03.20) Lorena Diaconescu (2:02.07) Carla Negrea (2:03.35) | 8:10.02 | NR |
| 8 | 8 | China | Nian Yun (2:03.32) Wang Luna (2:02.58) Chen Yan (2:02.08) Shan Ying (2:07.40) | 8:15.38 | |