1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 4 × 100 m freestyle (women)

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Melbourne1956.jpg
sport swim
competition 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay
gender Women
place Swimming and Diving Stadium , Melbourne
Attendees 40 swimmers
from 10 nations
Competition phase December 4th and 6th, 1956
Medals Gold medal.svg AustraliaAustralia Australia United States South African Union
Silver medal.svg United States 48United States 
Bronze medal.svg South Africa 1928South African Union 

The relay competition for women’s 4 x 100 meter freestyle at the 1956 Olympic Games in the Australian metropolis of Melbourne was held on December 4th and 6th in the Swimming and Diving Stadium .

Participating Nations

A total of 44 swimmers from 10 nations took part in the competition.

Records

Existing records

World record AustraliaAustralia Australia
Lorraine Crapp , Dawn Fraser , Faith Leech and Margaret Gibson
4: 19.7 min Melbourne , Australia October 25, 1956
Olympic record Hungary 1949Hungary Hungary
Ilona Novák , Judit Temes , Éva Novák and Katalin Szőke
4: 24.4 min Helsinki , Finland August 1, 1952

New record

The following record was set during the competition:

date run Nation / name time record
6 Dec final AustraliaAustralia Australia
Dawn Fraser , Faith Leech , Sandra Morgan and Lorraine Crapp
4: 17.1 min OR / WR

Prelims

There were two preliminary runs on December 4th. The eight fastest seasons of both heats qualified for the final two days later.

Forward 1

rank nation Names time
1 South Africa 1928South African Union South African Union Natalie Myburgh (1: 07.3 min)
Susan Roberts (1: 06.5 min)
Moira Abernethy (1: 08.2 min)
Jeanette Myburgh (1: 04.8 min)
4: 26.8 min
2 United States 48United States United States Betty Brey (1: 07.9 min)
Nancy Simons (1: 05.5 min)
Kay Knapp (1: 08.2 min)
Marley Shriver (1: 05.7 min)
4: 27.3 min
3 Germany team all German 1956All-German team Germany Ingrid Künzel (1: 07.6 min)
Hertha Haase (1: 05.5 min)
Kati Jansen (1: 07.0 min)
Birgit Klomp (1: 07.4 min)
4: 27.5 min
4th United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom Frances Hogben (1: 08.3 min)
Judith Grinham (1: 08.6 min)
Margaret Girvan (1: 09.3 min)
Fearne Ewart (1: 07.4 min)
4: 34.6 min
5 France 1946Fourth French Republic France Odile Vouaux (1: 08.4 min)
Viviane Gouverneur (1: 10.4 min)
Ginette Jany-Sendral (1: 10.6 min)
Héda Frost (1: 07.2 min)
4: 36.6 min

Forward 2

rank nation Names time
1 AustraliaAustralia Australia Margaret Gibson (1: 06.4 min)
Sandra Morgan (1: 05.4 min)
Dawn Fraser (1: 07.3 min)
Faith Leech (1: 05.9 min)
4: 25.0 min
2 Hungary 1949Hungary Hungary Judit Temes (1: 07.1 min)
Mária Littomeritzky (1: 07.1 min)
Katalin Szőke (1: 07.0 min)
Valéria Gyenge (1: 06.9 min)
4: 28.1 min
3 Canada 1921Canada Canada Virginia Grant (1: 06.7 min)
Gladys Priestley (1: 07.7 min)
Sara Barber (1: 08.1 min)
Helen Stewart (1: 06.8 min)
4: 29.3 min
4th SwedenSweden Sweden Anita Hellström (1: 08.3 min)
Birgitta Wängberg (1: 07.7 min)
Karin Larsson (1: 07.4 min)
Kate Jobson (1: 06.7 min)
4: 30.1 min
5 Japan 1870Japan Japan Hitomi Jinno (1: 07.8 min)
Eiko Wada (1: 08.1 min)
Yoshiko Sato (1: 08.8 min)
Yukiko Otaka (1: 11.3 min)
4: 35.8 min

final

The winners: Sandra Morgan, Dawn Fraser, Lorraine Crapp and Faith Leech (from left)

The final took place on December 6th. The Australian relay set a new world record as well as a new Olympic record with 4: 17.1 minutes : it improved the world record time by 2.6 seconds and the Olympic record by 7.3 seconds.

rank nation Names time
1 AustraliaAustralia Australia Dawn Fraser (1: 04.0 min)
Faith Leech (1: 05.3 min)
Sandra Morgan (1: 04.7 min)
Lorraine Crapp (1: 03.1 min)
4: 17.1 min
world record
2 United States 48United States United States Sylvia Ruuska (1: 06.3 min)
Shelley Mann (1: 03.9 min)
Nancy Simons (1: 04.6 min)
Joan Rosazza (1: 04.4 min)
4: 19.2 min
3 South Africa 1928South African Union South African Union Natalie Myburgh (1: 07.7 min)
Susan Roberts (1: 05.3 min)
Moira Abernethy (1: 08.0 min)
Jeanette Myburgh (1: 04.7 min)
4: 25.7 min
4th Germany team all German 1956All-German team Germany Ingrid Künzel (1: 06.6 min)
Hertha Haase (1: 06.7 min)
Kati Jansen (1: 05.7 min)
Birgit Klomp (1: 07.1 min)
4: 26.1 min
5 Canada 1921Canada Canada Helen Stewart (1: 07.1 min)
Gladys Priestley (1: 07.1 min)
Sara Barber (1: 07.5 min)
Virginia Grant (1: 06.6 min)
4: 28.3 min
6th SwedenSweden Sweden Anita Hellström (1: 08.8 min)
Birgitta Wängberg (1: 07.7 min)
Karin Larsson (1: 07.4 min)
Kate Jobson (1: 06.1 min)
4: 30.0 min
7th Hungary 1949Hungary Hungary Mária Littomeritzky (1: 09.9 min)
Katalin Szőke (1: 06.7 min)
Judit Temes (1: 06.7 min)
Valéria Gyenge (1: 07.8 min)
4: 31.1 min
8th United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom Frances Hogben (1: 08.8 min)
Judith Grinham (1: 09.0 min)
Margaret Girvan (1: 09.4 min)
Fearne Ewart (1: 08.6 min)
4: 35.8 min

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