Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay

Women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Venue Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Date 24 September 1988 (heats & final)
Competitors 72 from 18 nations
Winning time 4:03.74 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  East Germany (GDR)
Kristin Otto, Silke Hörner, Birte Weigang, Katrin Meissner, Cornelia Sirch*, Manuela Stellmach*
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  United States (USA)
Beth Barr, Tracey McFarlane, Janel Jorgensen, Mary Wayte, Betsy Mitchell*, Mary T. Meagher*, Dara Torres*
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Canada (CAN)
Lori Melien, Allison Higson, Jane Kerr, Andrea Nugent, Keltie Duggan*, Patricia Noall*
*Indicates the swimmer only competed in the preliminary heats.

The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 24 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record East Germany (GDR)
Ina Kleber (1:00.59)
Sylvia Gerasch (1:08.69)
Ines Geißler (59.52)
Birgit Meineke (54.89)		 4:03.69 Moscow, Soviet Union 24 August 1984
Olympic record  East Germany (GDR)
Rica Reinisch (1:01.51)
Ute Geweniger (1:09.46)
Andrea Pollack (1:00.14)
Caren Metschuck (55.56)		 4:06.67 Moscow, Soviet Union 20 July 1980

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
24 September Final Kristin Otto (1:01.03)
Silke Hörner (1:08.20)
Birte Weigang (59.51)
Katrin Meissner (55.00)		  East Germany 4:03.74 OR

Results

Heats

Rule: The eight fastest teams advance to the final (Q).

Rank Heat Nation Swimmers Time Notes
1 2  East Germany Cornelia Sirch (1:02.34)
Silke Hörner (1:09.37)
Birte Weigang (1:00.75)
Manuela Stellmach (56.07)		 4:08.53 Q
2 3  United States Betsy Mitchell (1:02.66)
Tracey McFarlane (1:10.33)
Mary T. Meagher (1:01.64)
Dara Torres (55.75)		 4:10.38 Q
3 3  Netherlands Jolanda de Rover (1:04.03)
Linda Moes (1:10.74)
Conny van Bentum (1:00.62)
Karin Brienesse (56.43)		 4:11.82 Q
4 3  West Germany Svenja Schlicht (1:03.56)
Britta Dahm (1:12.56)
Gabi Reha (1:01.54)
Marion Aizpors (55.53)		 4:13.19 Q
5 2  Canada Lori Melien (1:03.80)
Keltie Duggan (1:11.58)
Jane Kerr (1:02.42)
Patricia Noall (56.43)		 4:14.23 Q
6 1  Australia Nicole Livingstone (1:04.07)
Lara Hooiveld (1:10.97)
Fiona Alessandri (1:02.12)
Karen van Wirdum (57.16)		 4:14.32 Q
7 1  Italy Lorenza Vigarani (1:03.64)
Manuela Dalla Valle (1:11.17)
Ilaria Tocchini (1:02.24)
Silvia Persi (57.63)		 4:14.68 Q
8 2  Bulgaria Bistra Gospodinova (1:05.23)
Tanya Dangalakova (1:09.31)
Neviana Miteva (1:02.82)
Natasha Khristova (57.86)		 4:15.22 Q
9 3  Great Britain Katherine Read (1:04.86)
Suki Brownsdon (1:11.74)
Caroline Foot (1:01.97)
Joanna Coull (57.61)		 4:16.18
10 3  France Laurence Guillou (1:05.28)
Pascaline Louvrier (1:13.72)
Catherine Plewinski (59.86)
Jacqueline Delord (57.35)		 4:16.21
11 2  Sweden Johanna Larsson (1:05.10)
Anna-Karin Persson (1:12.40)
Agneta Eriksson (1:02.95)
Eva Nyberg (57.27)		 4:17.72
12 1  Japan Satoko Morishita (1:05.23)
Yoshie Nishioka (1:13.63)
Kiyomi Takahashi (1:01.95)
Ayako Nakano (58.07)		 4:18.88
13 1  Spain Natalia Autric (1:06.74)
Silvia Parera (1:14.87)
María Luisa Fernández (1:02.45)
Amaya Garbayo (57.78)		 4:21.84
14 3  South Korea Hong Ji-hee (1:08.52)
Park Sung-won (1:14.57)
Lee Hong-mi (1:05.73)
Han Young-hee (1:00.08)		 4:28.90
15 2  Costa Rica Silvia Poll (1:04.02)
Sigrid Niehaus (1:17.56)
Marcela Cuesta (1:09.89)
Carolina Mauri (1:00.28)		 4:31.75
16 1  Chinese Taipei Wang Chi (1:10.75)
Carwai Seto (1:15.45)
Chang Hui-chien (1:07.95)
Kimberly Chen (1:05.34)		 4:39.49
1  China Yang Wenyi
Huang Xiaomin
Qian Hong
Zhuang Yong 		DSQ
2  Denmark Mette Jacobsen
Pia Sørensen
Annette Jørgensen
Gitta Jensen 		DSQ

Final

Rank Lane Nation Swimmers Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4  East Germany Kristin Otto (1:01.03)
Silke Hörner (1:08.20)
Birte Weigang (59.51)
Katrin Meissner (55.00)		 4:03.74 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5  United States Beth Barr (1:02.56)
Tracey McFarlane (1:10.22)
Janel Jorgensen (59.84)
Mary Wayte (55.28)		 4:07.90
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2  Canada Lori Melien (1:04.25)
Allison Higson (1:08.15)
Jane Kerr (1:01.78)
Andrea Nugent (56.31)		 4:10.49
4 7  Australia Nicole Livingstone (1:03.43)
Lara Hooiveld (1:10.49)
Fiona Alessandri (1:00.87)
Karen van Wirdum (56.78)		 4:11.57 OC
5 3  Netherlands Jolanda de Rover (1:03.76)
Linda Moes (1:11.40)
Conny van Bentum (1:00.30)
Karin Brienesse (56.73)		 4:12.19
6 8  Bulgaria Bistra Gospodinova (1:04.87)
Tanya Dangalakova (1:07.95)
Neviana Miteva (1:02.76)
Natasha Khristova (56.78)		 4:12.36
7 6  West Germany Svenja Schlicht (1:03.46)
Britta Dahm (1:12.36)
Gabi Reha (1:01.79)
Marion Aizpors (55.28)		 4:12.89
8 1  Italy Lorenza Vigarani (1:03.96)
Manuela Dalla Valle (1:10.63)
Ilaria Tocchini (1:01.93)
Silvia Persi (57.33)		 4:13.85