| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women

Date	4 – 6 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Wembley Arena, Wembley, London
Participants	46 from 11 countries

After the individual 100 metres had been decided, it seemed logical that the medals would be decided between four teams: Denmark, the USA, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

With a rejuvenated Greta Andersen included in their line-up, the Danes found themselves battling the Dutch for the gold medal as the last leg swimmers got under way. The United States and Great Britain trailed and appeared to be fighting only for the bronze, but the last American swimmer was Ann Curtis. Curtis soon moved away from her British rival and began to make headway on the leaders. With just 15 metres to go, she overtook the Dutch swimmer and, with the crowd cheering wildly, edged even closer to Fritze Carstensen of Denmark. With a desperate final sprint, Curtis touched the wall ahead of the Dane to break the Olympic record and clinch the championship. Curtis’ time of 1:04.4 was the fastest ever yet recorded, though it could not be ratified as a world record because only the first leg of a relay is allowed to stand for record purposes.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	United States	USA	4:34.1 (2 h1)	4:29.2 (1)	Gold
	443	Marie Corridon		–	–
	–	Thelma Kalama		–	–
	441	Brenda Helser		–	–
	–	Ann Curtis		–	–
	–	Jackie LaVine DNS		–	–
	528	Pat Healy DNS		–	–
2	–	Denmark	DEN	4:33.5 (1 h1)	4:29.6 (2)	Silver
	–	Eva Riise		–	–
	423	Karen Margrethe Harup		–	–
	421	Greta Andersen		–	–
	422	Fritze Carstensen		–	–
	–	Elvi Svendsen		–	–
	519	Gunvor Kraft-Borup DNS		–	–
3	–	Netherlands	NED	4:31.3 (1 h2)	4:31.6 (3)	Bronze
	–	Irma Schuhmacher		–	–
	–	Margot Marsman		–	–
	432	Marie-Louise Vaessen		–	–
	431	Hannie Termeulen		–	–
	525	Wil Langerveld DNS		–	–
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:36.1 (3 h1)	4:34.7 (4)
	427	Pat Nielsen		–	–
	429	Margaret Wellington		–	–
	428	Lillian Preece		–	–
	451	Cathie Gibson		–	–
	523	Margaret Girvan DNS		–	–
	524	Margaret Linton DNS		–	–
5	–	Hungary	HUN	4:47.5 (3 h2)	4:44.8 (5)
	434	Mária Littomeritzky		–	–
	456	Ilona Novák		–	–
	435	Judit Temes		–	–
	477	Éva Székely		–	–
	476	Éva Novák DNS		–	–
	433	Zsuzsa Nádor DNS		–	–
6	–	Brazil	BRA	4:51.4 (4 h2)	4:49.1 (6)
	–	Eleonora Schmitt		–	–
	415	Maria da Costa		–	–
	485	Talita Rodrígues		–	–
	417	Piedade Coutinho-Tavares		–	–
	447	Edith de Oliveira DNS		–	–
7	–	France	FRA	4:50.0 (4 h1)	4:49.8 (7)
	424	Josette Arène		–	–
	426	Gisèle Vallerey		–	–
	486	Colette Thomas		–	–
	425	Ginette Jany		–	–
	–	Marie Foucher-Creteau		–	–
	522	Huguette Chaleix DNS		–	–
DQ r2/2	–	Sweden	SWE	4:38.5 (2 h2)	– (DQ)
	487	Gisela Thidholm		–	–
	437	Elisabeth Ahlgren		–	–
	439	Marianne Lundquist		–	–
	438	Ingegärd Fredin		–	–
	527	Maj-Britt Ohlsson DNS		–	–
9	–	Belgium	BEL	4:54.9 (5 h2)	–
	–	Maria Huybrechts		–	–
	–	Maria Oeyen		–	–
	–	Maria Van den Brande		–	–
	414	Fernande Caroen		–	–
	513	Irène Possemiers DNS		–	–
	515	Angèle de Graef DNS		–	–
10	–	Argentina	ARG	4:59.5 (5 h1)	–
	410	Enriqueta Duarte		–	–
	444	Liliana Gonzalías		–	–
	409	Adriana Camelli		–	–
	411	Eileen Holt		–	–
11	–	Canada	CAN	5:04.5 (6 h1)	–
	–	Kay McNamee		–	–
	448	Joyce Court		–	–
	420	Vivian King		–	–
	419	Irene Strong		–	–

Round One

Date	4 August 1948 — 15:30
Format	Top 3 in each heat and the next 2 fastest advanced to the final round.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	4	Netherlands	NED	4:31.3	QOR
2	2	Denmark	DEN	4:33.5	QOR
3	7	United States	USA	4:34.1	Q
4	4	Great Britain	GBR	4:36.1	Q
5	3	Sweden	SWE	4:38.5	Q
6	6	Hungary	HUN	4:47.5	Q
7	5	France	FRA	4:50.0	q
8	5	Brazil	BRA	4:51.4	q
9	2	Belgium	BEL	4:54.9
10	3	Argentina	ARG	4:59.5
11	6	Canada	CAN	5:04.5

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time
1	2	Denmark	DEN	4:33.5	QOR
Lead-off	–	Eva Riise		–
2nd Leg	–	Elvi Svendsen		–
3rd Leg	–	Fritze Carstensen		–
Anchor	–	Greta Andersen		–
2	7	United States	USA	4:34.1	Q
Lead-off	–	Marie Corridon		–
2nd Leg	–	Thelma Kalama		–
3rd Leg	–	Brenda Helser		–
Anchor	–	Ann Curtis		–
3	4	Great Britain	GBR	4:36.1	Q
Lead-off	–	Margaret Wellington		–
2nd Leg	–	Pat Nielsen		–
3rd Leg	–	Lillian Preece		–
Anchor	–	Cathie Gibson		–
4	5	France	FRA	4:50.0	q
Lead-off	–	Josette Arène		–
2nd Leg	–	Colette Thomas		–
3rd Leg	–	Marie Foucher-Creteau		–
Anchor	–	Ginette Jany		–
5	3	Argentina	ARG	4:59.5
Lead-off	–	Enriqueta Duarte		–
2nd Leg	–	Liliana Gonzalías		–
3rd Leg	–	Adriana Camelli		–
Anchor	–	Eileen Holt		–
6	6	Canada	CAN	5:04.5
Lead-off	–	Kay McNamee		–
2nd Leg	–	Joyce Court		–
3rd Leg	–	Vivian King		–
Anchor	–	Irene Strong		–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time
1	4	Netherlands	NED	4:31.3	QOR
Lead-off	–	Irma Schuhmacher		–
2nd Leg	–	Margot Marsman		–
3rd Leg	–	Marie-Louise Vaessen		–
Anchor	–	Hannie Termeulen		–
2	3	Sweden	SWE	4:38.5	Q
Lead-off	–	Marianne Lundquist		–
2nd Leg	–	Gisela Thidholm		–
3rd Leg	–	Elisabeth Ahlgren		–
Anchor	–	Ingegärd Fredin		–
3	6	Hungary	HUN	4:47.5	Q
Lead-off	–	Mária Littomeritzky		–
2nd Leg	–	Judit Temes		–
3rd Leg	–	Éva Székely		–
Anchor	–	Ilona Novák		–
4	5	Brazil	BRA	4:51.4	q
Lead-off	–	Eleonora Schmitt		–
2nd Leg	–	Maria da Costa		–
3rd Leg	–	Talita Rodrígues		–
Anchor	–	Piedade Coutinho-Tavares		–
5	2	Belgium	BEL	4:54.9
Lead-off	–	Maria Huybrechts		–
2nd Leg	–	Maria Oeyen		–
3rd Leg	–	Maria Van den Brande		–
Anchor	–	Fernande Caroen		–

Final Round

Date	6 August 1948 — 21:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time
1	6	United States	USA	4:29.2	OR
Lead-off	–	Marie Corridon		–
2nd Leg	–	Thelma Kalama		–
3rd Leg	–	Brenda Helser		–
Anchor	–	Ann Curtis		–
2	4	Denmark	DEN	4:29.6
Lead-off	–	Eva Riise		–
2nd Leg	–	Karen Margrethe Harup		–
3rd Leg	–	Greta Andersen		–
Anchor	–	Fritze Carstensen		–
3	5	Netherlands	NED	4:31.6
Lead-off	–	Irma Schuhmacher		–
2nd Leg	–	Margot Marsman		–
3rd Leg	–	Marie-Louise Vaessen		–
Anchor	–	Hannie Termeulen		–
4	3	Great Britain	GBR	4:34.7
Lead-off	–	Pat Nielsen		–
2nd Leg	–	Margaret Wellington		–
3rd Leg	–	Lillian Preece		–
Anchor	–	Cathie Gibson		–
5	2	Hungary	HUN	4:44.8
Lead-off	–	Mária Littomeritzky		–
2nd Leg	–	Ilona Novák		–
3rd Leg	–	Judit Temes		–
Anchor	–	Éva Székely		–
6	1	Brazil	BRA	4:49.1
Lead-off	–	Eleonora Schmitt		–
2nd Leg	–	Maria da Costa		–
3rd Leg	–	Talita Rodrígues		–
Anchor	–	Piedade Coutinho-Tavares		–
7	8	France	FRA	4:49.8
Lead-off	–	Josette Arène		–
2nd Leg	–	Gisèle Vallerey		–
3rd Leg	–	Colette Thomas		–
Anchor	–	Ginette Jany		–
DQ	7	Sweden	SWE	–
Lead-off	–	Gisela Thidholm		–
2nd Leg	–	Elisabeth Ahlgren		–
3rd Leg	–	Marianne Lundquist		–
Anchor	–	Ingegärd Fredin		–