| Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Freestyle | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 1500 m | men | |
| Backstroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| Breaststroke | ||
| 200 m | men | women |
| Butterfly | ||
| 100 m | women | |
| 200 m | men | |
| Freestyle relay | ||
| 4 × 100 m | women | |
| 4 × 200 m | men | |
The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place on 4 and 6 December. This swimming event used freestyle as a relay, with swimmers typically using the front crawl. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, each of the four swimmers completed two lengths of the pool. The first swimmer had to touch the wall before the second could leave the starting block; timing of the starts was thus important.
Medalists
Results
Heats
- Heat One
| Place | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Natalie Myburgh, Susan Roberts, Moira Abernethy and Jeanette Myburgh (RSA) |
4:26.8 | |
| 2 |  Betty Brey, Nancy Simons, Kay Knapp and Marley Shriver (USA) |
4:27.3 | |
| 3 |  Ingrid Künzel, Hertha Haase, Kati Jansen and Birgit Klomp (GER) |
4:27.5 | |
| 4 |  Frances Hogben, Margaret Girvan, Fearne Ewart and Judith Grinham (GBR) |
4:34.6 | |
| 5 |  Odile Vouaux, Viviane Gouverneur, Ginette Jany-Sendral and Héda Frost (FRA) |
4:36.6 |
- Heat Two
| Place | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Margaret Gibson, Sandra Morgan, Elizabeth Fraser and Faith Leech (AUS) |
4:25.0 | |
| 2 |  Judit Temes, Mária Littomeritzky, Katalin Szőke and Valéria Gyenge (HUN) |
4:28.1 | |
| 3 |  Virginia Grant, Gladys Priestley, Sara Barber and Helen Stewart (CAN) |
4:29.3 | |
| 4 |  Anita Hellström, Birgitta Wängberg, Karin Larsson and Kate Jobson (SWE) |
4:30.1 | |
| 5 |  Hitomi Jinno, Eiko Wada, Yoshiko Sato and Yukiko Otaka (JPN) |
4:35.8 | NR |
Final
| Place | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Australia |
Dawn Fraser (1:04.0) Faith Leech (1:05.3) Sandra Morgan (1:04.7) Lorraine Crapp (1:03.1) |
4:17.1 | WR |
 |
United States |
Sylvia Ruuska (1:06.3) Shelley Mann (1:03.9) Nancy Simons (1:04.6) Joan Rosazza (1:04.4) |
4:19.2 | |
 |
South Africa |
Natalie Myburgh (1:07.7) Susan Roberts (1:05.3) Moira Abernethy (1:08.0) Jeanette Myburgh (1:04.7) |
4:25.7 | |
| 4 | United Team of Germany |
Ingrid Künzel (1:06.6) Hertha Haase (1:06.7) Kati Jansen (1:05.7) Birgit Klomp (1:07.1) |
4:26.1 | |
| 5 | Canada |
Helen Stewart (1:07.1) Gladys Priestley (1:07.1) Sara Barber (1:07.5) Virginia Grant (1:06.6) |
4:28.3 | |
| 6 | Sweden |
Anita Hellström (1:08.8) Birgitta Wängberg (1:07.7) Karin Larsson (1:07.4) Kate Jobson (1:06.1) |
4:30.0 | |
| 7 | Hungary |
Mária Littomeritzky (1:09.9) Katalin Szőke (1:06.7) Judit Temes (1:06.7) Valéria Gyenge (1:07.8) |
4:31.1 | |
| 8 | Great Britain |
Frances Hogben (1:08.8) Judy Grinham (1:09.0) Margaret Girvan (1:09.4) Fearne Ewart (1:08.6) |
4:35.8 |
References
- "Swimming at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Women's 4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
- 4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women
- "Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 Metre Freestyle Relay Final Results" (PDF). Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
