The women's 4×100 metre freestyle relay event at the 1948 Olympic Games

1948 Summer Olympics

The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...

 took place on 4th and 6 August at the Empire Pool. This swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 event used freestyle

Freestyle swimming

Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...

 as a relay, with swimmers typically using the front crawl

Front crawl

The front crawl, forward crawl, or freestyle is a swimming stroke usually regarded as the fastest of the four front primary strokes. As such, the front crawl stroke is nearly universally used during a freestyle swimming competition, hence the synonymously used term "freestyle". It is one of two...

. 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

Marie Corridon Marie Corridon Marie Mortell was an American swimmer and Olympic champion. Hailing from Norwalk, Connecticut, she competed at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, where she received a gold medal in 4×100 m freestyle relay.-References:... Thelma Kalama Thelma Kalama Thelma Kalama is an American swimmer and Olympic champion. She competed at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, where she received a gold medal in 4×100 m freestyle relay, together with Marie Corridon, Brenda Helser and Ann Curtis.... Brenda Helser Brenda Helser Brenda Helser de Morelos is a former competitive freestyle swimmer from the United States who won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England.... Ann Curtis Ann Curtis Ann Curtis is a former competitive swimmer and Olympic Gold Medal winner for the United States. She was coached by Charlie Sava and was a member of the San Francisco Crystal Plunge team. Curtis participated in London’s 1948 Olympic Games winning the gold medal in the 400 m freestyle...

Eva Riis Karen Harup Karen Harup Karen Margrethe Harup Petersen was a Danish swimmer and Olympic champion. She competed at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, where she received a gold medal in the 100 m backstroke and silver medals in the 400 m freestyle and the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.-World records:Harup set two world... Greta Andersen Greta Andersen Greta Andersen is a Danish swimmer and Olympic champion, later settled in Long Beach, California. She competed at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, where she received a gold medal in 100 m freestyle, and a silver medal in 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.-Channel swimmer:Greta Andersen set the women's... Fritze Carstensen

Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher was a freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who won two medals at the Summer Olympics during her career... Margot Marsman Marie-Louise Linssen-Vaessen Marie-Louise Linssen-Vaessen Marie-Louise Jean Joséphine Linssen-Vaessen was a freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who won a total number of three medals at the Summer Olympics during her career.... Hannie Termeulen Hannie Termeulen Johanna Maria Termeulen was a freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who won three medals at the Summer Olympics...

Heats

Heat 1
Heat 2