The women's 4×100 metre medley relay event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 3. 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 uses medley swimming

Medley swimming

Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley or by four swimmers as a medley relay...

 as a relay. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, each of the four swimmers completed two lengths of the pool, each using a different stroke. The first on each team used the backstroke

Backstroke

The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...

, the second used the breaststroke

Breaststroke

The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...

, the third used the butterfly stroke

Butterfly stroke

The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with both arms moving simultaneously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as the "dolphin kick"...

, and the final swimmer 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...

 (restricted to not allow any of the first three strokes to be used, though nearly all swimmers use 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...

 regardless).

The first swimmer must touch the wall before the next can leave the starting block, and so forth; timing of the starts is thus important.

Medalists

Melissa Belote Melissa Belote Melissa Louise Belote is an Olympic and former World Record holding backstroke swimmer from the United States. She swam for her native country at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.... Catherine Carr Catherine Carr (swimmer) Catherine Carr is an American swimmer and Olympic champion. She competed at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, where she received a gold medal in the 100 m breaststroke and a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. She now works teaching the fourth grade GATE class at Pioneer Elementary, a... Deena Deardurff Deena Deardurff Deena Deardurff is an American swimmer and Olympic champion, former college swim coach, and a self-identified victim of sex abuse allegedly by her former coach.-Swimming:... Sandra Neilson Sandra Neilson Sandra Neilson-Bell is a former freestyle swimmer from the United States, who won three golden medals as a 16-year old at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany...

Christine Herbst Renate Vogel Roswitha Beier Kornelia Ender Kornelia Ender Kornelia Ender is a former East German swimmer who at the 1976 Summer Olympics became the first woman swimmer to win four gold medals at a single Olympic Games, all in world record times...

Gudrun Beckmann Vreni Eberle Silke Pielen Heidemarie Reineck

Heats

Heat 1
Heat 2