Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay
The women's 4×100 metre freestyle relay event at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on 22 July at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, United States.
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 22 July | Final | Angel Martino Amy Van Dyken Catherine Fox Jenny Thompson | 3:39.29 |
Results
Heats
Rule: The eight fastest teams advance to the final.| Rank | Heat | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | Jenny Thompson Catherine Fox Lisa Jacob Melanie Valerio | 3:42.36 | Q | |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Marianne Muis Manon Masseurs Wilma van Hofwegen Minouche Smit | 3:43.63 | Q | |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | Shan Ying Chao Na Nian Yun Le Jingyi | 3:44.06 | Q | |
| 4 | 3 | 5 | Simone Osygus Antje Buschschulte Meike Freitag Franziska van Almsick | 3:44.06 | Q | |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | Louise Jöhncke Johanna Sjöberg Louise Karlsson Linda Olofsson | 3:45.39 | Q | |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | Shannon Shakespeare Julie Howard Andrea Moody Marianne Limpert | 3:45.66 | Q, NR | |
| 7 | 1 | 5 | Svetlana Leshukova Nataliya Sorokina Yelena Nazemnova Natalya Meshcheryakova | 3:47.33 | Q | |
| 8 | 1 | 4 | Anna Windsor Sarah Ryan Lise Mackie Julia Greville | 3:47.94 | Q | |
| 9 | 1 | 3 | Sue Rolph Alison Sheppard Carrie Willmott Karen Pickering | 3:48.26 | ||
| 10 | 1 | 6 | Solenne Figuès Jacqueline Delord Casey Legler Marianne Le Verge | 3:48.30 | ||
| 11 | 2 | 6 | Lorena Diaconescu Florina Herea Andreea Trufaşu Luminița Dobrescu | 3:48.43 | ||
| 12 | 2 | 5 | Sumika Minamoto Naoko Imoto Eri Yamanoi Suzu Chiba | 3:48.77 | ||
| 13 | 3 | 6 | Mette Nielsen Mette Jacobsen Karen Egdal Ditte Jensen | 3:48.93 | ||
| 14 | 3 | 2 | Blanca Cerón Fátima Madrid Susanna Garabatos Claudia Franco | 3:49.47 | NR | |
| 15 | 3 | 1 | Sviatlana Zhidko Inga Borodich Natalya Baranovskaya Alena Popchanka | 3:50.22 | NR | |
| 16 | 1 | 2 | Minna Salmela Paula Harmokivi Marja Pärssinen Marja Heikkilä | 3:50.33 | ||
| 17 | 2 | 7 | Dominique Diezi Nicole Zahnd Lara Preacco Sandrine Paquier | 3:53.30 | ||
| 18 | 3 | 7 | Chang Wei-chia Tsai Shu-min Lin Chien-ju Lin Chi-chan | 3:56.39 | ||
| 19 | 1 | 7 | Lee Bo-eun Seo So-yung Lee Jie-hyun Jeong Eun-na | 3:57.83 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
| 4 | Angel Martino Amy Van Dyken Catherine Fox Jenny Thompson | 3:39.29 | |||
| 3 | Le Jingyi Chao Na Nian Yun Shan Ying | 3:40.48 | |||
| 6 | Sandra Völker Simone Osygus Antje Buschschulte Franziska van Almsick | 3:41.48 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Marianne Muis Minouche Smit Wilma van Hofwegen Karin Brienesse | 3:42.40 | NR | |
| 5 | 2 | Linda Olofsson Louise Jöhncke Louise Karlsson Johanna Sjöberg | 3:44.91 | NR | |
| 6 | 8 | Sarah Ryan Julia Greville Lise Mackie Susie O'Neill | 3:45.31 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Shannon Shakespeare Julie Howard Andrea Moody Marianne Limpert | 3:46.27 | ||
| 1 | Yelena Nazemnova Natalya Sorokina Svetlana Leshukova Natalya Meshcheryakova |