4x100 relay rules for men's and women's medley

The rules of the Men's and Women's Medley 4x100 Relay are as follows:

The team event consists of four (4) athletes, each swimming one quarter of the race in the order of backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle (in any stroke other than the above three). Each leg of the race is connected by a jumping action between the athletes. At the start of the race, the athlete who swims the first leg starts in the water with a backstroke stroke. The method and rules are the same as those for the freestyle relay and the various strokes.

The medley relay must be completed in one stroke each in the order of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. In the relay, the time that the feet of the receiver should be off the starting platform after the passer's fingers touch the pool wall should be at least 3/100ths of a second or the team will be disqualified.

The development of men's and women's medley 4x100 relay

Medley relay began to appear in various forms in swimming competitions in various countries in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as China's National Swimming Competition Conference of 1952 with men's 3*100 meters and women's 3*50 meters compound relay, i.e. Each team by three athletes, respectively, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle swim a section of the race. 1954 National Swimming Competition Conference formally set up male and female 4 * 100 meters medley relay program, the competition method is the same as the international competition.

As an official event of the Olympic Games, the medley relay started in the 17th session (Rome, 1960) with 2 events of 4*100 meters*** for men and women, and has been used ever since. In addition, the medley relay has been listed as one of the official events in the World Swimming Championships and various traditional international competitions as well as national swimming competitions of various countries.