4 x 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Let’s see – the United States would swim Mark Spitz on the third leg, the man who would soon become known as the greatest swimmer ever (at least until Michael Phelps), and then would anchor with Don Schollander, possibly the greatest ever 200 metre freestyler, based on multiple world record performances. That didn’t seem to give anyone else too much chance. In the heats the USA put out their junior varsity and still qualified first for the final. Frank Wiegand of East Germany actually led the first leg over John Nelson of the USA, 1:58.4 to 1:58.6, but on the second leg Steve Rerych put the Americans ahead and gave the lead to Spitz. But Spitz was tired from the effects of the altitude in Mexico City and swam a lackluster 2:00.5, almost being caught by Australia’s Bob Windle. The anchor leg matched Schollander against Mike Wenden, who had already won the 100 freestyle in Mexico City, and would add to that the 200 free in three days. Wenden gained a small amount on Schollander but not nearly enough as the USA won gold in a much closer race than was expected, with Australia second and the Soviet Union well back in third. The United States’ world and Olympic record of 7:52.1 survived this race, likely due to the effects of altitude.