| | Event type

4 x 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	31 August 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München
Participants	67 from 14 countries

The United States was considered unbeatable, as Mark Spitz was looking to win his fifth gold medal in Munich. One hour before the final he had won gold in the 100 butterfly. The US sent out there B team for the prelims, but they still posted the fastest qualifier by 2.61 seconds over Australia. The opening leg of the final was a shocker, however, as Soviet swimmer Igor Grivennikov led American John Kinsella by half a bodylength. On the second leg, Fred Tyler gave the Americans a bodylength lead over West Germany at 400 metres, the Soviets dropping back. But Steve Genter then put the race away with a 1:52.78 split to give Spitz a big lead for the anchor. Spitz came home in a somewhat pedestrian 1:54.24 but it was good enough for the gold medal, a world record 7:35.78, and nearly a six-second margin over the West Germans. The USSR held on to win the bronze medal.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	7:46.42 (1 h2)	7:35.78 (1)	Gold
	John Kinsella • Fred Tyler • Steve Genter • Mark Spitz • Gary Conelly • Tom McBreen • Mike Burton
2	West Germany	FRG	7:53.98 (4 h2)	7:41.69 (2)	Silver
	Klaus Steinbach • Werner Lampe • Hans-Günther Vosseler • Hans Faßnacht • Gerhard Schiller • Folkert Meeuw
3	Soviet Union	URS	7:51.44 (3 h2)	7:45.76 (3)	Bronze
	Igor Grivennikov • Viktor Mazanov • Georgijs Kuļikovs • Vladimir Bure • Viktor Aboimov • Aleksandr Samsonov
4	Sweden	SWE	7:57.54 (5 h2)	7:47.37 (4)
	Bengt Gingsjö • Hans Ljungberg • Anders Bellbring • Gunnar Larsson • Rolf Pettersson (DNS)
5	Australia	AUS	7:49.03 (1 h1)	7:48.66 (5)
	Mike Wenden • Graham Windeatt • Robert Nay • Brad Cooper • Bruce Featherston • Graham White
6	East Germany	GDR	7:51.11 (2 h2)	7:49.11 (6)
	Wilfried Hartung • Peter Bruch • Udo Poser • Lutz Unger • Roger Pyttel
7	Canada	CAN	7:57.69 (2 h1)	7:53.61 (7)
	Bruce Robertson • Brian Phillips • Ian MacKenzie • Ralph Hutton • Dean Buckborough
8	Great Britain	GBR	7:58.33 (3 h1)	7:55.59 (8)
	Brian Brinkley • John Mills • Michael Bailey • Colin Cunningham • Raymond Terrell (DNS)
9	France	FRA	8:00.79 (6 h2)	–
	Pierre Caland • Pierre-Yves Copin • Jean-Jacques Moine • Michel Rousseau • Gilles Vigne (DNS)
10	Netherlands	NED	8:00.87 (4 h1)	–
	Peter Prijdekker • Bert Bergsma • Roger van Hamburg • Hans Elzerman
11	Italy	ITA	8:03.98 (7 h2)	–
	Roberto Pangaro • Arnaldo Cinquetti • Lorenzo Marugo • Riccardo Targetti • Sandro Grassi (DNS)
12	Mexico	MEX	8:08.39 (5 h1)	–
	Guillermo García • Roberto Strauss • José Luis Prado • Jorge Urreta
13	Brazil	BRA	8:17.91 (6 h1)	–
	Fedola • Ruy Oliveira • Paulo Zanetti • José Roberto Aranha
14	Philippines	PHI	8:44.01 (7 h1)	–
	Luis Ayesa (DNS) • Dae Imlani • Edwin Borja • Carlos Brosas • Jairulla Jaitulla
DNS	El Salvador	ESA	– (DNS h2)	–
	Antonio Ferracuti • Sergio Hasbún • Tomás Rengifo • Salvador Vilanova
DNS	Ecuador	ECU	–	–
	Jorge Delgado • Fernando González • Eduardo Orejuela • Daniel Pinargote
DNS	Rhodesia	RHO	–	–
	Ken Borain • Paul Broster • Rod Hamilton • Andrew Young

Round One (31 August 1972 — 10:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	–	Australia	AUS				7:49.03		QOR
		Graham Windeatt		–	–	–	1:57.34	1:57.34 (1)
		Bruce Featherston		–	–	–	1:58.42	3:55.76 (1)
		Graham White		–	–	–	1:58.08	5:53.84 (1)
		Mike Wenden		–	–	–	1:55.18	7:49.04 (1)
2	–	Canada	CAN				7:57.69		Q
		Ralph Hutton		–	–	–	1:57.97	1:57.97 (3)
		Dean Buckborough		–	–	–	2:00.20	3:58.17 (3)
		Ian MacKenzie		–	–	–	1:59.54	5:57.71 (2)
		Brian Phillips		–	–	–	1:59.97	7:57.68 (2)
3	–	Great Britain	GBR				7:58.33		Q
		Brian Brinkley		–	–	–	1:57.49	1:57.49 (2)
		John Mills		–	–	–	1:59.03	3:56.52 (2)
		Michael Bailey		–	–	–	2:01.35	5:57.87 (3)
		Colin Cunningham		–	–	–	2:00.44	7:58.31 (3)
4	–	Netherlands	NED				8:00.87
		Peter Prijdekker		–	–	–	1:59.40	1:59.40 (5)
		Bert Bergsma		–	–	–	1:59.56	3:58.96 (4)
		Roger van Hamburg		–	–	–	2:00.38	5:59.34 (4)
		Hans Elzerman		–	–	–	2:01.52	8:00.86 (4)
5	–	Mexico	MEX				8:08.39
		Guillermo García		–	–	–	1:58.58	1:58.58 (4)
		Roberto Strauss		–	–	–	2:02.90	4:01.48 (5)
		José Luis Prado		–	–	–	2:04.93	6:06.41 (5)
		Jorge Urreta		–	–	–	2:01.97	8:08.38 (5)
6	–	Brazil	BRA				8:17.91
		Fedola		–	–	–	2:01.20	2:01.20 (6)
		Ruy Oliveira		–	–	–	2:02.06	4:03.26 (6)
		Paulo Zanetti		–	–	–	2:05.85	6:09.11 (6)
		José Roberto Aranha		–	–	–	2:08.80	8:17.91 (6)
7	–	Philippines	PHI				8:44.01
		Dae Imlani		–	–	–	2:06.23	2:06.23 (7)
		Edwin Borja		–	–	–	2:14.31	4:20.54 (7)
		Carlos Brosas		–	–	–	2:15.92	6:36.46 (7)
		Jairulla Jaitulla		–	–	–	2:07.54	8:44.00 (7)

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	–	United States	USA				7:46.42		QOR
		Gary Conelly		–	–	–	1:54.11	1:54.11 (1)
		Tom McBreen		–	–	–	1:57.34	3:51.45 (1)
		Mike Burton		–	–	–	1:57.73	5:49.18 (1)
		John Kinsella		–	–	–	1:57.23	7:46.41 (1)
2	–	East Germany	GDR				7:51.11		Q
		Wilfried Hartung		–	–	–	1:57.75	1:57.75 (3)
		Udo Poser		–	–	–	1:57.39	3:55.14 (2)
		Roger Pyttel		–	–	–	1:58.32	5:53.46 (2)
		Lutz Unger		–	–	–	1:57.64	7:51.10 (2)
3	–	Soviet Union	URS				7:51.44		Q
		Viktor Aboimov		–	–	–	1:58.92	1:58.92 (4)
		Aleksandr Samsonov		–	–	–	1:57.83	3:56.75 (4)
		Viktor Mazanov		–	–	–	1:56.93	5:53.68 (3)
		Georgijs Kuļikovs		–	–	–	1:57.74	7:51.42 (3)
4	–	West Germany	FRG				7:53.98		Q
		Hans Faßnacht		–	–	–	1:57.70	1:57.70 (2)
		Gerhard Schiller		–	–	–	1:58.12	3:55.82 (3)
		Folkert Meeuw		–	–	–	1:58.46	5:54.28 (4)
		Hans-Günther Vosseler		–	–	–	1:59.69	7:53.97 (4)
5	–	Sweden	SWE				7:57.54		Q
		Hans Ljungberg		–	–	–	2:00.39	2:00.39 (7)
		Bengt Gingsjö		–	–	–	1:57.46	3:57.85 (5)
		Anders Bellbring		–	–	–	1:59.06	5:56.91 (5)
		Gunnar Larsson		–	–	–	2:00.62	7:57.53 (5)
6	–	France	FRA				8:00.79
		Pierre Caland		–	–	–	1:59.91	1:59.91 (5)
		Pierre-Yves Copin		–	–	–	2:03.16	4:03.07 (7)
		Jean-Jacques Moine		–	–	–	2:01.45	6:04.52 (7)
		Michel Rousseau		–	–	–	1:56.26	8:00.78 (6)
7	–	Italy	ITA				8:03.98
		Roberto Pangaro		–	–	–	2:00.31	2:00.31 (6)
		Arnaldo Cinquetti		–	–	–	2:01.39	4:01.70 (6)
		Lorenzo Marugo		–	–	–	2:01.81	6:03.51 (6)
		Riccardo Targetti		–	–	–	2:00.46	8:03.97 (7)
DNS	–	El Salvador	ESA				–
		Antonio Ferracuti (DNS)		–	–	–	–	– (–)
		Sergio Hasbún (DNS)		–	–	–	–	– (–)
		Tomás Rengifo (DNS)		–	–	–	–	– (–)
		Salvador Vilanova (DNS)		–	–	–	–	– (–)

Final (31 August 1972 — 18:20)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	4	United States	USA				7:35.78		WR
		John Kinsella		–	–	–	1:54.49	1:54.49 (1)
		Fred Tyler		–	–	–	1:54.32	3:48.81 (2)
		Steve Genter		–	–	–	1:52.72	5:41.53 (1)
		Mark Spitz		–	–	–	1:54.24	7:35.77 (1)
2	2	West Germany	FRG				7:41.69
		Klaus Steinbach		–	–	–	1:54.62	1:54.62 (2)
		Werner Lampe		–	–	–	1:53.49	3:48.11 (1)
		Hans-Günther Vosseler		–	–	–	1:57.45	5:45.56 (2)
		Hans Faßnacht		–	–	–	1:56.11	7:41.67 (2)
3	6	Soviet Union	URS				7:45.76
		Igor Grivennikov		–	–	–	1:56.24	1:56.24 (3)
		Viktor Mazanov		–	–	–	1:57.28	3:53.52 (4)
		Georgijs Kuļikovs		–	–	–	1:56.92	5:50.44 (3)
		Vladimir Bure		–	–	–	1:55.30	7:45.74 (3)
4	7	Sweden	SWE				7:47.37
		Bengt Gingsjö		–	–	–	1:56.88	1:56.88 (7)
		Hans Ljungberg		–	–	–	1:59.18	3:56.06 (7)
		Anders Bellbring		–	–	–	1:57.45	5:53.51 (6)
		Gunnar Larsson		–	–	–	1:53.84	7:47.35 (4)
5	5	Australia	AUS				7:48.66
		Mike Wenden		–	–	–	1:56.41	1:56.41 (4)
		Graham Windeatt		–	–	–	1:57.03	3:53.44 (3)
		Robert Nay		–	–	–	1:57.68	5:51.12 (4)
		Brad Cooper		–	–	–	1:57.54	7:48.66 (5)
6	3	East Germany	GDR				7:49.11
		Wilfried Hartung		–	–	–	1:56.76	1:56.76 (6)
		Peter Bruch		–	–	–	1:58.88	3:55.64 (5)
		Udo Poser		–	–	–	1:56.84	5:52.48 (5)
		Lutz Unger		–	–	–	1:56.61	7:49.09 (6)
7	1	Canada	CAN				7:53.61
		Bruce Robertson		–	–	–	1:57.55	1:57.55 (8)
		Brian Phillips		–	–	–	2:00.46	3:58.01 (8)
		Ian MacKenzie		–	–	–	1:57.42	5:55.43 (8)
		Ralph Hutton		–	–	–	1:58.17	7:53.60 (7)
8	8	Great Britain	GBR				7:55.59
		Brian Brinkley		–	–	–	1:56.75	1:56.75 (5)
		John Mills		–	–	–	1:58.91	3:55.66 (6)
		Michael Bailey		–	–	–	1:59.61	5:55.27 (7)
		Colin Cunningham		–	–	–	2:00.30	7:55.57 (8)	1