Olympedia – 4 x 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	24 July 1908
Status	Olympic
Location	White City Stadium, London
Participants	24 from 6 countries

The finals saw four nations competing, all with rich swimming traditions, and all with a chance to win the relay gold medal. After one leg, Hungary’s József Munk led by four yards in 2:40.8. Frank Beaurepaire (AUS) was 2nd with Rob Derbyshire 3rd (GBR) and Harry Hebner (USA) in last. Imre Zachár swam the second leg for Hungary and increased the lead, reaching 400 metres in 5:27.2, 8 yards ahead of Paul Radmilovic of Britain.

The third leg saw Hungary maintain its lead, with Béla von Las-Torres finishing 600 metres in 8:10.0, leading by 6 yards. But now in second was the United States, as Charlie Daniels swam a great leg to pass Britain’s Willie Foster. They finished their legs, respectively, in 8:15.2 and 8:18.6. The race appeared to be over, with Hungary’s redoubtable Zoltán von Halmay swimming their anchor leg. But mainly a sprinter, he went out far too fast, leading Leslie Rich (USA) by 15 yards after 700 metres, with Britain’s Henry Taylor another 5 yards back. Taylor caught Rich with 50 metres left and pulled away from him. Halmay was now a shambles and swam into the wall only 20 metres from the finish, also allowing Taylor to pass him and win by 3 yards.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	SF	Final
1	Great Britain	GBR	10:53.4 (1 h2)	10:55.6 (1)	Gold
	Rob Derbyshire • Paul Radmilovic • Willie Foster • Henry Taylor
2	Hungary	HUN	– (1 h3)	10:59.0 (2)	Silver
	József Munk • Imre Zachár • Béla Las-Torres • Zoltán Halmay
3	United States	USA	11:01.4 (2 h2)	11:02.8 (3)	Bronze
	Harry Hebner • Budd Goodwin • Charlie Daniels • Leslie Rich
4	Australasia	ANZ	11:35.0 (1 h1)	11:14.0 (4)
	Frank Beaurepaire • Frank Springfield • Snowy Baker • Theo Tartakover
2 h1 r1/2	Denmark	DEN	12:53.0 (2 h1)	–
	Poul Holm • Harald Klem • Ludvig Dam • Hjalmar Saxtorph
3 h2 r1/2	Sweden	SWE	– (3 h2)	–
	Gustaf Wretman • Gunnar Wennerström • Harald Julin • Adolf Andersson
DNS	Belgium	BEL	– (DNS h1)	–		1

DNS	Italy	ITA	– (DNS h3)	–		2

DNS	Netherlands	NED	– (DNS h3)	–		3

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	–	Australasia	ANZ		11:35.0	QOR
		Frank Beaurepaire		–	– (–)
		Frank Springfield		–	– (–)
		Snowy Baker		–	– (–)
		Theo Tartakover		–	– (–)
2	–	Denmark	DEN		12:53.0
		Poul Holm		–	– (–)
		Harald Klem		–	– (–)
		Ludvig Dam		–	– (–)
		Hjalmar Saxtorph		–	– (–)
DNS	–	Belgium	BEL		–		4

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	–	Great Britain	GBR		10:53.4	Q
		Willie Foster		–	– (–)
		Paul Radmilovic		–	– (–)
		Rob Derbyshire		–	– (–)
		Henry Taylor		–	– (–)
2	–	United States	USA		11:01.4	q
		Harry Hebner		–	– (–)
		Budd Goodwin		–	– (–)
		Charlie Daniels		–	– (–)
		Leslie Rich		–	– (–)
3	–	Sweden	SWE		–
		Gustaf Wretman		–	– (–)
		Gunnar Wennerström		–	– (–)
		Harald Julin		–	– (–)
		Adolf Andersson		–	– (–)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	–	Hungary	HUN		–	Q
		József Munk		–	– (–)
		Imre Zachár		–	– (–)
		Béla Las-Torres		–	– (–)
		Zoltán Halmay		–	– (–)
DNS	–	Italy	ITA		–		5
DNS	–	Netherlands	NED		–		6

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	–	Great Britain	GBR		10:55.6	WR
		Rob Derbyshire		–	– (–)
		Paul Radmilovic		–	– (–)
		Willie Foster		–	– (–)
		Henry Taylor		–	– (–)
2	–	Hungary	HUN		10:59.0
		József Munk		–	– (–)
		Imre Zachár		–	– (–)
		Béla Las-Torres		–	– (–)
		Zoltán Halmay		–	– (–)
3	–	United States	USA		11:02.8
		Harry Hebner		–	– (–)
		Budd Goodwin		–	– (–)
		Charlie Daniels		–	– (–)
		Leslie Rich		–	– (–)
4	–	Australasia	ANZ		11:14.0
		Frank Beaurepaire		–	– (–)
		Frank Springfield		–	– (–)
		Snowy Baker		–	– (–)
		Theo Tartakover		–	– (–)

4 x 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Semi-Finals (24 July 1908 — 14:30)

Heat One

Heat Two

Heat Three

Final (24 July 1908 — 16:20)