4 × 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, eight yards ahead of Paul Radmilovic of Britain.
The third leg saw Hungary maintain its lead, with Béla Las-Torres finishing 600 metres in 8:10.0, leading by six 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 Halmay swimming their anchor leg. 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 five 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 three yards.
| Pos | Competitors | 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 | – | – | |||||
| Belgium |  BEL | – (DNS h1) | – | 1 | |||
| Italy |  ITA | – (DNS h3) | – | 2 | |||
| Netherlands |  NED | – (DNS h3) | – | 3 |
Semi-Finals
| Date | 24 July 1908 — 14:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner in each heat and the fastest loser advanced to the semi-finals. |
Heat #1
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australasia | ANZ | 11:35.0 | ||
| Frank Beaurepaire | – | ||||
| Frank Springfield | – | ||||
| Snowy Baker | – | ||||
| Theo Tartakover | – | ||||
| 2 | Denmark | DEN | 12:53.0 | ||
| Poul Holm | – | ||||
| Harald Klem | – | ||||
| Ludvig Dam | – | ||||
| Hjalmar Saxtorph | – | ||||
| Belgium | BEL | – | 4 |
Heat #2
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Britain | GBR | 10:53.4 | ||
| Willie Foster | – | ||||
| Paul Radmilovic | – | ||||
| Rob Derbyshire | – | ||||
| Henry Taylor | – | ||||
| 2 | United States | USA | 11:01.4 | ||
| Harry Hebner | – | ||||
| Budd Goodwin | – | ||||
| Charlie Daniels | – | ||||
| Leslie Rich | – | ||||
| 3 | Sweden | SWE | – | ||
| Gustaf Wretman | – | ||||
| Gunnar Wennerström | – | ||||
| Harald Julin | – | ||||
| Adolf Andersson | – |
Heat #3
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hungary | HUN | – | ||
| József Munk | – | ||||
| Imre Zachár | – | ||||
| Béla Las-Torres | – | ||||
| Zoltán Halmay | – | ||||
| Italy | ITA | – | 5 | ||
| Netherlands | NED | – | 6 |
Final
| Date | 24 July 1908 — 16:20 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Britain | GBR | 10:55.6 | ||
| 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 | – |