4 x 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

The United States were again strong gold medal favourites although the gap between them and the rest of the world had closed in the four years since Paris. The world record did not survive the opening heat; Japan took more than ten seconds off the existing record but still found themselves four seconds behind the Americans. The disqualification of both Italy and Germany saw surprising finalists in the Spanish team, they had trailed in a time over two minutes down on the new world record. The final saw the United States hold a narrow lead at the halfway mark before George Kojac and then Johnny Weissmuller pulled away from the field. Canada and Japan fought a tenacious battle for the runners-up position which was decided by Katsuo Takaishi’s impressive anchor leg.