4 x 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Of the 24 finalists in the individual freestyle events, 14 of them had come from either the USA or Hungary. It was therefore no surprise when the Americans and Hungarians, who broke the European record, posted the fastest qualifying times. The final fitted the expected pattern with the two favourites battling each other for the gold with the other teams hoping for a bronze at best. Three legs of the race were evenly contested but, with 100m to go, the American 400m champion Bill Smith opened up a slender lead which he held to the finish. Both gold and silver medal teams broke the existing world record. The American team recorded a time of 8:55.9 in the qualifying round, which would have been good enough for the bronze in the final, without any of the swimmers who would contest the final. Alex Jany, who had otherwise suffered a disappointing Olympics, steered France home for third ahead of Yugoslavia and the European champions of Sweden