| | Event type

4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	28 – 29 July 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Helsingin Uimastadion, Helsinki
Participants	74 from 17 countries

The United States were hot favourites for this event with only Japan considered to be a threat. The Japanese team applied a tactical approach to the final and put their fastest swimmer on the opening leg and held back their slowest man until the final leg. With the Americans choosing the more common approach of using their faster men over the last two legs, Japan took an early lead and then increased it over the second leg. Ford Konno closed the gap on leg three but it was not until the final leg that the American team, in the form of Jimmy McLane took the lead that they were to maintain to the finish. The battle for bronze mirrored the battle for gold with France overhauling Sweden in the latter stages.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	United States	USA	8:50.9 (1 h2)	8:31.1 (1)	Gold
	604	Wayne Moore		–	–
	607	Bill Woolsey		–	–
	606	Ford Konno		–	–
	605	Jimmy McLane		–	–
	–	Wally Wolf		–	–
	618	Don Sheff		–	–
	615	Frank Dooley		–	–
	619	Bumpy Jones		–	–
	617	Frank Chamberlain DNS		–	–
	–	Gaither Rosser DNS		–	–
2	–	Japan	JPN	8:42.1 (1 h3)	8:33.5 (2)	Silver
	271	Hiroshi Suzuki		–	–
	272	Yoshihiro Hamaguchi		–	–
	273	Toru Goto		–	–
	–	Teijiro Tanikawa		–	–
	286	Mitsuru Asano DNS		–	–
	288	Hiroshi Nishi DNS		–	–
	–	Mamoru Tanaka DNS		–	–
3	–	France	FRA	8:55.9 (1 h1)	8:45.9 (3)	Bronze
	436	Jo Bernardo		–	–
	–	Aldo Eminente		–	–
	428	Alex Jany		–	–
	435	Jean Boiteux		–	–
	437	René Million DNS		–	–
	430	Michel Vandamme DNS		–	–
4	–	Sweden	SWE	8:52.3 (2 h3)	8:46.8 (4)
	461	Lars Svantesson		–	–
	460	Göran Larsson		–	–
	464	Per-Olof Östrand		–	–
	462	Olle Johansson		–	–
	–	Rolf Olander		–	–
5	–	Hungary	HUN	8:54.6 (2 h2)	8:52.6 (5)
	562	László Gyöngyösi		–	–
	566	György Csordás		–	–
	560	Géza Kádas		–	–
	563	Imre Nyéki		–	–
	–	Gusztáv Kettesi		–	–
6	–	Great Britain	GBR	8:59.7 (2 h1)	8:52.9 (6)
	201	Roy Botham		–	–
	195	Ronnie Burns		–	–
	–	Douglas Welsh		–	–
	190	Jack Wardrop		–	–
	196	Peter Head DNS		–	–
	202	Athole Still DNS		–	–
7	–	South Africa	RSA	8:58.7 (3 h2)	8:55.1 (7)
	–	Graham Johnston		–	–
	–	Dennis Ford		–	–
	–	John Durr		–	–
	–	Peter Duncan		–	–
8	–	Argentina	ARG	8:59.3 (3 h3)	8:56.9 (8)
	–	Federico Zwanck		–	–
	2	Marcelo Trabucco		–	–
	4	Pedro Galvão		–	–
	3	Alfredo Yantorno		–	–
	6	Carlos Alberto Bonacich DNS		–	–
9	–	Australia	AUS	9:01.4 (3 h1)	–
	18	Rex Aubrey		–	–
	19	Frank O'Neill		–	–
	22	Garrick Agnew		–	–
	23	John Marshall		–	–
	26	Frank Jordan DNS		–	–
10	–	Soviet Union	URS	9:01.9 (4 h1)	–
	377	Viktor Drobinsky		–	–
	378	Vasily Karmanov		–	–
	376	Leonid Meshkov		–	–
	356	Lev Balandin		–	–
	358	Endel Edasi DNS		–	–
	357	Vladimir Skomarovsky DNS		–	–
11	–	Canada	CAN	9:10.9 (4 h3)	–
	320	Gerry McNamee		–	–
	317	Lucien Beaumont		–	–
	319	Leo Portelance		–	–
	321	Allen Gilchrist		–	–
	318	Peter Salmon DNS		–	–
12	–	Poland	POL	9:13.7 (5 h3)	–
	422	Gotfryd Gremlowski		–	–
	423	Antoni Tołkaczewski		–	–
	425	Józef Lewicki		–	–
	420	Jerzy Boniecki		–	–
	424	Stefan Cięszki DNS		–	–
13	–	Mexico	MEX	9:15.7 (6 h3)	–
	329	Alberto Isaac		–	–
	337	Efrén Fierro		–	–
	338	César Borja		–	–
	339	Tonatiuh Gutiérrez		–	–
	331	Juan Lans DNS		–	–
	–	René Muñiz DNS		–	–
14	–	Italy	ITA	9:17.9 (5 h1)	–
	231	Carlo Pedersoli		–	–
	232	Egidio Massaria		–	–
	233	Angelo Romani		–	–
	229	Gianni Paliaga		–	–
	230	Alfonso Buonocore DNS		–	–
	236	Costantino Dennerlein DNS		–	–
15	–	Brazil	BRA	9:19.0 (4 h2)	–
	67	Haroldo Lara		–	–
	74	Sylvio dos Santos		–	–
	66	Aram Boghossian		–	–
	70	João Gonçalves Filho		–	–
	75	Tetsuo Okamoto DNS		–	–
	73	Ricardo Esberard DNS		–	–
16	–	Finland	FIN	9:26.6 (6 h1)	–
	515	Pentti Ikonen		–	–
	520	Pentti Paatsalo		–	–
	517	Mauno Valkeinen		–	–
	516	Leo Telivuo		–	–
	519	Einari Aalto DNS		–	–
17	–	Belgium	BEL	9:45.5 (5 h2)	–
	46	Kamiel Reynders		–	–
	42	Joseph Anthoon		–	–
	43	Marcel Anthoon		–	–
	44	Alfons Bierebeek		–	–
	45	André Laurent DNS		–	–
DNS	–	Egypt	EGY	– (DNS h1)	–
	–	Dorri Abdel Kader DNS		–	–
	97	Jack Hakim DNS		–	–
	102	Taha El-Gamal DNS		–	–
	94	Abdel Aziz El-Shafei DNS		–	–
	103	Samir Gharbo DNS		–	–
	104	Yehia El-Bahnasawy DNS		–	–
DNS	–	Spain	ESP	– (DNS h2)	–
	113	Ricardo Conde DNS		–	–
	115	Enrique Granados DNS		–	–
	114	Roberto Queralt DNS		–	–
	116	Juan Luis Abellán DNS		–	–
	117	Josep Bazán DNS		–	–

Round One

Date	28 July 1952 — 10:00
Format	Fastest 8 advanced to the final round.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	5	Japan	JPN	8:42.1	QOR
2	7	United States	USA	8:50.9	Q
3	4	Sweden	SWE	8:52.3	Q
4	3	Hungary	HUN	8:54.6	Q
5	3	France	FRA	8:55.9	Q
6	4	South Africa	RSA	8:58.7	Q
7	6	Argentina	ARG	8:59.3	Q
8	1	Great Britain	GBR	8:59.7	Q
9	5	Australia	AUS	9:01.4
10	7	Soviet Union	URS	9:01.9
11	7	Canada	CAN	9:10.9
12	3	Poland	POL	9:13.7
13	2	Mexico	MEX	9:15.7		1
14	4	Italy	ITA	9:17.9
15	6	Brazil	BRA	9:19.0		2
16	2	Finland	FIN	9:26.6
17	2	Belgium	BEL	9:45.5
DNS	6	Egypt	EGY	–
DNS	5	Spain	ESP	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	3	France	FRA	8:55.9	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	436	Jo Bernardo		–	2:17.1 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	429	Aldo Eminente		–	2:19.4 (4)	4:36.5 (4)
3rd Leg	428	Alex Jany		–	2:11.6 (1)	6:48.1 (3)
Anchor	435	Jean Boiteux		–	2:07.8 (1)	– (–)
2	1	Great Britain	GBR	8:59.7	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	201	Roy Botham		–	2:20.8 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	195	Ronnie Burns		–	2:14.2 (2)	4:35.0 (3)
3rd Leg	191	Douglas Welsh		–	2:15.2 (2)	6:50.2 (4)
Anchor	190	Jack Wardrop		–	2:09.5 (2)	– (–)
3	5	Australia	AUS	9:01.4	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	18	Rex Aubrey		–	2:15.6 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	19	Frank O'Neill		–	2:14.1 (1)	4:29.7 (1)
3rd Leg	22	Garrick Agnew		–	2:18.0 (4)	6:47.7 (1)
Anchor	23	John Marshall		–	2:13.7 (3)	– (–)
4	7	Soviet Union	URS	9:01.9	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	377	Viktor Drobinsky		–	2:14.2 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	378	Vasily Karmanov		–	2:18.3 (3)	4:32.5 (2)
3rd Leg	376	Leonid Meshkov		–	2:15.3 (3)	6:47.8 (2)
Anchor	356	Lev Balandin		–	2:14.1 (4)	– (–)
5	4	Italy	ITA	9:17.9	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	231	Carlo Pedersoli		–	2:17.5 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	232	Egidio Massaria		–	2:21.3 (5)	4:38.8 (6)
3rd Leg	233	Angelo Romani		–	2:21.6 (5)	7:00.4 (5)
Anchor	229	Gianni Paliaga		–	2:17.5 (5)	– (–)
6	2	Finland	FIN	9:26.6	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	515	Pentti Ikonen		–	2:16.2 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	520	Pentti Paatsalo		–	2:22.2 (6)	4:38.4 (5)
3rd Leg	517	Mauno Valkeinen		–	2:23.0 (6)	7:01.4 (6)
Anchor	516	Leo Telivuo		–	2:25.2 (6)	– (–)
DNS	6	Egypt	EGY	–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Dorri Abdel Kader DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Jack Hakim DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Taha El-Gamal DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Abdel Aziz El-Shafei DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Samir Gharbo DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Yehia El-Bahnasawy DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	7	United States	USA	8:50.9	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	614	Wally Wolf		–	2:11.4 (1)	– (–)	IOR
2nd Leg	618	Don Sheff		–	2:12.9 (1)	4:24.3 (1)
3rd Leg	615	Frank Dooley		–	2:14.7 (1)	6:39.0 (1)
Anchor	619	Bumpy Jones		–	2:11.9 (2)	– (–)
2	3	Hungary	HUN	8:54.6	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	566	György Csordás		–	2:13.2 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	562	László Gyöngyösi		–	2:14.1 (3)	4:27.3 (2)
3rd Leg	565	Gusztáv Kettesi		–	2:15.0 (2)	6:42.3 (2)
Anchor	563	Imre Nyéki		–	2:12.3 (3)	– (–)
3	4	South Africa	RSA	8:58.7	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	127	Graham Johnston		–	2:15.3 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	125	Dennis Ford		–	2:14.0 (2)	4:29.3 (3)
3rd Leg	124	John Durr		–	2:17.7 (3)	6:47.0 (3)
Anchor	128	Peter Duncan		–	2:11.7 (1)	– (–)
4	6	Brazil	BRA	9:19.0	– (–)	– (–)		3
Lead-off	67	Haroldo Lara		–	2:15.6 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	74	Sylvio dos Santos		–	2:19.0 (4)	4:34.6 (4)
3rd Leg	66	Aram Boghossian		–	2:26.6 (4)	7:01.2 (4)
Anchor	70	João Gonçalves Filho		–	2:17.8 (4)	– (–)
5	2	Belgium	BEL	9:45.5	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	46	Kamiel Reynders		–	2:22.3 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	42	Joseph Anthoon		–	2:25.5 (5)	4:47.8 (5)
3rd Leg	43	Marcel Anthoon		–	2:28.6 (5)	7:16.4 (5)
Anchor	44	Alfons Bierebeek		–	2:29.1 (5)	– (–)
DNS	5	Spain	ESP	–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Ricardo Conde DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Enrique Granados DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Roberto Queralt DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Juan Luis Abellán DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)
	–	Josep Bazán DNS		–	– (–)	– (–)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	5	Japan	JPN	8:42.1	– (–)	– (–)	QOR
Lead-off	–	Yoshihiro Hamaguchi		–	2:10.1 (1)	– (–)	IOR
2nd Leg	–	Hiroshi Suzuki		–	2:08.5 (1)	4:18.6 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Toru Goto		–	2:14.0 (3)	6:32.6 (1)
Anchor	289	Teijiro Tanikawa		–	2:09.5 (2)	– (–)
2	4	Sweden	SWE	8:52.3	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	468	Rolf Olander		–	2:17.7 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	460	Göran Larsson		–	2:12.1 (2)	4:29.8 (2)
3rd Leg	462	Olle Johansson		–	2:13.5 (2)	6:43.3 (2)
Anchor	464	Per-Olof Östrand		–	2:09.0 (1)	– (–)
3	6	Argentina	ARG	8:59.3	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	1	Federico Zwanck		–	2:18.0 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	2	Marcelo Trabucco		–	2:14.0 (3)	4:32.0 (3)
3rd Leg	4	Pedro Galvão		–	2:12.9 (1)	6:44.9 (3)
Anchor	3	Alfredo Yantorno		–	2:14.4 (3)	– (–)
4	7	Canada	CAN	9:10.9	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	320	Gerry McNamee		–	2:16.6 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	317	Lucien Beaumont		–	2:20.5 (5)	4:37.1 (4)
3rd Leg	319	Leo Portelance		–	2:17.9 (5)	6:55.0 (4)
Anchor	321	Allen Gilchrist		–	2:15.9 (4)	– (–)
5	3	Poland	POL	9:13.7	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	422	Gotfryd Gremlowski		–	2:22.9 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	423	Antoni Tołkaczewski		–	2:19.7 (4)	4:42.6 (6)
3rd Leg	425	Józef Lewicki		–	2:14.2 (4)	6:56.8 (5)
Anchor	420	Jerzy Boniecki		–	2:16.9 (5)	– (–)
6	2	Mexico	MEX	9:15.7	– (–)	– (–)		4
Lead-off	329	Alberto Isaac		–	2:20.3 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	337	Efrén Fierro		–	2:21.0 (6)	4:41.3 (5)
3rd Leg	338	César Borja		–	2:18.3 (6)	6:59.6 (6)
Anchor	339	Tonatiuh Gutiérrez		–	2:17.1 (6)	– (–)

Final

Date	29 July 1952 — 17:00

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	United States	USA	8:31.1	– (–)	– (–)	OR
Lead-off	Wayne Moore		–	2:08.7 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	Bill Woolsey		–	2:09.3 (2)	4:18.0 (2)
3rd Leg	Ford Konno		–	2:06.9 (1)	6:24.9 (2)
Anchor	Jimmy McLane		–	2:06.2 (1)	– (–)
2	Japan	JPN	8:33.5	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	Hiroshi Suzuki		–	2:07.0 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	Yoshihiro Hamaguchi		–	2:08.1 (1)	4:15.1 (1)
3rd Leg	Toru Goto		–	2:09.1 (2)	6:24.2 (1)
Anchor	Teijiro Tanikawa		–	2:09.3 (3)	– (–)
3	France	FRA	8:45.9	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	Jo Bernardo		–	2:14.0 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	Aldo Eminente		–	2:14.3 (6)	4:28.3 (4)
3rd Leg	Alex Jany		–	2:11.2 (4)	6:39.5 (4)
Anchor	Jean Boiteux		–	2:06.4 (2)	– (–)
4	Sweden	SWE	8:46.8	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	Lars Svantesson		–	2:15.8 (=6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	Göran Larsson		–	2:10.4 (3)	4:26.2 (3)
3rd Leg	Per-Olof Östrand		–	2:09.4 (3)	6:35.6 (3)
Anchor	Olle Johansson		–	2:11.2 (6)	– (–)
5	Hungary	HUN	8:52.6	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	László Gyöngyösi		–	2:15.8 (=6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	György Csordás		–	2:12.9 (4)	4:28.7 (5)
3rd Leg	Géza Kádas		–	2:12.3 (5)	6:41.0 (5)
Anchor	Imre Nyéki		–	2:11.6 (7)	– (–)
6	Great Britain	GBR	8:52.9	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	Roy Botham		–	2:15.9 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	Ronnie Burns		–	2:13.4 (5)	4:29.3 (7)
3rd Leg	Douglas Welsh		–	2:13.9 (=6)	6:43.2 (7)
Anchor	Jack Wardrop		–	2:09.7 (4)	– (–)
7	South Africa	RSA	8:55.1	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	Graham Johnston		–	2:14.7 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	Dennis Ford		–	2:14.7 (8)	4:29.4 (8)
3rd Leg	John Durr		–	2:15.6 (8)	6:45.0 (8)
Anchor	Peter Duncan		–	2:10.1 (5)	– (–)
8	Argentina	ARG	8:56.9	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	Federico Zwanck		–	2:14.6 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	Marcelo Trabucco		–	2:14.6 (7)	4:29.2 (6)
3rd Leg	Pedro Galvão		–	2:13.9 (=6)	6:43.1 (6)
Anchor	Alfredo Yantorno		–	2:13.8 (8)	– (–)