| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	17 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	69 from 16 countries

The last five world records in this event had been set by USA teams and it was really a matter of how much they would win by in Mexico City. The race was held on the first day of swimming at the 1968 Olympics. On the first leg of the final, Zac Zorn opened two body lengths on Frank Wiegand of East Germany and the race was over. Steve Rerych, who had suffered from the tourista in Mexico City and had to withdraw from the 200 final, streaked 52.8 on the second leg and nobody was close. Mark Spitz increased the lead on the third leg and Ken Walsh brought them home in a world record 3:31.7 to win by 2.5 seconds over the Soviet Union.

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	United States	USA	3:35.4 (1 h2)	3:31.7 (1)	Gold
	15373	Zac Zorn		–	–
	15362	Steve Rerych		–	–
	15367	Mark Spitz		–	–
	15371	Ken Walsh		–	–
	15354	William Johnson		–	–
	15353	David Johnson		–	–
	15370	Mike Wall		–	–
	15366	Don Schollander		–	–
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:37.8 (1 h1)	3:34.2 (2)	Silver
	21209	Semyon Belits-Geyman		–	–
	21038	Viktor Mazanov		–	–
	21028	Georgijs Kuļikovs		–	–
	21027	Leonid Ilyichov		–	–
	21036	Sergey Gusev		–	–
3	–	Australia	AUS	3:38.0 (2 h2)	3:34.7 (3)	Bronze
	13050	Greg Rogers		–	–
	13047	Robert Cusack		–	–
	13054	Bob Windle		–	–
	13052	Mike Wenden		–	–
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:40.4 (3 h1)	3:38.4 (4)
	16759	Mike Turner		–	–
	–	Bobby McGregor		–	–
	16687	David Hembrow		–	–
	16681	Tony Jarvis		–	–
5	–	East Germany	GDR	3:40.5 (4 h2)	3:38.8 (5)
	23079	Frank Wiegand		–	–
	23046	Horst-Günter Gregor		–	–
	23067	Udo Poser		–	–
	23045	Lothar Gericke		–	–
6	–	West Germany	FRG	3:40.2 (3 h2)	3:39.0 (6)
	12252	Peter Schorning		–	–
	12245	Wolfgang Kremer		–	–
	12251	Olaf, Baron von Schilling		–	–
	12238	Hans Faßnacht		–	–
7	–	Canada	CAN	3:40.3 (2 h1)	3:39.2 (7)
	–	Glen Finch		–	–
	13937	George Smith		–	–
	13938	Ralph Hutton		–	–
	–	Sandy Gilchrist		–	–
8	–	Japan	JPN	3:41.8 (4 h1)	3:41.5 (8)
	–	Kunihiro Iwasaki		–	–
	18146	Masayuki Osawa		–	–
	18145	Satoru Nakano		–	–
	18144	Teruhiko Kitani		–	–
9	–	Hungary	HUN	3:42.4 (5 h2)	–
	17294	Péter Lázár		–	–
	17296	István Szentirmay		–	–
	17289	Csaba Csatlós		–	–
	17293	Gábor Kucsera		–	–
10	–	Spain	ESP	3:42.7 (5 h1)	–
	15078	José Antonio Chicoy		–	–
	15079	Juan Fortuny		–	–
	15087	Juan Martínez		–	–
	15086	Diego Martel		–	–
11	–	Sweden	SWE	3:43.9 (6 h1)	–
	20401	Lester Eriksson		–	–
	–	Ingvar Eriksson		–	–
	20410	Bo Westergren		–	–
	20407	Gunnar Larsson		–	–
12	–	Mexico	MEX	3:46.1 (6 h2)	–
	18762	Salvador Ruiz		–	–
	18758	Mario Santibáñez		–	–
	18759	Eduardo Alanís		–	–
	18757	Rafaél Cal		–	–
13	–	Puerto Rico	PUR	3:47.0 (7 h2)	–
	19850	Jorge González		–	–
	19845	Michael Goodner		–	–
	–	Gary Goodner		–	–
	19844	José Ferraioli		–	–
14	–	Philippines	PHI	3:47.8 (8 h2)	–
	–	Roosevelt Abdulgafur		–	–
	15884	Amman Jalmaani		–	–
	15865	Tony Asamli		–	–
	15888	Luis Ayesa		–	–
15	–	Colombia	COL	3:51.5 (7 h1)	–
	13967	Julio Arango		–	–
	13968	Tomás Becerra		–	–
	13970	Federico Sicard		–	–
	13969	Ricardo González		–	–
16	–	El Salvador	ESA	4:08.3 (8 h1)	–
	14930	Salvador Vilanova		–	–
	14934	Rubén Guerrero		–	–
	14937	José Alvarado		–	–
	14935	Ernesto Durón		–	–

Round One

Date	17 October 1968 — 10:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	United States	USA	3:35.4	Q
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:37.8	Q
3	–	Australia	AUS	3:38.0	Q
4	–	West Germany	FRG	3:40.2	Q
5	–	Canada	CAN	3:40.3	Q
6	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:40.4	Q
7	–	East Germany	GDR	3:40.5	Q
8	–	Japan	JPN	3:41.8	Q
9	–	Hungary	HUN	3:42.4
10	–	Spain	ESP	3:42.7
11	–	Sweden	SWE	3:43.9
12	–	Mexico	MEX	3:46.1
13	–	Puerto Rico	PUR	3:47.0
14	–	Philippines	PHI	3:47.8
15	–	Colombia	COL	3:51.5
16	–	El Salvador	ESA	4:08.3

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:37.8	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Leonid Ilyichov		–	54.4 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Sergey Gusev		–	54.7 (3)	1:49.1 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Viktor Mazanov		–	54.6 (1)	2:43.7 (1)
Anchor	–	Semyon Belits-Geyman		–	54.1 (=1)	– (–)
2	–	Canada	CAN	3:40.3	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Glen Finch		–	57.5 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	George Smith		–	53.2 (1)	1:50.7 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Ralph Hutton		–	54.8 (2)	2:45.5 (2)
Anchor	–	Sandy Gilchrist		–	54.8 (3)	– (–)
3	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:40.4	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Mike Turner		–	55.5 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Bobby McGregor		–	55.0 (4)	1:50.5 (3)
3rd Leg	–	David Hembrow		–	55.8 (3)	2:46.3 (3)
Anchor	–	Tony Jarvis		–	54.1 (=1)	– (–)
4	–	Japan	JPN	3:41.8	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Kunihiro Iwasaki		–	55.8 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Masayuki Osawa		–	54.5 (2)	1:50.3 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Satoru Nakano		–	55.9 (4)	2:46.2 (4)
Anchor	–	Teruhiko Kitani		–	55.6 (5)	– (–)
5	–	Spain	ESP	3:42.7	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	José Antonio Chicoy		–	55.1 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Juan Fortuny		–	56.3 (6)	1:51.4 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Juan Martínez		–	56.2 (6)	2:47.6 (5)
Anchor	–	Diego Martel		–	55.1 (4)	– (–)
6	–	Sweden	SWE	3:43.9	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Lester Eriksson		–	55.7 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Ingvar Eriksson		–	55.9 (5)	1:51.6 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Bo Westergren		–	56.1 (5)	2:47.7 (6)
Anchor	–	Gunnar Larsson		–	56.2 (6)	– (–)
7	–	Colombia	COL	3:51.5	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Julio Arango		–	56.0 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Tomás Becerra		–	59.7 (7)	1:55.7 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Federico Sicard		–	58.8 (7)	2:54.5 (7)
Anchor	–	Ricardo González		–	57.0 (7)	– (–)
8	–	El Salvador	ESA	4:08.3	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Salvador Vilanova		–	55.9 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Rubén Guerrero		–	1:05.9 (8)	2:01.8 (8)
3rd Leg	–	José Alvarado		–	1:02.4 (8)	3:04.2 (8)
Anchor	–	Ernesto Durón		–	1:04.1 (8)	– (–)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	3:35.4	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	William Johnson		–	54.5 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	David Johnson		–	53.1 (1)	1:47.6 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Mike Wall		–	54.0 (2)	2:41.6 (1)
Anchor	–	Don Schollander		–	53.8 (2)	– (–)
2	–	Australia	AUS	3:38.0	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Greg Rogers		–	55.3 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Robert Cusack		–	55.7 (=5)	1:51.0 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Bob Windle		–	53.9 (1)	2:44.9 (2)
Anchor	–	Mike Wenden		–	53.1 (1)	– (–)
3	–	West Germany	FRG	3:40.2	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Peter Schorning		–	55.1 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Wolfgang Kremer		–	54.8 (=3)	1:49.9 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Olaf, Baron von Schilling		–	54.9 (3)	2:44.8 (=3)
Anchor	–	Hans Faßnacht		–	55.4 (=4)	– (–)
4	–	East Germany	GDR	3:40.5	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Frank Wiegand		–	55.4 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Horst-Günter Gregor		–	54.4 (2)	1:49.8 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Udo Poser		–	55.0 (4)	2:44.8 (=3)
Anchor	–	Lothar Gericke		–	55.7 (7)	– (–)
5	–	Hungary	HUN	3:42.4	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Péter Lázár		–	56.0 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	István Szentirmay		–	56.0 (7)	1:52.0 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Csaba Csatlós		–	55.9 (6)	2:47.9 (5)
Anchor	–	Gábor Kucsera		–	54.5 (3)	– (–)
6	–	Mexico	MEX	3:46.1	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Salvador Ruiz		–	57.1 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Mario Santibáñez		–	55.7 (=5)	1:52.8 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Eduardo Alanís		–	57.8 (7)	2:50.6 (6)
Anchor	–	Rafaél Cal		–	55.5 (6)	– (–)
7	–	Puerto Rico	PUR	3:47.0	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Jorge González		–	55.0 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Michael Goodner		–	1:00.4 (8)	1:55.4 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Gary Goodner		–	55.6 (5)	2:51.0 (7)
Anchor	–	José Ferraioli		–	56.0 (8)	– (–)
8	–	Philippines	PHI	3:47.8	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Roosevelt Abdulgafur		–	59.7 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Amman Jalmaani		–	54.8 (=3)	1:54.5 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Tony Asamli		–	57.9 (8)	2:52.4 (8)
Anchor	–	Luis Ayesa		–	55.4 (=4)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	17 October 1968 — 17:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	3:31.7	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Lead-off	–	Zac Zorn		–	53.4 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Steve Rerych		–	52.8 (1)	1:46.2 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Mark Spitz		–	52.7 (1)	2:38.9 (1)
Anchor	–	Ken Walsh		–	52.8 (3)	– (–)
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:34.2	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Semyon Belits-Geyman		–	54.7 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Viktor Mazanov		–	54.0 (2)	1:48.7 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Georgijs Kuļikovs		–	52.9 (2)	2:41.6 (2)
Anchor	–	Leonid Ilyichov		–	52.6 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Australia	AUS	3:34.7	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Greg Rogers		–	55.2 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Robert Cusack		–	54.1 (3)	1:49.3 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Bob Windle		–	53.7 (3)	2:43.0 (3)
Anchor	–	Mike Wenden		–	51.7 (1)	– (–)
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:38.4	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Mike Turner		–	55.5 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Bobby McGregor		–	54.2 (4)	1:49.7 (4)
3rd Leg	–	David Hembrow		–	55.4 (=6)	2:45.1 (4)
Anchor	–	Tony Jarvis		–	53.3 (4)	– (–)
5	–	East Germany	GDR	3:38.8	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Frank Wiegand		–	54.3 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Horst-Günter Gregor		–	54.3 (5)	1:48.6 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Udo Poser		–	55.4 (=6)	2:44.0 (5)
Anchor	–	Lothar Gericke		–	54.8 (7)	– (–)
6	–	West Germany	FRG	3:39.0	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Peter Schorning		–	54.5 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Wolfgang Kremer		–	55.2 (6)	1:49.7 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Olaf, Baron von Schilling		–	54.7 (5)	2:44.4 (6)
Anchor	–	Hans Faßnacht		–	54.6 (6)	– (–)
7	–	Canada	CAN	3:39.2	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Glen Finch		–	55.3 (=6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	George Smith		–	55.3 (7)	1:50.6 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Ralph Hutton		–	54.2 (4)	2:44.8 (7)
Anchor	–	Sandy Gilchrist		–	54.4 (5)	– (–)
8	–	Japan	JPN	3:41.5	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Kunihiro Iwasaki		–	55.3 (=6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Masayuki Osawa		–	55.4 (8)	1:50.7 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Satoru Nakano		–	55.9 (8)	2:46.6 (8)
Anchor	–	Teruhiko Kitani		–	54.9 (8)	– (–)