| | Event type
4 x 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men
| Date | 21 July 1976 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscine olympique, Montréal, Québec |
| Participants | 77 from 18 countries |
This was the only men’s freestyle relay in Montréal as the 4 x 100 had been removed from the program in an effort to decrease the number of swimming events. The Americans had swept the 200 metre freestyle medals two days before this final and were overwhelming favorites. The world record coming in was 7:30.54, set by a US team from the Long Beach Swim Club. But that did not survive the first round. The United States’ team of Doug Northway, Tim Shaw, Mike Bruner, and Bruce Furniss recorded 7:30.33 in the third heat to better the world record, although Shaw and Northway would not even make the US team for the final. The time was almost three seconds better than the Soviet Union’s time in heat two. The final was a laughable win for the US, led by Bruner and the three 200 medalists – Bruce Furniss, John Naber, and Jim Montgomery. The Soviets would finish second in a time of 7:27.97, far below the American world record from the heats, but they were a full 4.75 seconds in arrears at the finish.
Round One (21 July 1976 — 10:00)
Fastest eight advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | 100 m | 150 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | West Germany |  FRG | 7:37.59 | |||||||
| HaJo Geisler | – | – | – | 1:55.74 | 1:55.74 (2) | ||||||
| Andreas Schmidt | – | – | – | 1:55.39 | 3:51.13 (2) | ||||||
| Werner Lampe | – | – | – | 1:53.72 | 5:44.85 (2) | ||||||
| Peter Nocke | – | – | – | 1:52.74 | 7:37.59 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 5 | Great Britain |  GBR | 7:37.92 | |||||||
| Alan McClatchey | – | – | – | 1:55.30 | 1:55.30 (1) | ||||||
| David Dunne | – | – | – | 1:55.09 | 3:50.39 (1) | ||||||
| Gordon Downie | – | – | – | 1:54.39 | 5:44.78 (1) | ||||||
| Brian Brinkley | – | – | – | 1:53.14 | 7:37.92 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 2 | Italy |  ITA | 7:41.39 | |||||||
| Roberto Pangaro | – | – | – | 1:56.16 | 1:56.16 (3) | ||||||
| Paolo Revelli | – | – | – | 1:56.01 | 3:52.17 (4) | ||||||
| Paolo Barelli | – | – | – | 1:56.58 | 5:48.75 (3) | ||||||
| Marcello Guarducci | – | – | – | 1:52.64 | 7:41.39 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 6 | Norway |  NOR | 7:46.42 | |||||||
| Bent Brask | – | – | – | 1:57.01 | 1:57.01 (4) | ||||||
| Arne Borgstrøm | – | – | – | 1:54.87 | 3:51.88 (3) | ||||||
| Håkon Iversøn | – | – | – | 1:59.34 | 5:51.22 (5) | ||||||
| Fritz Warncke | – | – | – | 1:55.20 | 7:46.42 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 3 | France |  FRA | 7:47.39 | |||||||
| Marc Lazzaro | – | – | – | 1:57.57 | 1:57.57 (5) | ||||||
| Benôit Laffineur | – | – | – | 1:56.87 | 3:54.44 (5) | ||||||
| Colin Ress | – | – | – | 1:56.53 | 5:50.97 (4) | ||||||
| Fabien Noël | – | – | – | 1:56.42 | 7:47.39 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | 7 | Puerto Rico |  PUR | 8:05.21 | |||||||
| Fernando Canales | – | – | – | 2:01.26 | 2:01.26 (6) | ||||||
| José-Ricardo de Jesús | – | – | – | 2:00.05 | 4:01.31 (6) | ||||||
| Arnaldo Pérez | – | – | – | 2:02.90 | 6:04.21 (6) | ||||||
| Francisco Canales | – | – | – | 2:01.00 | 8:05.21 (6) |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | 100 m | 150 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Soviet Union |  URS | 7:33.21 | |||||||
| Andrey Smirnov | – | – | – | 1:05.58 | 1:05.58 (1) | ||||||
| Vladimir Mikheyev | – | – | – | 2:43.34 | 3:48.92 (1) | ||||||
| Vladimir Raskatov | – | – | – | 1:52.10 | 5:41.02 (1) | ||||||
| Sergey Koplyakov | – | – | – | 1:52.19 | 7:33.21 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | East Germany |  GDR | 7:40.58 | |||||||
| Wilfried Hartung | – | – | – | 1:55.99 | 1:55.99 (3) | ||||||
| Rainer Strohbach | – | – | – | 1:53.76 | 3:49.75 (2) | ||||||
| Frank Pfütze | – | – | – | 1:55.01 | 5:44.76 (2) | ||||||
| Roger Pyttel | – | – | – | 1:55.82 | 7:40.58 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 5 | Australia |  AUS | 7:44.42 | |||||||
| Graham Windeatt | – | – | – | 1:55.00 | 1:55.00 (2) | ||||||
| Mark Tonelli | – | – | – | 1:55.94 | 3:50.94 (3) | ||||||
| Peter Coughlan | – | – | – | 1:54.76 | 5:45.70 (3) | ||||||
| Peter Dawson | – | – | – | 1:58.72 | 7:44.42 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 2 | Bulgaria |  BUL | 7:57.08 | |||||||
| Petar Georgiev | – | – | – | 1:59.28 | 1:59.28 (4) | ||||||
| Stefan Georgiev | – | – | – | 2:00.67 | 3:59.95 (4) | ||||||
| Toni Statelov | – | – | – | 1:58.69 | 5:58.64 (4) | ||||||
| Nikolay Ganev | – | – | – | 1:58.44 | 7:57.08 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 7 | Portugal |  POR | 8:26.68 | |||||||
| José Gomes Pereira | – | – | – | 2:02.30 | 2:02.30 (5) | ||||||
| António Botelho de Melo | – | – | – | 2:07.90 | 4:10.20 (5) | ||||||
| Rui de Abreu | – | – | – | 2:05.45 | 6:15.65 (5) | ||||||
| Paulo Frischknecht | – | – | – | 2:11.03 | 8:26.68 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | Hungary |  HUN | – | ||||||||
| András Hargitay (DNS) | – | – | – | – | – (–) | ||||||
| Csaba Sós (DNS) | – | – | – | – | – (–) | ||||||
| Zoltán Verrasztó (DNS) | – | – | – | – | – (–) | ||||||
| Zoltán Wladár (DNS) | – | – | – | – | – (–) |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | 100 m | 150 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | United States |  USA | 7:30.33 | |||||||
| Doug Northway | – | – | – | 1:51.65 | 1:51.65 (1) | ||||||
| Tim Shaw | – | – | – | 1:53.95 | 3:45.60 (1) | ||||||
| Mike Bruner | – | – | – | 1:54.11 | 5:39.71 (1) | ||||||
| Bruce Furniss | – | – | – | 1:50.62 | 7:30.33 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | Sweden |  SWE | 7:41.82 | |||||||
| Pär Arvidsson | – | – | – | 1:56.35 | 1:56.35 (4) | ||||||
| Peter Pettersson | – | – | – | 1:55.46 | 3:51.81 (3) | ||||||
| Anders Bellbring | – | – | – | 1:55.32 | 5:47.13 (2) | ||||||
| Bengt Gingsjö | – | – | – | 1:54.69 | 7:41.82 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 6 | Netherlands |  NED | 7:42.54 | |||||||
| Karim Ressang | – | – | – | 1:55.43 | 1:55.43 (3) | ||||||
| René van der Kuil | – | – | – | 1:55.12 | 3:50.55 (2) | ||||||
| Andre in het Veld | – | – | – | 1:57.33 | 5:47.88 (3) | ||||||
| Henk Elzerman | – | – | – | 1:54.66 | 7:42.54 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 2 | Spain |  ESP | 7:49.22 | |||||||
| David López-Zubero | – | – | – | 1:54.57 | 1:54.57 (2) | ||||||
| Jesús Fuentes | – | – | – | 1:59.60 | 3:54.17 (4) | ||||||
| Fernando Gómez-Reino | – | – | – | 1:58.67 | 5:52.84 (4) | ||||||
| Santiago Esteva | – | – | – | 1:56.38 | 7:49.22 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 7 | Mexico |  MEX | 8:05.12 | |||||||
| Guillermo García | – | – | – | 1:59.29 | 1:59.29 (5) | ||||||
| Eduardo Pérez | – | – | – | 2:01.31 | 4:00.60 (5) | ||||||
| Guillermo Zavala | – | – | – | 2:03.59 | 6:04.19 (5) | ||||||
| José Luis Prado | – | – | – | 2:00.93 | 8:05.12 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | 1 | Venezuela |  VEN | 8:08.38 | |||||||
| Ramón Volcán | – | – | – | 2:01.27 | 2:01.27 (6) | ||||||
| Andrés Arraez | – | – | – | 2:03.42 | 4:04.69 (6) | ||||||
| Glen Sochasky | – | – | – | 2:02.03 | 6:06.72 (6) | ||||||
| Luis Goicoechea | – | – | – | 2:01.66 | 8:08.38 (6) | ||||||
| 5 | Canada |  CAN | – | ||||||||
| Steve Badger | – | – | – | – | – (AC) | ||||||
| Bill Sawchuk | – | – | – | – | – (AC) | ||||||
| Steve Pickell | – | – | – | – | – (AC) | ||||||
| James Hett | – | – | – | – | – (AC) |
Final (21 July 1976 — 20:00)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | 100 m | 150 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | United States | USA | 7:23.22 | |||||||
| Mike Bruner | – | – | – | 1:52.35 | 1:52.35 (2) | ||||||
| Bruce Furniss | – | – | – | 1:49.56 | 3:41.91 (1) | ||||||
| John Naber | – | – | – | 1:51.20 | 5:33.11 (1) | ||||||
| Jim Montgomery | – | – | – | 1:50.11 | 7:23.22 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 5 | Soviet Union | URS | 7:27.97 | |||||||
| Vladimir Raskatov | – | – | – | 1:52.69 | 1:52.69 (3) | ||||||
| Andrey Bogdanov | – | – | – | 1:51.69 | 3:44.38 (3) | ||||||
| Sergey Koplyakov | – | – | – | 1:52.54 | 5:36.92 (2) | ||||||
| Andrey Krylov | – | – | – | 1:51.05 | 7:27.97 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 6 | Great Britain | GBR | 7:32.11 | |||||||
| Alan McClatchey | – | – | – | 1:54.09 | 1:54.09 (6) | ||||||
| David Dunne | – | – | – | 1:54.67 | 3:48.76 (4) | ||||||
| Gordon Downie | – | – | – | 1:52.10 | 5:40.86 (4) | ||||||
| Brian Brinkley | – | – | – | 1:51.25 | 7:32.11 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 3 | West Germany | FRG | 7:32.27 | |||||||
| Klaus Steinbach | – | – | – | 1:52.18 | 1:52.18 (1) | ||||||
| Peter Nocke | – | – | – | 1:51.19 | 3:43.37 (2) | ||||||
| Werner Lampe | – | – | – | 1:54.06 | 5:37.43 (3) | ||||||
| HaJo Geisler | – | – | – | 1:54.84 | 7:32.27 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 2 | East Germany | GDR | 7:38.92 | |||||||
| Roger Pyttel | – | – | – | 1:53.92 | 1:53.92 (5) | ||||||
| Wilfried Hartung | – | – | – | 1:55.16 | 3:49.08 (5) | ||||||
| Rainer Strohbach | – | – | – | 1:54.30 | 5:43.38 (5) | ||||||
| Frank Pfütze | – | – | – | 1:55.54 | 7:38.92 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | 8 | Netherlands | NED | 7:42.56 | |||||||
| Karim Ressang | – | – | – | 1:55.63 | 1:55.63 (7) | ||||||
| René van der Kuil | – | – | – | 1:55.17 | 3:50.80 (7) | ||||||
| Andre in het Veld | – | – | – | 1:57.18 | 5:47.98 (7) | ||||||
| Henk Elzerman | – | – | – | 1:54.58 | 7:42.56 (6) | ||||||
| 7 | 1 | Sweden | SWE | 7:42.84 | |||||||
| Pär Arvidsson | – | – | – | 1:55.84 | 1:55.84 (8) | ||||||
| Peter Pettersson | – | – | – | 1:56.14 | 3:51.98 (8) | ||||||
| Anders Bellbring | – | – | – | 1:56.44 | 5:48.42 (8) | ||||||
| Bengt Gingsjö | – | – | – | 1:54.42 | 7:42.84 (7) | ||||||
| 8 | 7 | Italy | ITA | 7:43.39 | |||||||
| Marcello Guarducci | – | – | – | 1:53.72 | 1:53.72 (4) | ||||||
| Roberto Pangaro | – | – | – | 1:55.74 | 3:49.46 (6) | ||||||
| Paolo Barelli | – | – | – | 1:57.66 | 5:47.12 (6) | ||||||
| Paolo Revelli | – | – | – | 1:56.27 | 7:43.39 (8) |