| Date | 9 – 11 August 1928 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Zwemstadion, Amsterdam |
| Participants | 55 from 13 countries |
The United States were again strong gold medal favorites, 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, as Japan took more than 10 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, as 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.
| Date | 9 August 1928 — 12:15 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top 2 in each heat and the next fastest advanced to the final round. |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |  USA | 9:38.8 | ||
| Lead-off | Paul Samson | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Austin Clapp | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | David Young | – | |||
| Anchor | Johnny Weissmuller | – | |||
| 2 | Japan |  JPN | 9:42.6 | ||
| Lead-off | Kazuo Noda | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Hiroshi Yoneyama | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Tokuhei Sada | – | |||
| Anchor | Katsuo Takaishi | – | |||
| 3 | Sweden |  SWE | 10:03.2 | ||
| Lead-off | Aulo Gustafsson | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Sven Pettersson | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Eskil Lundahl | – | |||
| Anchor | Arne Borg | – | |||
| 4 | Argentina |  ARG | – | ||
| Lead-off | Francisco Uranga | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Amilcar Álvarez | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Emilio Vives | – | |||
| Anchor | Alberto Zorrilla | – |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada |  CAN | 9:55.0 | ||
| Lead-off | Munroe Bourne | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Jimmy Thompson | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Garnet Ault | – | |||
| Anchor | Walter Spence | – | |||
| 2 | Great Britain |  GBR | 10:16.6 | ||
| Lead-off | Percy Peter | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Joseph Whiteside | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Reg Sutton | – | |||
| Anchor | Albert Dickin | – | |||
| 3 | France |  FRA | 10:31.4 | ||
| Lead-off | Philippe Tisson | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Gustave Klein | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Jean Taris | – | |||
| Anchor | Albert Vandeplancke | – | |||
| 4 | Netherlands |  NED | – | ||
| Lead-off | Henk van Essen | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Gerrit van Voorst | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Piet Bannenberg | – | |||
| Anchor | Johannes Brink | – | |||
| 5 | Belgium |  BEL | – | ||
| Lead-off | Louis Van Parijs | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Pierre Coppieters | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Martial Van Schelle | – | |||
| Anchor | Gérard Blitz | – |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hungary |  HUN | 9:46.6 | ||
| Lead-off | András Wanié | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Rezső Wanié | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Géza Szigritz | – | |||
| Anchor | István Bárány | – | |||
| 2 | Spain |  ESP | 11:50.6 | ||
| Lead-off | Francisco Segalá | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Estanislao Artal | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Ramón Artigas | – | |||
| Anchor | José González | – | |||
| Italy |  ITA | – | |||
| Lead-off | Giuseppe Perentin | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Antonio Conelli | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Emilio Polli | – | |||
| Anchor | Paolo Costoli | – | |||
| Germany |  GER | – | |||
| Lead-off | Karl Schubert | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | August Heitmann | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Friedel Berges | – | |||
| Anchor | Herbert Heinrich | – |
| Date | 11 August 1928 — 10:10 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split Time | Exchange Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | USA | 9:36.2 | – | – | ||
| Lead-off | Austin Clapp | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Walter Laufer | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | George Kojac | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | Johnny Weissmuller | – | – | – | |||
| 2 | Japan | JPN | 9:41.4 | – | – | ||
| Lead-off | Hiroshi Yoneyama | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Nobuo Arai | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Tokuhei Sada | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | Katsuo Takaishi | – | – | – | |||
| 3 | Canada | CAN | 9:47.8 | – | – | ||
| Lead-off | Munroe Bourne | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Jimmy Thompson | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Garnet Ault | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | Walter Spence | – | – | – | |||
| 4 | Hungary | HUN | 9:57.0 | – | – | ||
| Lead-off | András Wanié | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Rezső Wanié | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Géza Szigritz | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | István Bárány | – | – | – | |||
| 5 | Sweden | SWE | 10:01.8 | – | – | ||
| Lead-off | Aulo Gustafsson | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Sven Pettersson | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Eskil Lundahl | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | Arne Borg | – | – | – | |||
| 6 | Great Britain | GBR | 10:15.8 | – | – | ||
| Lead-off | Reg Sutton | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | Joseph Whiteside | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | Percy Peter | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | Albert Dickin | – | – | – | |||
| 7 | Spain | ESP | 11:43 | – | – | 1 | |
| Lead-off | José González | – | 2:50 | 2:50 | |||
| 2nd Leg | Estanislao Artal | – | 3:04 | 5:54 | |||
| 3rd Leg | Ramón Artigas | – | 3:02 | 8:56 | |||
| Anchor | Francisco Segalá | – | 2:45 | 11:41 |
CHI
IRL