| Date | 29 August – 1 September 1960 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto, Roma |
| Participants | 67 from 15 countries |
The United States had by far the best team, based on the times of the individual swimmers, and they were bolstered by the addition of Jeff Farrell, probably the fastest swimmer in the world, but who had not qualified for the 100 free at the US Trials, as he was recovering from the effects of an appendicitis. The Americans biggest competition was expected to come from Australia, who had won in 1956, and Japan, winners of this event in 1932 and 1936. In fact, Australia held the world record of 8:16.6, having set it at a meeting down under just before the Rome Olympics. Japan qualified fastest, winning the first heat, with the USA winning the second over Australia. But the United States obliterated the world record in the final, winning in 8:10.2 with Japan second, three seconds back, and Australia close for third. Farrell swam the anchor for the United States.
| Date | 29 August 1960 — 21:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Team | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Japan | JPN | 8:17.1 | ||
| 2 | – | United States | USA | 8:18.0 | ||
| 3 | – | Australia | AUS | 8:24.2 | ||
| 4 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 8:26.9 | ||
| 5 | – | Unified Team of Germany | GER | 8:29.4 | ||
| 6 | – | Finland | FIN | 8:29.7 | ||
| =7 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 8:30.6 | ||
| =7 | – | Sweden | SWE | 8:30.6 | ||
| 9 | – | Poland | POL | 8:32.0 | ||
| 10 | – | Hungary | HUN | 8:32.6 | ||
| 11 | – | Italy | ITA | 8:38.1 | ||
| 12 | – | France | FRA | 8:41.2 | ||
| 13 | – | Yugoslavia | YUG | 8:49.8 | ||
| 14 | – | Mexico | MEX | 8:50.4 | ||
| 15 | – | Switzerland | SUI | 9:18.1 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Japan | JPN | 8:17.1 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Tsuyoshi Yamanaka | – | 2:01.8 (1) | – (–) | IOR | ||
| 2nd Leg | – | Makoto Fukui | – | 2:03.5 (1) | 4:05.3 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Hiroshi Ishii | – | 2:07.2 (2) | 6:12.5 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | Tatsuo Fujimoto | – | 2:04.6 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 8:26.9 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Tony Milton | – | 2:09.5 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | John Martin-Dye | – | 2:06.5 (2) | 4:16.0 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Dick Campion | – | 2:07.7 (3) | 6:23.7 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | Ian Black | – | 2:03.2 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 8:30.6 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Vitaly Sorokin | – | 2:07.7 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Gennady Nikolayev | – | 2:08.0 (5) | 4:15.7 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Sergey Tovstoplet | – | 2:08.1 (5) | 6:23.8 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | Boris Nikitin | – | 2:06.8 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | – | Sweden | SWE | 8:30.6 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Bengt-Olov Almstedt | – | 2:10.1 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Lars-Erik Bengtsson | – | 2:07.0 (3) | 4:17.1 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Bengt Nordwall | – | 2:06.9 (1) | 6:24.0 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | Per-Ola Lindberg | – | 2:06.6 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | – | Poland | POL | 8:32.0 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Andrzej Salamon | – | 2:08.3 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Bernard Aluchna | – | 2:07.8 (4) | 4:16.1 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Jerzy Tracz | – | 2:08.0 (4) | 6:24.1 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | Jan Lutomski | – | 2:07.9 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | – | France | FRA | 8:41.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Jean-Pascal Curtillet | – | 2:07.4 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Gérard Gropaiz | – | 2:10.8 (6) | 4:18.2 (6) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Marc Kamoun | – | 2:09.7 (6) | 6:27.9 (6) | |||
| Anchor | – | Jean Boiteux | – | 2:13.3 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 7 | – | Switzerland | SUI | 9:18.1 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Peter Bärtschi | – | 2:18.3 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Rainer Goltzsche | – | 2:20.4 (7) | 4:38.7 (7) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Karl Fridlin | – | 2:20.9 (7) | 6:59.6 (7) | |||
| Anchor | – | Hans-Ulrich Dürst | – | 2:18.5 (7) | – (–) |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | United States | USA | 8:18.0 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Bill Darnton | – | 2:06.8 (=2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Tom Winters | – | 2:04.0 (1) | 4:10.8 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Steve Clark | – | 2:04.0 (1) | 6:14.8 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | George Harrison | – | 2:03.2 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | – | Australia | AUS | 8:24.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | David Dickson | – | 2:04.6 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | John Rigby | – | 2:06.6 (2) | 4:11.2 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Allan Wood | – | 2:06.7 (3) | 6:17.9 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | John Devitt | – | 2:06.3 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | – | Unified Team of Germany | GER | 8:29.4 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Frank Wiegand | – | 2:06.8 (=2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Gerhard Hetz | – | 2:08.3 (5) | 4:15.1 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Hans Zierold | – | 2:08.5 (5) | 6:23.6 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | Hans-Joachim Klein | – | 2:05.8 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | – | Finland | FIN | 8:29.7 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Ilkka Suvanto | – | 2:10.0 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Kari Haavisto | – | 2:07.5 (3) | 4:17.5 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Stig-Olof Grenner | – | 2:08.0 (4) | 6:25.5 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | Karri Käyhkö | – | 2:04.2 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | – | Hungary | HUN | 8:32.6 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | György Müller | – | 2:11.8 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | László Lantos | – | 2:07.7 (4) | 4:19.5 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Gyula Dobay | – | 2:05.5 (2) | 6:25.0 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | József Katona | – | 2:07.6 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | – | Italy | ITA | 8:38.1 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Fritz Dennerlein | – | 2:11.6 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Bruno Bianchi | – | 2:08.5 (6) | 4:20.1 (6) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Angelo Romani | – | 2:10.9 (6) | 6:31.0 (6) | |||
| Anchor | – | Paolo Galletti | – | 2:07.1 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 7 | – | Yugoslavia | YUG | 8:49.8 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Milan Jeger | – | 2:09.6 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Slobodan Kićović | – | 2:12.9 (7) | 4:22.5 (7) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Vlado Brinovec | – | 2:15.4 (=7) | 6:37.9 (7) | |||
| Anchor | – | Veljko Rogošić | – | 2:11.9 (8) | – (–) | |||
| 8 | – | Mexico | MEX | 8:50.4 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Raúl Guzmán | – | 2:12.8 (8) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Alfredo Guzmán | – | 2:13.7 (8) | 4:26.5 (8) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Jorge Escalante | – | 2:15.4 (=7) | 6:41.9 (8) | |||
| Anchor | – | Mauricio Ocampo | – | 2:08.4 (7) | – (–) |
| Date | 1 September 1960 — 21:50 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | United States | USA | 8:10.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | George Harrison | – | 2:03.4 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Dick Blick | – | 2:01.9 (1) | 4:05.3 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Mike Troy | – | 2:02.9 (3) | 6:08.2 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | Jeff Farrell | – | 2:02.0 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | – | Japan | JPN | 8:13.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Makoto Fukui | – | 2:04.8 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Hiroshi Ishii | – | 2:04.8 (3) | 4:09.6 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Tsuyoshi Yamanaka | – | 2:00.6 (1) | 6:10.2 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | Tatsuo Fujimoto | – | 2:03.0 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | – | Australia | AUS | 8:13.8 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | David Dickson | – | 2:06.6 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | John Devitt | – | 2:03.2 (2) | 4:09.8 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Murray Rose | – | 2:02.7 (2) | 6:12.5 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | John Konrads | – | 2:01.3 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 8:28.1 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Tony Milton | – | 2:08.7 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | John Martin-Dye | – | 2:05.2 (4) | 4:13.9 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Dick Campion | – | 2:08.4 (=7) | 6:22.3 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | Ian Black | – | 2:05.8 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | – | Finland | FIN | 8:29.7 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Ilkka Suvanto | – | 2:09.0 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Kari Haavisto | – | 2:08.1 (6) | 4:17.1 (6) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Stig-Olof Grenner | – | 2:07.3 (6) | 6:24.4 (7) | |||
| Anchor | – | Karri Käyhkö | – | 2:05.3 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | – | Sweden | SWE | 8:31.0 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Sven-Göran Johansson | – | 2:09.1 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Lars-Erik Bengtsson | – | 2:08.2 (7) | 4:17.3 (7) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Bengt Nordwall | – | 2:06.5 (4) | 6:23.8 (6) | |||
| Anchor | – | Per-Ola Lindberg | – | 2:07.2 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 7 | – | Unified Team of Germany | GER | 8:31.8 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Frank Wiegand | – | 2:06.3 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Gerhard Hetz | – | 2:09.0 (8) | 4:15.3 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Hans Zierold | – | 2:08.4 (=7) | 6:23.7 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | Hans-Joachim Klein | – | 2:08.1 (8) | – (–) | |||
| 8 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 8:32.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Igor Luzhkovsky | – | 2:10.3 (8) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Gennady Nikolayev | – | 2:08.0 (5) | 4:18.3 (8) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Vitaly Sorokin | – | 2:07.0 (5) | 6:25.3 (8) | |||
| Anchor | – | Boris Nikitin | – | 2:06.9 (6) | – (–) |