| Date | 27 August – 1 September 1960 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto, Roma |
| Participants | 80 from 18 countries |
This was a new Olympic event, but it was not hard to pick the US as the favorites. They were so strong that for the butterfly leg they left the winner of the 200 fly in Rome, Mike Troy, off the team and replaced him by Lance Larson, the controversial silver medalist in the 100 freestyle. In the heats the Americans’ time was over six seconds faster than the Australians, as they broke the world record with a time of 4:09.2. They easily won the gold medal, almost seven seconds ahead of second-place Australia in the final, breaking the world mark again, with 4:08.2. Japan trailed in third, with Canada fourth, their anchor leg swum by future IOC Vice-President Dick Pound.
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |  USA | 4:08.2 (1 h3) | 4:05.4 (1) | Gold | ||
| Backstroke | Frank McKinney | – | – | ||||
| Breaststroke | Paul Hait | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Lance Larson | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Jeff Farrell | – | – | ||||
| Backstroke | Bob Bennett | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Dave Gillanders | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Steve Clark | – | – | ||||
| 2 | Australia |  AUS | 4:14.8 (1 h1) | 4:12.0 (2) | Silver | ||
| Backstroke | David Theile | – | – | ||||
| Breaststroke | Terry Gathercole | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Neville Hayes | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Geoff Shipton | – | – | ||||
| Backstroke | Julian Carroll | – | – | ||||
| Breaststroke | William Burton | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Kevin Berry | – | – | ||||
| 3 | Japan |  JPN | 4:16.0 (1 h2) | 4:12.2 (3) | Bronze | ||
| Backstroke | Kazuo Tomita | – | – | ||||
| Breaststroke | Koichi Hirakida | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Yoshihiko Osaki | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Keigo Shimizu | – | – | ||||
| Backstroke | Kazuo Watanabe | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Katsuki Ishihara | – | – | ||||
| 4 | Canada |  CAN | 4:15.3 (2 h3) | 4:16.8 (4) | |||
| Backstroke | Bob Wheaton | – | – | ||||
| Breaststroke | Steve Rabinovitch | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Cam Grout | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Dick Pound | – | – | ||||
| 5 | Soviet Union |  URS | 4:16.2 (3 h2) | 4:16.8 (5) | |||
| Backstroke | Leonid Barbiyer | – | – | ||||
| Breaststroke | Leonid Kolesnikov | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Grigory Kiselyov | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Igor Luzhkovsky | – | – | ||||
| 6 | Italy |  ITA | 4:16.0 (2 h2) | 4:17.2 (6) | |||
| Backstroke | Giuseppe Avellone | – | – | ||||
| Breaststroke | Roberto Lazzari | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Fritz Dennerlein | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Bruno Bianchi | – | – | ||||
| 7 | Great Britain |  GBR | 4:16.8 (4 h2) | 4:17.6 (7) | |||
| Backstroke | Graham Sykes | – | – | ||||
| Breaststroke | Christopher Walkden | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Ian Black | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Stan Clarke | – | – | ||||
| 8 | Netherlands |  NED | 4:16.1 (3 h3) | 4:18.2 (8) | |||
| Backstroke | Jan Jiskoot | – | – | ||||
| Breaststroke | Wieger Mensonides | – | – | ||||
| Butterfly | Gerrit Korteweg | – | – | ||||
| Freestyle | Ron Kroon | – | – | ||||
| =9 | Unified Team of Germany |  GER | 4:17.7 (2 h1) | – | |||
| Wolfgang Wagner | – | – | |||||
| Günter Tittes | – | – | |||||
| Hermann Lotter | – | – | |||||
| Uwe Jacobsen | – | – | |||||
| =9 | Hungary |  HUN | 4:17.7 (4 h3) | – | |||
| József Csikány | – | – | |||||
| György Kunsági | – | – | |||||
| László Kiss | – | – | |||||
| László Lantos | – | – | |||||
| 11 | France |  FRA | 4:21.7 (3 h1) | – | |||
| Robert Christophe | – | – | |||||
| Roland Boullanger | – | – | |||||
| Jean Pommat | – | – | |||||
| Alain Gottvallès | – | – | |||||
| 12 | Mexico |  MEX | 4:23.1 (4 h1) | – | |||
| Alejandro Gaxiola | – | – | |||||
| Enrique Rabell | – | – | |||||
| Mauricio Ocampo | – | – | |||||
| Jorge Escalante | – | – | |||||
| 13 | Yugoslavia |  YUG | 4:25.5 (5 h3) | – | |||
| Mihovil Dorčić | – | – | |||||
| Đorđe Perišić | – | – | |||||
| Veljko Rogošić | – | – | |||||
| Janez Kocmur | – | – | |||||
| 14 | Finland |  FIN | 4:27.3 (5 h1) | – | |||
| Stig-Olof Grenner | – | – | |||||
| Pekka Lairola | – | – | |||||
| Ilkka Suvanto | – | – | |||||
| Karri Käyhkö | – | – | |||||
| 15 | Philippines |  PHI | 4:28.0 (5 h2) | – | |||
| Lorenzo Cortez | – | – | |||||
| Antonio Saloso | – | – | |||||
| Freddie Elizalde | – | – | |||||
| Bana Sailani | – | – | |||||
| 16 | Brazil |  BRA | 4:30.1 (6 h2) | – | |||
| Athos de Oliveira Júnior | – | – | |||||
| Farid Zablith Filho | – | – | |||||
| Aldo Perseke | – | – | |||||
| Fernando de Abreu | – | – | |||||
| 17 | Israel |  ISR | 4:37.6 (6 h1) | – | |||
| Joram Shnider | – | – | |||||
| Gershon Shefa | – | – | |||||
| Itzhak Luria | – | – | |||||
| Amiram Trauber | – | – | |||||
| 18 | Portugal |  POR | 4:39.9 (6 h3) | – | |||
| Raúl Cerqueira | – | – | |||||
| Eduardo de Sousa | – | – | |||||
| Luís Vaz Jorge | – | – | |||||
| Herlander Ribeiro | – | – |
| Date | 27 August 1960 — 15:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Team | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | United States | USA | 4:08.2 | ||
| 2 | – | Australia | AUS | 4:14.8 | ||
| 3 | – | Canada | CAN | 4:15.3 | ||
| =4 | – | Japan | JPN | 4:16.0 | ||
| =4 | – | Italy | ITA | 4:16.0 | ||
| 6 | – | Netherlands | NED | 4:16.1 | ||
| 7 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 4:16.2 | ||
| 8 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 4:16.8 | ||
| =9 | – | Unified Team of Germany | GER | 4:17.7 | ||
| =9 | – | Hungary | HUN | 4:17.7 | ||
| 11 | – | France | FRA | 4:21.7 | ||
| 12 | – | Mexico | MEX | 4:23.1 | ||
| 13 | – | Yugoslavia | YUG | 4:25.5 | ||
| 14 | – | Finland | FIN | 4:27.3 | ||
| 15 | – | Philippines | PHI | 4:28.0 | ||
| 16 | – | Brazil | BRA | 4:30.1 | ||
| 17 | – | Israel | ISR | 4:37.6 | ||
| 18 | – | Portugal | POR | 4:39.9 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Australia | AUS | 4:14.8 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Julian Carroll | – | 1:04.6 (3) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | William Burton | – | 1:13.3 (2) | 2:17.9 (2) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Kevin Berry | – | 1:01.7 (1) | 3:19.6 (1) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Geoff Shipton | – | 55.2 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | – | Unified Team of Germany | GER | 4:17.7 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Wolfgang Wagner | – | 1:04.3 (2) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Günter Tittes | – | 1:12.2 (1) | 2:16.5 (1) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Hermann Lotter | – | 1:04.0 (3) | 3:20.5 (2) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Uwe Jacobsen | – | 57.2 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | – | France | FRA | 4:21.7 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Robert Christophe | – | 1:03.2 (1) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Roland Boullanger | – | 1:15.4 (3) | 2:18.6 (3) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Jean Pommat | – | 1:05.5 (4) | 3:24.1 (3) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Alain Gottvallès | – | 57.6 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | – | Mexico | MEX | 4:23.1 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Alejandro Gaxiola | – | 1:05.4 (5) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Enrique Rabell | – | 1:18.6 (5) | 2:24.0 (5) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Mauricio Ocampo | – | 1:02.3 (2) | 3:26.3 (4) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Jorge Escalante | – | 56.8 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | – | Finland | FIN | 4:27.3 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Stig-Olof Grenner | – | 1:05.2 (4) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Pekka Lairola | – | 1:16.2 (4) | 2:21.4 (4) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Ilkka Suvanto | – | 1:06.6 (5) | 3:28.0 (5) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Karri Käyhkö | – | 59.3 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | – | Israel | ISR | 4:37.6 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Joram Shnider | – | 1:11.3 (6) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Gershon Shefa | – | 1:19.3 (6) | 2:30.6 (6) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Itzhak Luria | – | 1:06.9 (6) | 3:37.5 (6) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Amiram Trauber | – | 1:00.1 (6) | – (–) |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Japan | JPN | 4:16.0 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Kazuo Watanabe | – | 1:05.5 (3) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Yoshihiko Osaki | – | 1:11.8 (1) | 2:17.3 (3) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Koichi Hirakida | – | 1:01.9 (2) | 3:19.2 (2) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Katsuki Ishihara | – | 56.8 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | – | Italy | ITA | 4:16.0 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Giuseppe Avellone | – | 1:05.8 (4) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Roberto Lazzari | – | 1:12.0 (2) | 2:17.8 (4) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Fritz Dennerlein | – | 1:00.7 (1) | 3:18.5 (1) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Bruno Bianchi | – | 57.5 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 4:16.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Leonid Barbiyer | – | 1:03.8 (1) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Leonid Kolesnikov | – | 1:13.0 (3) | 2:16.8 (1) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Grigory Kiselyov | – | 1:03.0 (4) | 3:19.8 (4) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Igor Luzhkovsky | – | 56.4 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 4:16.8 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Graham Sykes | – | 1:03.9 (2) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Christopher Walkden | – | 1:13.1 (4) | 2:17.0 (2) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Ian Black | – | 1:12.4 (6) | 3:19.4 (3) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Stan Clarke | – | 57.4 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | – | Philippines | PHI | 4:28.0 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Lorenzo Cortez | – | 1:08.4 (6) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Antonio Saloso | – | 1:18.1 (6) | 2:26.5 (6) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Freddie Elizalde | – | 1:02.9 (3) | 3:29.4 (5) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Bana Sailani | – | 58.6 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | – | Brazil | BRA | 4:30.1 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Athos de Oliveira Júnior | – | 1:07.2 (5) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Farid Zablith Filho | – | 1:15.6 (5) | 2:22.8 (5) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Aldo Perseke | – | 1:08.5 (5) | 3:31.3 (6) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Fernando de Abreu | – | 58.8 (6) | – (–) |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | United States | USA | 4:08.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Bob Bennett | – | 1:02.7 (1) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Paul Hait | – | 1:11.2 (1) | 2:13.9 (1) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Dave Gillanders | – | 59.8 (1) | 3:13.7 (1) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Steve Clark | – | 54.6 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | – | Canada | CAN | 4:15.3 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Bob Wheaton | – | 1:04.8 (3) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Steve Rabinovitch | – | 1:12.3 (3) | 2:17.1 (2) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Cam Grout | – | 1:02.1 (2) | 3:19.3 (2) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Dick Pound | – | 56.1 (=2) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | – | Netherlands | NED | 4:16.1 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Jan Jiskoot | – | 1:05.6 (4) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Wieger Mensonides | – | 1:12.2 (2) | 2:17.8 (4) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Gerrit Korteweg | – | 1:02.2 (3) | 3:20.0 (3) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Ron Kroon | – | 56.1 (=2) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | – | Hungary | HUN | 4:17.7 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | József Csikány | – | 1:04.6 (2) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | György Kunsági | – | 1:13.1 (4) | 2:17.7 (3) | |||
| Butterfly | – | László Kiss | – | 1:03.0 (4) | 3:20.7 (4) | |||
| Freestyle | – | László Lantos | – | 57.0 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | – | Yugoslavia | YUG | 4:25.5 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Mihovil Dorčić | – | 1:06.1 (5) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Đorđe Perišić | – | 1:14.9 (5) | 2:21.0 (5) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Veljko Rogošić | – | 1:06.3 (5) | 3:27.3 (5) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Janez Kocmur | – | 58.2 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | – | Portugal | POR | 4:39.9 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Raúl Cerqueira | – | 1:07.1 (6) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Eduardo de Sousa | – | 1:24.7 (6) | 2:31.8 (6) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Luís Vaz Jorge | – | 1:06.8 (6) | 3:38.6 (6) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Herlander Ribeiro | – | 1:01.3 (6) | – (–) |
| Date | 1 September 1960 — 20:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | United States | USA | 4:05.4 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Frank McKinney | – | 1:02.0 (1) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Paul Hait | – | 1:10.5 (1) | 2:12.5 (1) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Lance Larson | – | 58.0 (1) | 3:10.5 (1) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Jeff Farrell | – | 54.9 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | – | Australia | AUS | 4:12.0 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | David Theile | – | 1:02.4 (2) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Terry Gathercole | – | 1:10.9 (2) | 2:13.3 (2) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Neville Hayes | – | 1:03.3 (=7) | 3:16.6 (3) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Geoff Shipton | – | 55.4 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | – | Japan | JPN | 4:12.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Kazuo Tomita | – | 1:04.1 (4) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Koichi Hirakida | – | 1:11.5 (3) | 2:15.6 (3) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Yoshihiko Osaki | – | 1:00.4 (2) | 3:16.0 (2) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Keigo Shimizu | – | 56.2 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | – | Canada | CAN | 4:16.8 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Bob Wheaton | – | 1:05.4 (6) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Steve Rabinovitch | – | 1:12.4 (=4) | 2:17.8 (6) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Cam Grout | – | 1:03.0 (6) | 3:20.8 (7) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Dick Pound | – | 56.0 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 4:16.8 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Leonid Barbiyer | – | 1:04.7 (5) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Leonid Kolesnikov | – | 1:12.5 (6) | 2:17.2 (5) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Grigory Kiselyov | – | 1:02.4 (4) | 3:19.6 (=5) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Igor Luzhkovsky | – | 57.2 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | – | Italy | ITA | 4:17.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Giuseppe Avellone | – | 1:05.5 (7) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Roberto Lazzari | – | 1:12.7 (7) | 2:18.2 (7) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Fritz Dennerlein | – | 1:01.4 (3) | 3:19.6 (=5) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Bruno Bianchi | – | 57.6 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 7 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 4:17.6 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Graham Sykes | – | 1:03.6 (3) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Christopher Walkden | – | 1:12.4 (=4) | 2:16.0 (4) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Ian Black | – | 1:03.3 (=7) | 3:19.3 (4) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Stan Clarke | – | 58.3 (8) | – (–) | |||
| 8 | – | Netherlands | NED | 4:18.2 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Backstroke | – | Jan Jiskoot | – | 1:06.3 (8) | – (–) | |||
| Breaststroke | – | Wieger Mensonides | – | 1:13.4 (8) | 2:19.7 (8) | |||
| Butterfly | – | Gerrit Korteweg | – | 1:02.6 (5) | 3:22.3 (8) | |||
| Freestyle | – | Ron Kroon | – | 55.9 (3) | – (–) |
