| | Event type

4 x 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	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	3:35.4 (1 h2)	3:31.7 (1)	Gold
	Zac Zorn • Steve Rerych • Mark Spitz • Ken Walsh • William Johnson • David Johnson • Mike Wall • Don Schollander
2	Soviet Union	URS	3:37.8 (1 h1)	3:34.2 (2)	Silver
	Semyon Belits-Geyman • Viktor Mazanov • Georgijs Kuļikovs • Leonid Ilyichov • Sergey Gusev
3	Australia	AUS	3:38.0 (2 h2)	3:34.7 (3)	Bronze
	Greg Rogers • Robert Cusack • Bob Windle • Mike Wenden
4	Great Britain	GBR	3:40.4 (3 h1)	3:38.4 (4)
	Mike Turner • Bobby McGregor • David Hembrow • Tony Jarvis
5	East Germany	GDR	3:40.5 (4 h2)	3:38.8 (5)
	Frank Wiegand • Horst-Günter Gregor • Udo Poser • Lothar Gericke
6	West Germany	FRG	3:40.2 (3 h2)	3:39.0 (6)
	Peter Schorning • Wolfgang Kremer • Olaf, Baron von Schilling • Hans Faßnacht
7	Canada	CAN	3:40.3 (2 h1)	3:39.2 (7)
	Glen Finch • George Smith • Ralph Hutton • Sandy Gilchrist
8	Japan	JPN	3:41.8 (4 h1)	3:41.5 (8)
	Kunihiro Iwasaki • Masayuki Osawa • Satoru Nakano • Teruhiko Kitani
9	Hungary	HUN	3:42.4 (5 h2)	–
	Péter Lázár • István Szentirmay • Csaba Csatlós • Gábor Kucsera
10	Spain	ESP	3:42.7 (5 h1)	–
	José Antonio Chicoy • Juan Fortuny • Juan Martínez • Diego Martel
11	Sweden	SWE	3:43.9 (6 h1)	–
	Lester Eriksson • Ingvar Eriksson • Bo Westergren • Gunnar Larsson
12	Mexico	MEX	3:46.1 (6 h2)	–
	Salvador Ruiz • Mario Santibáñez • Eduardo Alanís • Rafaél Cal
13	Puerto Rico	PUR	3:47.0 (7 h2)	–
	Jorge González • Michael Goodner • Gary Goodner • José Ferraioli
14	Philippines	PHI	3:47.8 (8 h2)	–
	Roosevelt Abdulgafur • Amman Jalmaani • Tony Asamali • Luis Ayesa
15	Colombia	COL	3:51.5 (7 h1)	–
	Julio Arango • Tomás Becerra • Federico Sicard • Ricardo González
16	El Salvador	ESA	4:08.3 (8 h1)	–
	Salvador Vilanova • Rubén Guerrero • José Alvarado • Ernesto Durón

Round One (17 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	5	Soviet Union	URS		3:37.8		Q
		Leonid Ilyichov		–	54.4	54.4 (1)
		Sergey Gusev		–	54.7	1:49.1 (1)
		Viktor Mazanov		–	54.6	2:43.7 (1)
		Semyon Belits-Geyman		–	54.1	3:37.8 (1)
2	6	Canada	CAN		3:40.3		Q
		Glen Finch		–	57.5	57.5 (2)
		George Smith		–	53.2	1:50.7 (2)
		Ralph Hutton		–	54.8	2:45.5 (2)
		Sandy Gilchrist		–	54.8	3:40.3 (2)
3	7	Great Britain	GBR		3:40.4		Q
		Mike Turner		–	55.5	55.5 (3)
		Bobby McGregor		–	55.0	1:50.5 (3)
		David Hembrow		–	55.8	2:46.3 (3)
		Tony Jarvis		–	54.1	3:40.4 (3)
4	4	Japan	JPN		3:41.8		Q
		Kunihiro Iwasaki		–	55.8	55.8 (4)
		Masayuki Osawa		–	54.5	1:50.3 (4)
		Satoru Nakano		–	55.9	2:46.2 (4)
		Teruhiko Kitani		–	55.6	3:41.8 (4)
5	8	Spain	ESP		3:42.7
		José Antonio Chicoy		–	55.1	55.1 (5)
		Juan Fortuny		–	56.3	1:51.4 (5)
		Juan Martínez		–	56.2	2:47.6 (5)
		Diego Martel		–	55.1	3:42.7 (5)
6	2	Sweden	SWE		3:43.9
		Lester Eriksson		–	55.7	55.7 (6)
		Ingvar Eriksson		–	55.9	1:51.6 (6)
		Bo Westergren		–	56.1	2:47.7 (6)
		Gunnar Larsson		–	56.2	3:43.9 (6)
7	3	Colombia	COL		3:51.5
		Julio Arango		–	56.0	56.0 (7)
		Tomás Becerra		–	59.7	1:55.7 (7)
		Federico Sicard		–	58.8	2:54.5 (7)
		Ricardo González		–	57.0	3:51.5 (7)
8	1	El Salvador	ESA		4:08.3
		Salvador Vilanova		–	55.9	55.9 (8)
		Rubén Guerrero		–	1:05.9	2:01.8 (8)
		José Alvarado		–	1:02.4	3:04.2 (8)
		Ernesto Durón		–	1:04.1	4:08.3 (8)

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	4	United States	USA		3:35.4		Q
		William Johnson		–	54.5	54.5 (1)
		David Johnson		–	53.1	1:47.6 (1)
		Mike Wall		–	54.0	2:41.6 (1)
		Don Schollander		–	53.8	3:35.4 (1)
2	2	Australia	AUS		3:38.0		Q
		Greg Rogers		–	55.3	55.3 (2)
		Robert Cusack		–	55.7	1:51.0 (2)
		Bob Windle		–	53.9	2:44.9 (2)
		Mike Wenden		–	53.1	3:38.0 (2)
3	8	West Germany	FRG		3:40.2		Q
		Peter Schorning		–	55.1	55.1 (3)
		Wolfgang Kremer		–	54.8	1:49.9 (3)
		Olaf, Baron von Schilling		–	54.9	2:44.8 (=3)
		Hans Faßnacht		–	55.4	3:40.2 (3)
4	7	East Germany	GDR		3:40.5		Q
		Frank Wiegand		–	55.4	55.4 (4)
		Horst-Günter Gregor		–	54.4	1:49.8 (4)
		Udo Poser		–	55.0	2:44.8 (=3)
		Lothar Gericke		–	55.7	3:40.5 (4)
5	6	Hungary	HUN		3:42.4
		Péter Lázár		–	56.0	56.0 (5)
		István Szentirmay		–	56.0	1:52.0 (5)
		Csaba Csatlós		–	55.9	2:47.9 (5)
		Gábor Kucsera		–	54.5	3:42.4 (5)
6	3	Mexico	MEX		3:46.1
		Salvador Ruiz		–	57.1	57.1 (6)
		Mario Santibáñez		–	55.7	1:52.8 (6)
		Eduardo Alanís		–	57.8	2:50.6 (6)
		Rafaél Cal		–	55.5	3:46.1 (6)
7	5	Puerto Rico	PUR		3:47.0
		Jorge González		–	55.0	55.0 (7)
		Michael Goodner		–	1:00.4	1:55.4 (7)
		Gary Goodner		–	55.6	2:51.0 (7)
		José Ferraioli		–	56.0	3:47.0 (7)
8	1	Philippines	PHI		3:47.8
		Roosevelt Abdulgafur		–	59.7	59.7 (8)
		Amman Jalmaani		–	54.8	1:54.5 (8)
		Tony Asamali		–	57.9	2:52.4 (8)
		Luis Ayesa		–	55.4	3:47.8 (8)

Final (17 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	4	United States	USA		3:31.7		WR
		Zac Zorn		–	53.4	53.4 (1)
		Steve Rerych		–	52.8	1:46.2 (1)
		Mark Spitz		–	52.7	2:38.9 (1)
		Ken Walsh		–	52.8	3:31.7 (1)
2	5	Soviet Union	URS		3:34.2
		Semyon Belits-Geyman		–	54.7	54.7 (2)
		Viktor Mazanov		–	54.0	1:48.7 (2)
		Georgijs Kuļikovs		–	52.9	2:41.6 (2)
		Leonid Ilyichov		–	52.6	3:34.2 (2)
3	3	Australia	AUS		3:34.7
		Greg Rogers		–	55.2	55.2 (3)
		Robert Cusack		–	54.1	1:49.3 (3)
		Bob Windle		–	53.7	2:43.0 (3)
		Mike Wenden		–	51.7	3:34.7 (3)
4	7	Great Britain	GBR		3:38.4
		Mike Turner		–	55.5	55.5 (4)
		Bobby McGregor		–	54.2	1:49.7 (4)
		David Hembrow		–	55.4	2:45.1 (4)
		Tony Jarvis		–	53.3	3:38.4 (4)
5	1	East Germany	GDR		3:38.8
		Frank Wiegand		–	54.3	54.3 (5)
		Horst-Günter Gregor		–	54.3	1:48.6 (5)
		Udo Poser		–	55.4	2:44.0 (5)
		Lothar Gericke		–	54.8	3:38.8 (5)
6	6	West Germany	FRG		3:39.0
		Peter Schorning		–	54.5	54.5 (6)
		Wolfgang Kremer		–	55.2	1:49.7 (4)
		Olaf, Baron von Schilling		–	54.7	2:44.4 (6)
		Hans Faßnacht		–	54.6	3:39.0 (6)
7	2	Canada	CAN		3:39.2
		Glen Finch		–	55.3	55.3 (=7)
		George Smith		–	55.3	1:50.6 (7)
		Ralph Hutton		–	54.2	2:44.8 (7)
		Sandy Gilchrist		–	54.4	3:39.2 (7)
8	8	Japan	JPN		3:41.5
		Kunihiro Iwasaki		–	55.3	55.3 (=7)
		Masayuki Osawa		–	55.4	1:50.7 (8)
		Satoru Nakano		–	55.9	2:46.6 (8)
		Teruhiko Kitani		–	54.9	3:41.5 (8)