| | Event type

4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	28 August 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München
Participants	63 from 14 countries

This was the first relay event of the Munich Olympics, and the final came only 40 minutes after Mark Spitz had won his first gold in the 200 butterfly. The United States had qualified with the fastest time by almost four seconds over the Soviet Union, breaking the world record with 3:28.84, despite resting Spitz and John Murphy for the final. The final saw the US shatter that mark with 3:26.42 for the gold medal, with Spitz swimming the anchor leg for his second gold medal of the Munich Olympics. The Soviet Union placed second in 3:29.72 with East Germany well back for the bronze.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	3:28.84 (1 h2)	3:26.42 (1)	Gold
	Dave Edgar • John Murphy • Jerry Heidenreich • Mark Spitz • Dave Fairbank • Gary Conelly
2	Soviet Union	URS	3:32.72 (1 h1)	3:29.72 (2)	Silver
	Vladimir Bure • Viktor Mazanov • Viktor Aboimov • Igor Grivennikov • Georgijs Kuļikovs
3	East Germany	GDR	3:35.13 (2 h2)	3:32.42 (3)	Bronze
	Roland Matthes • Wilfried Hartung • Peter Bruch • Lutz Unger • Udo Poser
4	Brazil	BRA	3:35.84 (4 h2)	3:33.14 (4)
	Ruy Oliveira • Paulo Zanetti • Paul Becskehazy • José Roberto Aranha
5	Canada	CAN	3:35.64 (3 h2)	3:33.20 (5)
	Bruce Robertson • Brian Phillips • Timothy Bach • Bob Kasting
6	West Germany	FRG	3:37.59 (3 h1)	3:33.90 (6)
	Klaus Steinbach • Werner Lampe • Rainer Jacob • Hans Faßnacht • Gerhard Schiller • Hans-Günther Vosseler • Kersten Meier
7	France	FRA	3:35.84 (2 h1)	3:34.13 (7)
	Gilles Vigne • Alain Mosconi • Alain Hermitte • Michel Rousseau
8	Spain	ESP	3:38.77 (4 h1)	3:38.21 (8)
	Jorge Comas • Antonio Culebras • Enrique Melo • José Pujol
9	Italy	ITA	3:38.81 (5 h1)	–
	Roberto Pangaro • Paolo Barelli • Marcello Guarducci • Alberto Castagnetti
10	Australia	AUS	3:40.47 (5 h2)	–
	Neil Rogers • Graham White • Bruce Featherston • Greg Rogers • Brad Cooper (DNS) • Mike Wenden (DNS)
11	Netherlands	NED	3:41.36 (6 h1)	–
	Peter Prijdekker • Bert Bergsma • Roger van Hamburg • Hans Elzerman
12	Mexico	MEX	3:43.46 (7 h1)	–
	Jorge Urreta • José Joaquín Santibáñez • Guillermo García • Roberto Strauss
13	Philippines	PHI	3:47.39 (6 h2)	–
	Luis Ayesa • Dae Imlani • Carlos Brosas • Jairulla Jaitulla
14	El Salvador	ESA	3:49.14 (7 h2)	–
	Salvador Vilanova • Reynaldo Patiño • Tomás Rengifo • Antonio Ferracuti

Round One (28 August 1972 — 12:15)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	–	Soviet Union	URS		3:32.72		Q
		Vladimir Bure		–	53.00	53.00 (1)
		Viktor Mazanov		–	52.88	1:45.88 (1)
		Viktor Aboimov		–	52.84	2:38.72 (1)
		Georgijs Kuļikovs		–	54.00	3:32.72 (1)
2	–	France	FRA		3:35.84		Q
		Gilles Vigne		–	54.63	54.63 (3)
		Alain Mosconi		–	54.52	1:49.15 (4)
		Alain Hermitte		–	53.69	2:42.84 (3)
		Michel Rousseau		–	52.98	3:35.82 (2)
3	–	West Germany	FRG		3:37.59		Q
		Gerhard Schiller		–	54.59	54.59 (2)
		Rainer Jacob		–	54.27	1:48.86 (3)
		Hans-Günther Vosseler		–	53.82	2:42.68 (2)
		Kersten Meier		–	54.90	3:37.58 (3)
4	–	Spain	ESP		3:38.77		Q
		Jorge Comas		–	54.88	54.88 (5)
		Antonio Culebras		–	54.52	1:49.40 (5)
		Enrique Melo		–	55.39	2:44.79 (5)
		José Pujol		–	53.97	3:38.76 (4)
5	–	Italy	ITA		3:38.81
		Roberto Pangaro		–	54.64	54.64 (4)
		Paolo Barelli		–	54.10	1:48.74 (2)
		Marcello Guarducci		–	54.39	2:43.13 (4)
		Alberto Castagnetti		–	55.67	3:38.80 (5)
6	–	Netherlands	NED		3:41.36
		Peter Prijdekker		–	55.30	55.30 (7)
		Bert Bergsma		–	54.41	1:49.71 (6)
		Roger van Hamburg		–	55.74	2:45.45 (6)
		Hans Elzerman		–	55.89	3:41.34 (6)
7	–	Mexico	MEX		3:43.46
		Jorge Urreta		–	55.27	55.27 (6)
		José Joaquín Santibáñez		–	–	– (AC)
		Guillermo García		–	–	– (AC)
		Roberto Strauss		–	–	– (AC)

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	–	United States	USA		3:28.84		Q=WR
		Dave Fairbank		–	52.61	52.61 (1)
		Gary Conelly		–	51.69	1:44.30 (1)
		Jerry Heidenreich		–	51.89	2:36.19 (1)
		Dave Edgar		–	52.63	3:28.82 (1)
2	–	East Germany	GDR		3:35.13		Q
		Wilfried Hartung		–	54.03	54.03 (2)
		Peter Bruch		–	53.49	1:47.52 (2)
		Udo Poser		–	54.31	2:41.83 (2)
		Lutz Unger		–	53.29	3:35.12 (2)
3	–	Canada	CAN		3:35.64		Q
		Brian Phillips		–	54.64	54.64 (4)
		Bruce Robertson		–	53.63	1:48.27 (3)
		Timothy Bach		–	54.17	2:42.44 (3)
		Bob Kasting		–	53.19	3:35.63 (3)
4	–	Brazil	BRA		3:35.84		Q
		Ruy Oliveira		–	54.48	54.48 (3)
		Paulo Zanetti		–	53.82	1:48.30 (4)
		Paul Becskehazy		–	54.69	2:42.99 (4)
		José Roberto Aranha		–	52.84	3:35.83 (4)
5	–	Australia	AUS		3:40.47
		Neil Rogers		–	55.12	55.12 (5)
		Graham White		–	55.33	1:50.45 (5)
		Bruce Featherston		–	55.43	2:45.88 (5)
		Greg Rogers		–	54.57	3:40.45 (5)
6	–	Philippines	PHI		3:47.39
		Luis Ayesa		–	55.33	55.33 (6)
		Dae Imlani		–	57.58	1:52.91 (6)
		Carlos Brosas		–	57.30	2:50.21 (6)
		Jairulla Jaitulla		–	57.16	3:47.37 (6)
7	–	El Salvador	ESA		3:49.14
		Salvador Vilanova		–	55.85	55.85 (7)
		Reynaldo Patiño		–	59.57	1:55.42 (7)
		Tomás Rengifo		–	57.72	2:53.14 (7)
		Antonio Ferracuti		–	55.98	3:49.12 (7)

Final (28 August 1972 — 18:40)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	4	United States	USA		3:26.42		WR
		Dave Edgar		–	52.69	52.69 (2)
		John Murphy		–	52.04	1:44.73 (1)
		Jerry Heidenreich		–	50.78	2:35.51 (1)
		Mark Spitz		–	50.90	3:26.41 (1)
2	5	Soviet Union	URS		3:29.72
		Vladimir Bure		–	52.26	52.26 (1)
		Viktor Mazanov		–	53.13	1:45.39 (2)
		Viktor Aboimov		–	52.75	2:38.14 (2)
		Igor Grivennikov		–	51.57	3:29.71 (2)
3	3	East Germany	GDR		3:32.42
		Roland Matthes		–	52.89	52.89 (3)
		Wilfried Hartung		–	53.31	1:46.20 (4)
		Peter Bruch		–	53.20	2:39.40 (3)
		Lutz Unger		–	53.01	3:32.41 (3)
4	7	Brazil	BRA		3:33.14
		Ruy Oliveira		–	53.62	53.62 (6)
		Paulo Zanetti		–	53.61	1:47.23 (6)
		Paul Becskehazy		–	53.73	2:40.96 (6)
		José Roberto Aranha		–	52.17	3:33.13 (4)
5	6	Canada	CAN		3:33.20
		Bruce Robertson		–	53.52	53.52 (5)
		Brian Phillips		–	52.56	1:46.08 (3)
		Timothy Bach		–	54.41	2:40.49 (5)
		Bob Kasting		–	52.70	3:33.19 (5)
6	1	West Germany	FRG		3:33.90
		Klaus Steinbach		–	53.45	53.45 (4)
		Werner Lampe		–	52.81	1:46.26 (5)
		Rainer Jacob		–	53.81	2:40.07 (4)
		Hans Faßnacht		–	53.82	3:33.89 (6)
7	2	France	FRA		3:34.13
		Gilles Vigne		–	54.47	54.47 (8)
		Alain Mosconi		–	54.57	1:49.04 (7)
		Alain Hermitte		–	53.41	2:42.45 (7)
		Michel Rousseau		–	51.66	3:34.11 (7)
8	8	Spain	ESP		3:38.21
		Jorge Comas		–	54.32	54.32 (7)
		Antonio Culebras		–	55.02	1:49.34 (8)
		Enrique Melo		–	54.77	2:44.11 (8)
		José Pujol		–	54.09	3:38.20 (8)