| Date | 21 July 1976 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscine olympique, Montréal, Québec |
| Participants | 77 from 18 countries |
This was the only men’s freestyle relay in Montréal, as the 4 x 100 had been removed from the programme in an effort to decrease the number of swimming events. The Americans had swept the 200 metre freestyle medals two days before this final and were overwhelming favorites. The world record coming in was 7:30.54, set by a US team from the Long Beach Swim Club, but that did not survive the first round. The United States’ team of Doug Northway, Tim Shaw, Mike Bruner, and Bruce Furniss recorded 7:30.33 in the third heat to better the world record, although Shaw and Northway would not even make the US team for the final. The time was almost three seconds better than the Soviet Union’s time in heat two.
The final was a laughable win for the US, led by Bruner and the three 200 medalists – Furniss, John Naber, and Jim Montgomery. The Soviets would finish second in a time of 7:27.97, far below the American world record from the heats, but they were a full 4.75 seconds in arrears at the finish.
| Date | 21 July 1976 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Team | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | United States |  USA | 7:30.33 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Soviet Union |  URS | 7:33.21 | ||
| 3 | 4 | West Germany |  FRG | 7:37.59 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Great Britain |  GBR | 7:37.92 | ||
| 5 | 3 | East Germany |  GDR | 7:40.58 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Italy |  ITA | 7:41.39 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Sweden |  SWE | 7:41.82 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Netherlands |  NED | 7:42.54 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Australia |  AUS | 7:44.42 | ||
| 10 | 6 | Norway |  NOR | 7:46.42 | ||
| 11 | 3 | France |  FRA | 7:47.39 | ||
| 12 | 2 | Spain |  ESP | 7:49.22 | ||
| 13 | 2 | Bulgaria |  BUL | 7:57.08 | ||
| 14 | 7 | Mexico |  MEX | 8:05.12 | ||
| 15 | 7 | Puerto Rico |  PUR | 8:05.21 | ||
| 16 | 1 | Venezuela |  VEN | 8:08.38 | ||
| 17 | 7 | Portugal |  POR | 8:26.68 | ||
| 5 | Canada |  CAN | – | |||
| 6 | Hungary |  HUN | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | West Germany | FRG | 7:37.59 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | HaJo Geisler | – | 1:55.74 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Andreas Schmidt | – | 1:55.39 (3) | 3:51.13 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Werner Lampe | – | 1:53.72 (1) | 5:44.85 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | Peter Nocke | – | 1:52.74 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | 5 | Great Britain | GBR | 7:37.92 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Alan McClatchey | – | 1:55.30 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | David Dunne | – | 1:55.09 (2) | 3:50.39 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Gordon Downie | – | 1:54.39 (2) | 5:44.78 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | Brian Brinkley | – | 1:53.14 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | 2 | Italy | ITA | 7:41.39 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Roberto Pangaro | – | 1:56.16 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Paolo Revelli | – | 1:56.01 (4) | 3:52.17 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Paolo Barelli | – | 1:56.58 (4) | 5:48.75 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | Marcello Guarducci | – | 1:52.64 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | 6 | Norway | NOR | 7:46.42 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Bent Brask | – | 1:57.01 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Arne Borgstrøm | – | 1:54.87 (1) | 3:51.88 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Håkon Iversøn | – | 1:59.34 (5) | 5:51.22 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | Fritz Warncke | – | 1:55.20 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | 3 | France | FRA | 7:47.39 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Marc Lazzaro | – | 1:57.57 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Benôit Laffineur | – | 1:56.87 (5) | 3:54.44 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Colin Ress | – | 1:56.53 (3) | 5:50.97 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | Fabien Noël | – | 1:56.42 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | 7 | Puerto Rico | PUR | 8:05.21 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Fernando Canales | – | 2:01.26 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | José-Ricardo de Jesús | – | 2:00.05 (6) | 4:01.31 (6) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Arnaldo Pérez | – | 2:02.90 (6) | 6:04.21 (6) | |||
| Anchor | – | Francisco Canales | – | 2:01.00 (6) | – (–) |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Soviet Union | URS | 7:33.21 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Andrey Smirnov | – | 1:05.58 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Vladimir Mikheyev | – | 2:43.34 (5) | 3:48.92 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Vladimir Raskatov | – | 1:52.10 (1) | 5:41.02 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | Sergey Koplyakov | – | 1:52.19 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | 3 | East Germany | GDR | 7:40.58 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Wilfried Hartung | – | 1:55.99 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Rainer Strohbach | – | 1:53.76 (1) | 3:49.75 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Frank Pfütze | – | 1:55.01 (3) | 5:44.76 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | Roger Pyttel | – | 1:55.82 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | 5 | Australia | AUS | 7:44.42 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Graham Windeatt | – | 1:55.00 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Mark Tonelli | – | 1:55.94 (2) | 3:50.94 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Peter Coughlan | – | 1:54.76 (2) | 5:45.70 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | Peter Dawson | – | 1:58.72 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | 2 | Bulgaria | BUL | 7:57.08 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Petar Georgiev | – | 1:59.28 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Stefan Georgiev | – | 2:00.67 (3) | 3:59.95 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Toni Statelov | – | 1:58.69 (4) | 5:58.64 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | Nikolay Ganev | – | 1:58.44 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | 7 | Portugal | POR | 8:26.68 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | José Gomes Pereira | – | 2:02.30 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | António Botelho de Melo | – | 2:07.90 (4) | 4:10.20 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Rui de Abreu | – | 2:05.45 (5) | 6:15.65 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | Paulo Frischknecht | – | 2:11.03 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | Hungary | HUN | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| – | András Hargitay DNS | – | – (–) | – (–) | ||||
| – | Csaba Sós DNS | – | – (–) | – (–) | ||||
| – | Zoltán Verrasztó DNS | – | – (–) | – (–) | ||||
| – | Zoltán Wladár DNS | – | – (–) | – (–) |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | United States | USA | 7:30.33 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Doug Northway | – | 1:51.65 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Tim Shaw | – | 1:53.95 (1) | 3:45.60 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Mike Bruner | – | 1:54.11 (1) | 5:39.71 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | Bruce Furniss | – | 1:50.62 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | 3 | Sweden | SWE | 7:41.82 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Pär Arvidsson | – | 1:56.35 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Peter Pettersson | – | 1:55.46 (3) | 3:51.81 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Anders Bellbring | – | 1:55.32 (2) | 5:47.13 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | Bengt Gingsjö | – | 1:54.69 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | 6 | Netherlands | NED | 7:42.54 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Karim Ressang | – | 1:55.43 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | René van der Kuil | – | 1:55.12 (2) | 3:50.55 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Andre in het Veld | – | 1:57.33 (3) | 5:47.88 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | Henk Elzerman | – | 1:54.66 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | 2 | Spain | ESP | 7:49.22 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | David López-Zubero | – | 1:54.57 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Jesús Fuentes | – | 1:59.60 (4) | 3:54.17 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Fernando Gómez-Reino | – | 1:58.67 (4) | 5:52.84 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | Santiago Esteva | – | 1:56.38 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | 7 | Mexico | MEX | 8:05.12 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Guillermo García | – | 1:59.29 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Eduardo Pérez | – | 2:01.31 (5) | 4:00.60 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Guillermo Zavala | – | 2:03.59 (6) | 6:04.19 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | José Luis Prado | – | 2:00.93 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | 1 | Venezuela | VEN | 8:08.38 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Ramón Volcán | – | 2:01.27 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Andrés Arraez | – | 2:03.42 (6) | 4:04.69 (6) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Glen Sochasky | – | 2:02.03 (5) | 6:06.72 (6) | |||
| Anchor | – | Luis Goicoechea | – | 2:01.66 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | Canada | CAN | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| Lead-off | – | Steve Badger | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Bill Sawchuk | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Steve Pickell | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| Anchor | – | James Hett | – | – (–) | – (–) |
| Date | 21 July 1976 — 20:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | United States | USA | 7:23.22 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Mike Bruner | – | 1:52.35 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Bruce Furniss | – | 1:49.56 (1) | 3:41.91 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | John Naber | – | 1:51.20 (1) | 5:33.11 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | Jim Montgomery | – | 1:50.11 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | 5 | Soviet Union | URS | 7:27.97 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Vladimir Raskatov | – | 1:52.69 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Andrey Bogdanov | – | 1:51.69 (3) | 3:44.38 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Sergey Koplyakov | – | 1:52.54 (3) | 5:36.92 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | Andrey Krylov | – | 1:51.05 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | 6 | Great Britain | GBR | 7:32.11 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Alan McClatchey | – | 1:54.09 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | David Dunne | – | 1:54.67 (4) | 3:48.76 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Gordon Downie | – | 1:52.10 (2) | 5:40.86 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | Brian Brinkley | – | 1:51.25 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | 3 | West Germany | FRG | 7:32.27 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Klaus Steinbach | – | 1:52.18 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Peter Nocke | – | 1:51.19 (2) | 3:43.37 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Werner Lampe | – | 1:54.06 (4) | 5:37.43 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | HaJo Geisler | – | 1:54.84 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | 2 | East Germany | GDR | 7:38.92 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Roger Pyttel | – | 1:53.92 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Wilfried Hartung | – | 1:55.16 (5) | 3:49.08 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Rainer Strohbach | – | 1:54.30 (5) | 5:43.38 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | Frank Pfütze | – | 1:55.54 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | 8 | Netherlands | NED | 7:42.56 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Karim Ressang | – | 1:55.63 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | René van der Kuil | – | 1:55.17 (6) | 3:50.80 (7) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Andre in het Veld | – | 1:57.18 (7) | 5:47.98 (7) | |||
| Anchor | – | Henk Elzerman | – | 1:54.58 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 7 | 1 | Sweden | SWE | 7:42.84 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Pär Arvidsson | – | 1:55.84 (8) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Peter Pettersson | – | 1:56.14 (8) | 3:51.98 (8) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Anders Bellbring | – | 1:56.44 (6) | 5:48.42 (8) | |||
| Anchor | – | Bengt Gingsjö | – | 1:54.42 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 8 | 7 | Italy | ITA | 7:43.39 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Marcello Guarducci | – | 1:53.72 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Roberto Pangaro | – | 1:55.74 (7) | 3:49.46 (6) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Paolo Barelli | – | 1:57.66 (8) | 5:47.12 (6) | |||
| Anchor | – | Paolo Revelli | – | 1:56.27 (8) | – (–) |
