| Date | 20 – 21 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul |
| Participants | 75 from 16 countries |
In an unusual situation for an Olympic relay, this was considered wide-open and the United States was not favored. West Germany held the world record of 7:13.10, set in 1987 in Strasbourg, France. At the 1986 World Championships, East Germany had won with West Germany and the USA only third. In the heats the GDR team qualified first, and that was with the USA only resting two swimmers for the final. East Germany looked formidable when Uwe Daßler took a 1.11 second lead over Troy Dalbey on the opening leg, although Sweden’s Anders Holmertz had the lead at 1:48.06. Italy then took the lead after two legs, with Giorgio Lamberti splitting 1:47.29, but they would soon drop back. At this point the US was only fifth, also trailing East Germany, Sweden, and West Germany, although the gap to East Germany had closed. After three legs East Germany moved into the lead, with the American team about one body length in arrears. Then Matt Biondi took over. His start on the exchange made up almost half the lead and at the 700 metre mark he was in front. He never let up, swimming the fastest split in history with 1:46.44 as the USA came home in 7:12.51 for gold and the world record. East Germany was over a second behind for silver with West Germany getting bronze.
| Date | 20 September 1988 — 9:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest 8 advanced to the final round. |
| Pos | Lane | Team | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | East Germany |  GDR | 7:16.61 | ||
| 2 | 4 | United States |  USA | 7:18.76 | ||
| 3 | 4 | West Germany |  FRG | 7:19.38 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Australia |  AUS | 7:21.46 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Italy |  ITA | 7:21.85 | ||
| 6 | 6 | France |  FRA | 7:23.03 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Sweden |  SWE | 7:23.82 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Canada |  CAN | 7:26.28 | ||
| 9 | 2 | Great Britain |  GBR | 7:29.77 | ||
| 10 | 7 | Brazil |  BRA | 7:32.11 | ||
| 11 | 7 | Denmark |  DEN | 7:33.31 | ||
| 12 | 8 | Republic of Korea |  KOR | 7:52.93 | ||
| 13 | 1 | United States Virgin Islands |  ISV | 8:15.51 | ||
| 14 | 8 | United Arab Emirates |  UAE | 9:01.03 | ||
| 1 | Mexico |  MEX | – | |||
| 5 | Soviet Union |  URS | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | East Germany | GDR | 7:16.61 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Uwe Daßler | – | 1:49.47 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Lars Hinneburg | – | 1:49.64 (3) | 3:39.11 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Sven Lodziewski | – | 1:48.87 (=1) | 5:27.98 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | Thomas Flemming | – | 1:48.63 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | 4 | United States | USA | 7:18.76 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Craig Oppel | – | 1:51.24 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Dan Jorgensen | – | 1:49.24 (2) | 3:40.48 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Matt Cetlinski | – | 1:48.87 (=1) | 5:29.35 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | Doug Gjertsen | – | 1:49.41 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | 6 | Australia | AUS | 7:21.46 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Jason Plummer | – | 1:51.44 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Ian Brown | – | 1:48.89 (1) | 3:40.33 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Martin Roberts | – | 1:51.31 (4) | 5:31.64 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | Tom Stachewicz | – | 1:49.82 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | 3 | Italy | ITA | 7:21.85 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Massimo Trevisan | – | 1:50.95 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Fabrizio Rampazzo | – | 1:51.47 (4) | 3:42.42 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Valerio Giambalvo | – | 1:50.97 (3) | 5:33.39 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | Roberto Gleria | – | 1:48.46 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | 2 | Great Britain | GBR | 7:29.77 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Kevin Boyd | – | 1:52.00 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Paul Howe | – | 1:51.58 (5) | 3:43.58 (6) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Jonathan Broughton | – | 1:52.81 (6) | 5:36.39 (6) | |||
| Anchor | – | Roland Lee | – | 1:53.38 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | 7 | Denmark | DEN | 7:33.31 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Franz Mortensen | – | 1:51.21 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Claus Christensen | – | 1:52.08 (6) | 3:43.29 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Jan Larsen | – | 1:52.61 (5) | 5:35.90 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | Peter Rohde | – | 1:57.41 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 7 | 8 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 7:52.93 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Gwon Sang-Won | – | 1:57.08 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Yang Gam | – | 1:57.29 (7) | 3:54.37 (7) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Song Gwang-Seon | – | 1:59.11 (7) | 5:53.48 (7) | |||
| Anchor | – | Gwon Sun-Geun | – | 1:59.45 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 8 | 1 | United States Virgin Islands | ISV | 8:15.51 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Hans Foerster | – | 2:01.34 (8) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Kraig Singleton | – | 2:05.63 (8) | 4:06.97 (8) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Ronald Pickard | – | 2:07.66 (8) | 6:14.63 (8) | |||
| Anchor | – | William Cleveland | – | 2:00.88 (8) | – (–) |
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | West Germany | FRG | 7:19.38 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Peter Sitt | – | 1:50.31 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Rainer Henkel | – | 1:49.63 (1) | 3:39.94 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Stefan Pfeiffer | – | 1:50.06 (1) | 5:30.00 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | Erik Hochstein | – | 1:49.38 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | 6 | France | FRA | 7:23.03 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Stéphan Caron | – | 1:49.41 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Michel Pou | – | 1:51.01 (3) | 3:40.42 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Olivier Fougeroud | – | 1:51.62 (3) | 5:32.04 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | Laurent Neuville | – | 1:50.99 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | 3 | Sweden | SWE | 7:23.82 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Tom Werner | – | 1:50.46 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Christer Wallin | – | 1:50.38 (2) | 3:40.84 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Henrik Jangvall | – | 1:52.33 (4) | 5:33.17 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | Michael Söderlund | – | 1:50.65 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | 2 | Canada | CAN | 7:26.28 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Turlough O'Hare | – | 1:51.59 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Darren Ward | – | 1:52.27 (4) | 3:43.86 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Don Haddow | – | 1:51.11 (2) | 5:34.97 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | Gary Vandermeulen | – | 1:51.31 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | 7 | Brazil | BRA | 7:32.11 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Cristiano Michelena | – | 1:51.38 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Jorge Fernandes | – | 1:53.34 (5) | 3:44.72 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Emanuel Fortes | – | 1:54.26 (5) | 5:38.98 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | Júlio López | – | 1:53.13 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | 8 | United Arab Emirates | UAE | 9:01.03 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Ahmad Faraj | – | 2:15.64 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Mohammed Alghafri | – | 2:17.64 (6) | 4:33.28 (6) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Bassam Al-Ansari | – | 2:15.41 (6) | 6:48.69 (6) | |||
| Anchor | – | Mohamed Bin Abid | – | 2:12.34 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 1 | Mexico | MEX | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| Lead-off | – | Ignacio Escamilla | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Jorge Alarcón | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Carlos Romo | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| Anchor | – | Rodrigo González | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | Soviet Union | URS | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| Lead-off | – | Sergey Kudryayev | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Aleksandr Bazhanov | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Nikolay Yevseyev | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| Anchor | – | Aleksey Kuznetsov | – | – (–) | – (–) |
| Date | 21 September 1988 — 12:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitors | NOC | Time | Split | Exchange | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | United States | USA | 7:12.51 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Troy Dalbey | – | 1:49.37 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Matt Cetlinski | – | 1:48.44 (3) | 3:37.81 (5) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Doug Gjertsen | – | 1:48.26 (2) | 5:26.07 (2) | |||
| Anchor | – | Matt Biondi | – | 1:46.44 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2 | 4 | East Germany | GDR | 7:13.68 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Uwe Daßler | – | 1:48.26 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Sven Lodziewski | – | 1:48.92 (4) | 3:37.18 (2) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Thomas Flemming | – | 1:48.07 (1) | 5:25.25 (1) | |||
| Anchor | – | Steffen Zesner | – | 1:48.43 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 3 | 3 | West Germany | FRG | 7:14.35 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Erik Hochstein | – | 1:49.91 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Thomas Fahrner | – | 1:47.75 (2) | 3:37.66 (4) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Rainer Henkel | – | 1:49.42 (3) | 5:27.08 (4) | |||
| Anchor | – | Michael Groß | – | 1:47.27 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 4 | 6 | Australia | AUS | 7:15.23 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Tom Stachewicz | – | 1:48.99 (3) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Ian Brown | – | 1:49.05 (5) | 3:38.04 (6) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Jason Plummer | – | 1:49.95 (5) | 5:27.99 (5) | |||
| Anchor | – | Duncan Armstrong | – | 1:47.24 (2) | – (–) | |||
| 5 | 2 | Italy | ITA | 7:16.00 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Roberto Gleria | – | 1:49.23 (4) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Giorgio Lamberti | – | 1:47.29 (1) | 3:36.52 (1) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Massimo Trevisan | – | 1:49.66 (4) | 5:26.18 (3) | |||
| Anchor | – | Valerio Giambalvo | – | 1:49.82 (5) | – (–) | |||
| 6 | 1 | Sweden | SWE | 7:19.10 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Anders Holmertz | – | 1:48.06 (1) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Tom Werner | – | 1:49.41 (6) | 3:37.47 (3) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Michael Söderlund | – | 1:50.57 (6) | 5:28.04 (6) | |||
| Anchor | – | Christer Wallin | – | 1:51.06 (8) | – (–) | |||
| 7 | 7 | France | FRA | 7:24.69 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Michel Pou | – | 1:52.05 (8) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Franck Iacono | – | 1:50.04 (7) | 3:42.09 (7) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Olivier Fougeroud | – | 1:52.14 (8) | 5:34.23 (8) | |||
| Anchor | – | Ludovic Dépickère | – | 1:50.46 (6) | – (–) | |||
| 8 | 8 | Canada | CAN | 7:24.91 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| Lead-off | – | Turlough O'Hare | – | 1:51.45 (7) | – (–) | |||
| 2nd Leg | – | Sandy Goss | – | 1:51.01 (8) | 3:42.46 (8) | |||
| 3rd Leg | – | Don Haddow | – | 1:51.46 (7) | 5:33.92 (7) | |||
| Anchor | – | Gary Vandermeulen | – | 1:50.99 (7) | – (–) |
