| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Medley Relay, Men

Date	25 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul
Participants	109 from 25 countries

Unlike the men’s freestyle relays the United States was expected to have an easy victory in this one. They were the world record holders, defending champions, and had won at the 1986 World Championships and 1987 Pan Pacific meet. Dave Berkoff put the USA almost a full second ahead of the Soviet Union with his opening backstroke split. Although it was closer on breaststroke, Matt Biondi then opened the lead on the butterfly to almost two seconds, and gave the anchor lead to Chris Jacobs. Jacobs powered home in 48.35, the eighth fastest split ever, with the first seven by Biondi, as the United States won easily in a world record 3:36.93. Canada won the race for silver, overtaking the Soviets with about 20 metres left on the final leg, setting a new Commonwealth record of 3:39.28 as the Soviets won bronze in a European record 3:39.96.

This was the final event of swimming in Seoul. Biondi’s gold medal gave him five gold medals in seven events – all three relays and the 50 and 100 freestyles. He would return in Barcelona to win two more relay golds, finishing his Olympic career with 8 golds and 11 Olympic medals.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	United States	USA	3:43.00 (1 h4)	3:36.93 (1)	Gold
Backstroke	546	Dave Berkoff		–	–
Breaststroke	575	Rich Schroeder		–	–
Butterfly	548	Matt Biondi		–	–
Freestyle	560	Chris Jacobs		–	–
Butterfly	571	Jay Mortenson		–	–
Freestyle	561	Tom Jager		–	–
2	–	Canada	CAN	3:44.56 (1 h2)	3:39.28 (2)	Silver
Backstroke	88	Mark Tewksbury		–	–
Breaststroke	75	Victor Davis		–	–
Butterfly	85	Tom Ponting		–	–
Freestyle	77	Sandy Goss		–	–
3	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:45.29 (2 h3)	3:39.96 (3)	Bronze
Backstroke	532	Igor Polyansky		–	–
Breaststroke	540	Dmitry Volkov		–	–
Butterfly	518	Vadim Yaroshchuk		–	–
Freestyle	534	Gennady Prigoda		–	–
Backstroke	541	Sergey Zabolotnov		–	–
Breaststroke	524	Valery Lozik		–	–
Butterfly	531	Konstantin Petrov		–	–
Freestyle	513	Nikolay Yevseyev		–	–
4	–	West Germany	FRG	3:44.72 (2 h4)	3:42.98 (4)
Backstroke	210	Frank Hoffmeister		–	–
Breaststroke	214	Alexander Mayer		–	–
Butterfly	204	Michael Groß		–	–
Freestyle	229	Björn Zikarsky		–	–
Breaststroke	226	Mark Warnecke		–	–
5	–	Japan	JPN	3:46.88 (3 h4)	3:44.36 (5)
Backstroke	384	Daichi Suzuki		–	–
Breaststroke	382	Hironobu Nagahata		–	–
Butterfly	380	Hiroshi Miura		–	–
Freestyle	383	Shigeo Ogata		–	–
6	–	Australia	AUS	3:47.40 (3 h2)	3:45.85 (6)
Backstroke	31	Carl Wilson		–	–
Breaststroke	18	Ian McAdam		–	–
Butterfly	24	Jon Sieben		–	–
Freestyle	7	Andrew Baildon		–	–
7	–	Netherlands	NED	3:45.65 (2 h2)	3:46.55 (7)
Backstroke	298	Hans Kroes		–	–
Breaststroke	294	Ron Dekker		–	–
Butterfly	295	Frank Drost		–	–
Freestyle	296	Patrick Dybiona		–	–
8	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:44.44 (1 h3)	– (DQ)
Backstroke	243	Neil Harper		–	–
Breaststroke	249	Adrian Moorhouse		–	–
Butterfly	246	Andy Jameson		–	–
Freestyle	240	Mark Foster		–	–
Backstroke	231	Gary Binfield		–	–
Freestyle	248	Roland Lee		–	–
9	–	Switzerland	SUI	3:48.09 (3 h3)	–
Backstroke	471	Patrick Ferland		–	–
Breaststroke	468	Étienne Dagon		–	–
Butterfly	472	Dano Halsall		–	–
Freestyle	473	Stéfan Voléry		–	–
10	–	France	FRA	3:48.64 (4 h4)	–
Backstroke	196	Franck Schott		–	–
Breaststroke	187	David Leblanc		–	–
Butterfly	176	Ludovic Dépickère		–	–
Freestyle	179	Bruno Gutzeit		–	–
11	–	New Zealand	NZL	3:48.93 (4 h3)	–
Backstroke	434	Paul Kingsman		–	–
Breaststroke	433	Anthony Beks		–	–
Butterfly	436	Anthony Mosse		–	–
Freestyle	432	Ross Anderson		–	–
12	–	Spain	ESP	3:49.47 (5 h4)	–
Backstroke	152	Martín López-Zubero		–	–
Breaststroke	142	Ramón Camallonga		–	–
Butterfly	141	José Luis Ballester		–	–
Freestyle	151	José Hernando		–	–
13	–	Czechoslovakia	TCH	3:49.90 (4 h2)	–
Backstroke	493	Pavel Vokoun		–	–
Breaststroke	489	Radek Beinhauer		–	–
Butterfly	494	Robert Wolf		–	–
Freestyle	491	Petr Kladiva		–	–
14	–	Denmark	DEN	3:51.97 (6 h4)	–
Backstroke	132	Lars Sørensen		–	–
Breaststroke	133	Christian Toft		–	–
Butterfly	130	Benny Nielsen		–	–
Freestyle	129	Franz Mortensen		–	–
15	–	Italy	ITA	3:52.06 (5 h3)	–
Backstroke	356	Valerio Giambalvo		–	–
Breaststroke	362	Gianni Minervini		–	–
Butterfly	361	Leonardo Michelotti		–	–
Freestyle	357	Roberto Gleria		–	–
16	–	Hungary	HUN	3:52.24 (5 h2)	–
Backstroke	307	Tamás Deutsch		–	–
Breaststroke	308	Károly Güttler		–	–
Butterfly	310	Valter Kalaus		–	–
Freestyle	303	Richárd Bodor		–	–
17	–	Singapore	SGP	3:52.86 (7 h4)	–
Backstroke	461	David Lim		–	–
Breaststroke	462	Ng Yue Meng		–	–
Butterfly	459	Ang Peng Siong		–	–
Freestyle	463	Oon Jin Gee		–	–
18	–	Brazil	BRA	3:53.21 (6 h3)	–
Backstroke	64	Rogério Romero		–	–
Breaststroke	65	Cicero Torteli		–	–
Butterfly	60	Eduardo Poli		–	–
Freestyle	59	Emanuel Fortes		–	–
19	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:54.18 (6 h2)	–
Backstroke	106	Lin Laijiu		–	–
Breaststroke	94	Chen Jianhong		–	–
Butterfly	119	Zheng Jian		–	–
Freestyle	108	Shen Jianqiang		–	–
20	–	Mexico	MEX	3:54.21 (7 h3)	–
Backstroke	428	Ernesto Vela		–	–
Breaststroke	422	Javier Careaga		–	–
Butterfly	429	Urbano Zea		–	–
Freestyle	424	Rodrigo González		–	–
21	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	3:56.94 (1 h1)	–
Backstroke	404	Park Dong-Pil		–	–
Breaststroke	411	Yun Ju-Il		–	–
Butterfly	406	Park Yeong-Cheol		–	–
Freestyle	398	Gwon Sang-Won		–	–
22	–	Hong Kong	HKG	4:05.28 (8 h4)	–
Backstroke	292	Yip Hor Man		–	–
Breaststroke	289	Michael Watt		–	–
Butterfly	288	Tsang Yi Ming		–	–
Freestyle	291	Michael Wright		–	–
23	–	Greece	GRE	4:07.71 (7 h2)	–
Backstroke	273	Ilias Malamas		–	–
Breaststroke	268	Nikolaos Fokianos		–	–
Butterfly	270	Theodoros Gkriniazakis		–	–
Freestyle	276	Charalampos Papanikolaou		–	–
24	–	United States Virgin Islands	ISV	4:15.03 (2 h1)	–
Backstroke	338	William Cleveland		–	–
Breaststroke	341	Kraig Singleton		–	–
Butterfly	342	Kristan Singleton		–	–
Freestyle	339	Hans Foerster		–	–
25	–	United Arab Emirates	UAE	4:28.55 (3 h1)	–
Backstroke	500	Mohammed Alghafri		–	–
Breaststroke	502	Obaid Al-Rumaithi		–	–
Butterfly	503	Mohamed Bin Abid		–	–
Freestyle	504	Ahmad Faraj		–	–

Round One

Date	25 September 1988 — 10:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	United States	USA	3:43.00	Q
2	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:44.44	Q
3	–	Canada	CAN	3:44.56	Q
4	–	West Germany	FRG	3:44.72	Q
5	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:45.29	Q
6	–	Netherlands	NED	3:45.65	Q
7	–	Japan	JPN	3:46.88	Q
8	–	Australia	AUS	3:47.40	Q
9	–	Switzerland	SUI	3:48.09
10	–	France	FRA	3:48.64
11	–	New Zealand	NZL	3:48.93
12	–	Spain	ESP	3:49.47
13	–	Czechoslovakia	TCH	3:49.90
14	–	Denmark	DEN	3:51.97
15	–	Italy	ITA	3:52.06
16	–	Hungary	HUN	3:52.24
17	–	Singapore	SGP	3:52.86
18	–	Brazil	BRA	3:53.21
19	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:54.18
20	–	Mexico	MEX	3:54.21
21	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	3:56.94
22	–	Hong Kong	HKG	4:05.28
23	–	Greece	GRE	4:07.71
24	–	United States Virgin Islands	ISV	4:15.03
25	–	United Arab Emirates	UAE	4:28.55

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	3:56.94	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Park Dong-Pil		–	1:01.38 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Yun Ju-Il		–	1:04.42 (1)	2:05.80 (1)
Butterfly	–	Park Yeong-Cheol		–	56.96 (1)	3:02.76 (1)
Freestyle	–	Gwon Sang-Won		–	54.18 (1)	– (–)
2	–	United States Virgin Islands	ISV	4:15.03	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	William Cleveland		–	1:05.06 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Kraig Singleton		–	1:13.73 (2)	2:18.79 (2)
Butterfly	–	Kristan Singleton		–	1:01.93 (2)	3:20.72 (2)
Freestyle	–	Hans Foerster		–	54.31 (2)	– (–)
3	–	United Arab Emirates	UAE	4:28.55	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Mohammed Alghafri		–	1:08.35 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Obaid Al-Rumaithi		–	1:15.72 (3)	2:24.07 (3)
Butterfly	–	Mohamed Bin Abid		–	1:06.57 (3)	3:30.64 (3)
Freestyle	–	Ahmad Faraj		–	57.91 (3)	– (–)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Canada	CAN	3:44.56	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Mark Tewksbury		–	57.05 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Victor Davis		–	1:03.14 (2)	2:00.19 (1)
Butterfly	–	Tom Ponting		–	54.12 (1)	2:54.31 (1)
Freestyle	–	Sandy Goss		–	50.25 (2)	– (–)
2	–	Netherlands	NED	3:45.65	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Hans Kroes		–	58.11 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ron Dekker		–	1:02.42 (1)	2:00.53 (2)
Butterfly	–	Frank Drost		–	54.50 (2)	2:55.03 (2)
Freestyle	–	Patrick Dybiona		–	50.62 (3)	– (–)
3	–	Australia	AUS	3:47.40	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Carl Wilson		–	58.31 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ian McAdam		–	1:05.17 (6)	2:03.48 (5)
Butterfly	–	Jon Sieben		–	54.65 (3)	2:58.13 (3)
Freestyle	–	Andrew Baildon		–	49.27 (1)	– (–)
4	–	Czechoslovakia	TCH	3:49.90	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Pavel Vokoun		–	59.25 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Radek Beinhauer		–	1:03.71 (4)	2:02.96 (4)
Butterfly	–	Robert Wolf		–	56.23 (4)	2:59.19 (4)
Freestyle	–	Petr Kladiva		–	50.71 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Hungary	HUN	3:52.24	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Tamás Deutsch		–	58.52 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Károly Güttler		–	1:03.59 (3)	2:02.11 (3)
Butterfly	–	Valter Kalaus		–	58.30 (6)	3:00.41 (5)
Freestyle	–	Richárd Bodor		–	51.83 (5)	– (–)
6	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:54.18	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Lin Laijiu		–	59.32 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Chen Jianhong		–	1:04.73 (5)	2:04.05 (6)
Butterfly	–	Zheng Jian		–	57.04 (5)	3:01.09 (6)
Freestyle	–	Shen Jianqiang		–	53.09 (6)	– (–)
7	–	Greece	GRE	4:07.71	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Ilias Malamas		–	59.88 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Nikolaos Fokianos		–	1:07.61 (7)	2:07.49 (7)
Butterfly	–	Theodoros Gkriniazakis		–	1:01.09 (7)	3:08.58 (7)
Freestyle	–	Charalampos Papanikolaou		–	59.13 (7)	– (–)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:44.44	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Gary Binfield		–	57.89 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Adrian Moorhouse		–	1:02.33 (1)	2:00.22 (2)
Butterfly	–	Andy Jameson		–	53.47 (1)	2:53.69 (1)
Freestyle	–	Roland Lee		–	50.75 (4)	– (–)
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:45.29	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Sergey Zabolotnov		–	57.14 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Valery Lozik		–	1:02.80 (2)	1:59.94 (1)
Butterfly	–	Konstantin Petrov		–	55.02 (3)	2:54.96 (2)
Freestyle	–	Nikolay Yevseyev		–	50.33 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Switzerland	SUI	3:48.09	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Patrick Ferland		–	58.27 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Étienne Dagon		–	1:04.61 (3)	2:02.88 (3)
Butterfly	–	Dano Halsall		–	55.71 (4)	2:58.59 (4)
Freestyle	–	Stéfan Voléry		–	49.50 (1)	– (–)
4	–	New Zealand	NZL	3:48.93	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Paul Kingsman		–	57.73 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Anthony Beks		–	1:05.43 (5)	2:03.16 (4)
Butterfly	–	Anthony Mosse		–	54.03 (2)	2:57.19 (3)
Freestyle	–	Ross Anderson		–	51.74 (6)	– (–)
5	–	Italy	ITA	3:52.06	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Valerio Giambalvo		–	59.70 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Gianni Minervini		–	1:05.06 (4)	2:04.76 (6)
Butterfly	–	Leonardo Michelotti		–	56.76 (6)	3:01.52 (6)
Freestyle	–	Roberto Gleria		–	50.54 (3)	– (–)
6	–	Brazil	BRA	3:53.21	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Rogério Romero		–	57.99 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Cicero Torteli		–	1:06.54 (7)	2:04.53 (5)
Butterfly	–	Eduardo Poli		–	56.65 (5)	3:01.18 (5)
Freestyle	–	Emanuel Fortes		–	52.03 (7)	– (–)
7	–	Mexico	MEX	3:54.21	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Ernesto Vela		–	59.16 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Javier Careaga		–	1:06.07 (6)	2:05.23 (7)
Butterfly	–	Urbano Zea		–	57.66 (7)	3:02.89 (7)
Freestyle	–	Rodrigo González		–	51.32 (5)	– (–)

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	3:43.00	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Dave Berkoff		–	55.69 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Rich Schroeder		–	1:01.64 (1)	1:57.33 (1)
Butterfly	–	Jay Mortenson		–	54.46 (2)	2:51.79 (1)
Freestyle	–	Tom Jager		–	51.21 (5)	– (–)
2	–	West Germany	FRG	3:44.72	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Frank Hoffmeister		–	57.04 (=3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Mark Warnecke		–	1:03.80 (3)	2:00.84 (3)
Butterfly	–	Michael Groß		–	54.41 (1)	2:55.25 (2)
Freestyle	–	Björn Zikarsky		–	49.47 (1)	– (–)
3	–	Japan	JPN	3:46.88	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Backstroke	–	Daichi Suzuki		–	56.24 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Hironobu Nagahata		–	1:03.51 (2)	1:59.75 (2)
Butterfly	–	Hiroshi Miura		–	55.65 (4)	2:55.40 (3)
Freestyle	–	Shigeo Ogata		–	51.48 (6)	– (–)
4	–	France	FRA	3:48.64	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Franck Schott		–	57.04 (=3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	David Leblanc		–	1:04.85 (5)	2:01.89 (4)
Butterfly	–	Ludovic Dépickère		–	56.37 (6)	2:58.26 (4)
Freestyle	–	Bruno Gutzeit		–	50.38 (2)	– (–)
5	–	Spain	ESP	3:49.47	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Martín López-Zubero		–	58.05 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ramón Camallonga		–	1:04.67 (4)	2:02.72 (5)
Butterfly	–	José Luis Ballester		–	55.66 (5)	2:58.38 (5)
Freestyle	–	José Hernando		–	51.09 (4)	– (–)
6	–	Denmark	DEN	3:51.97	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Lars Sørensen		–	58.17 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Christian Toft		–	1:07.32 (7)	2:05.49 (7)
Butterfly	–	Benny Nielsen		–	55.57 (3)	3:01.06 (7)
Freestyle	–	Franz Mortensen		–	50.91 (3)	– (–)
7	–	Singapore	SGP	3:52.86	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	David Lim		–	58.03 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ng Yue Meng		–	1:05.89 (6)	2:03.92 (6)
Butterfly	–	Ang Peng Siong		–	56.63 (7)	3:00.55 (6)
Freestyle	–	Oon Jin Gee		–	52.31 (7)	– (–)
8	–	Hong Kong	HKG	4:05.28	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Yip Hor Man		–	1:03.23 (8)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Michael Watt		–	1:08.53 (8)	2:11.76 (8)
Butterfly	–	Tsang Yi Ming		–	59.44 (8)	3:11.20 (8)
Freestyle	–	Michael Wright		–	54.08 (8)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	25 September 1988 — 20:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	3:36.93	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Backstroke	–	Dave Berkoff		–	54.56 (1)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Rich Schroeder		–	1:01.64 (3)	1:56.20 (1)
Butterfly	–	Matt Biondi		–	52.38 (1)	2:48.58 (1)
Freestyle	–	Chris Jacobs		–	48.35 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Canada	CAN	3:39.28	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Mark Tewksbury		–	56.11 (4)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Victor Davis		–	1:00.90 (1)	1:57.01 (3)
Butterfly	–	Tom Ponting		–	53.52 (5)	2:50.53 (3)
Freestyle	–	Sandy Goss		–	48.75 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:39.96	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Igor Polyansky		–	55.35 (2)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Dmitry Volkov		–	1:01.53 (2)	1:56.88 (2)
Butterfly	–	Vadim Yaroshchuk		–	53.34 (3)	2:50.22 (2)
Freestyle	–	Gennady Prigoda		–	49.74 (5)	– (–)
4	–	West Germany	FRG	3:42.98	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Frank Hoffmeister		–	57.18 (5)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Alexander Mayer		–	1:03.12 (5)	2:00.30 (5)
Butterfly	–	Michael Groß		–	53.17 (2)	2:53.47 (5)
Freestyle	–	Björn Zikarsky		–	49.51 (3)	– (–)
5	–	Japan	JPN	3:44.36	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Daichi Suzuki		–	55.87 (3)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Hironobu Nagahata		–	1:02.75 (4)	1:58.62 (4)
Butterfly	–	Hiroshi Miura		–	54.18 (6)	2:52.80 (4)
Freestyle	–	Shigeo Ogata		–	51.56 (7)	– (–)
6	–	Australia	AUS	3:45.85	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Carl Wilson		–	57.85 (6)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ian McAdam		–	1:05.01 (7)	2:02.86 (7)
Butterfly	–	Jon Sieben		–	53.42 (4)	2:56.28 (7)
Freestyle	–	Andrew Baildon		–	49.57 (4)	– (–)
7	–	Netherlands	NED	3:46.55	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Hans Kroes		–	58.26 (7)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Ron Dekker		–	1:03.40 (6)	2:01.66 (6)
Butterfly	–	Frank Drost		–	54.48 (7)	2:56.14 (6)
Freestyle	–	Patrick Dybiona		–	50.41 (6)	– (–)
DQ	–	Great Britain	GBR	–	– (–)	– (–)
Backstroke	–	Neil Harper		–	– (–)	– (–)
Breaststroke	–	Adrian Moorhouse		–	– (–)	– (–)
Butterfly	–	Andy Jameson		–	– (–)	– (–)
Freestyle	–	Mark Foster		–	– (–)	– (–)