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1948 Summer Olympics
Swimming
4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	2 – 3 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Wembley Arena, Wembley, London
Participants	61 from 14 countries

Of the 24 finalists in the individual freestyle events, 14 of them had come from either the USA or Hungary. It was therefore no surprise when the Americans and Hungarians, who broke the European record, posted the fastest qualifying times.

The final fitted the expected pattern with the two favorites battling each other for the gold, with the other teams hoping for a bronze at best. Three legs of the race were evenly contested but, with 100m to go, the American 400 metre champion Bill Smith opened up a slender lead which he held to the finish. Both gold and silver medal teams broke the existing world record. The American team recorded a time of 8:55.9 in the qualifying round, which would have been good enough for the bronze in the final, without any of the swimmers who would contest the final. Alex Jany, who had otherwise suffered a disappointing Olympics, steered France home for third, ahead of Yugoslavia and the European champions of Sweden.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	United States	👁 Image USA	8:55.9 (2 h1)	8:46.0 (1)	Gold
35	Wally Ris	–	–
142	Jimmy McLane	–	–
–	Wally Wolf	–	–
143	Bill Smith	–	–
–	Bob Gibe	–	–
–	William Dudley	–	–
–	Eddie Gilbert	–	–
–	Eugene R. Rogers	–	–
221	George Hoogerhyde DNS	–	–
2	–	Hungary	👁 Image HUN	8:53.6 (1 h1)	8:48.4 (2)	Silver
28	Elemér Szathmáry	–	–
–	György Mitró	–	–
131	Imre Nyéki	–	–
27	Géza Kádas	–	–
215	Zoltán Szilárd DNS	–	–
214	Gyula Svéda DNS	–	–
3	–	France	👁 Image FRA	9:08.8 (1 h2)	9:08.0 (3)	Bronze
126	Jo Bernardo	–	–
125	René Cornu	–	–
6	Henri Padou, Jr.	–	–
20	Alex Jany	–	–
209	Fernand Martinaux DNS	–	–
58	Georges Vallerey, Jr. DNS	–	–
208	Charles Babey DNS	–	–
4	–	Sweden	👁 Image SWE	9:12.9 (3 h2)	9:09.1 (4)
41	Martin Lundén	–	–
140	Per-Olof Östrand	–	–
40	Olle Johansson	–	–
42	Per-Olof Olsson	–	–
218	Hans Hellbrand DNS	–	–
217	Bror Ebbe Andersson DNS	–	–
5	–	Yugoslavia	👁 Image YUG	9:12.4 (2 h2)	9:14.0 (5)
160	Vanja Ilić	–	–
–	Ciril Pelhan	–	–
145	Janko Puhar	–	–
147	Branko Vidović	–	–
226	Boris Škanata DNS	–	–
146	Marijan Stipetić DNS	–	–
6	–	Argentina	👁 Image ARG	9:16.9 (3 h1)	9:19.2 (6)
2	Horacio White	–	–
114	José Durañona	–	–
112	Juan Garay	–	–
113	Alfredo Yantorno	–	–
1	Augusto Cantón	–	–
148	Adolfo Mancuso DNS	–	–
7	–	Mexico	👁 Image MEX	9:23.4 (4 h2)	9:20.2 (7)
133	Ramón Bravo	–	–
134	Ángel Maldonado	–	–
104	Apolonio Castillo	–	–
34	Alberto Isaac	–	–
71	Clemente Mejía DNS	–	–
216	César Borja DNS	–	–
8	–	Brazil	👁 Image BRA	9:19.9 (4 h1)	9:31.0 (8)
46	Sérgio Rodrígues	–	–
86	Willy Otto Jordan	–	–
152	Rolf Kestener	–	–
8	Aram Boghossian	–	–
7	Plauto Guimarães DNS	–	–
52	Paulo Silva DNS	–	–
9	–	Great Britain	👁 Image GBR	9:26.6 (5 h2)	–
127	Roy Botham	–	–
128	Jack Hale	–	–
–	Norman Wainwright	–	–
–	John Holt	–	–
25	Ron Stedman DNS	–	–
–	Ray Legg DNS	–	–
10	–	Spain	👁 Image ESP	9:28.3 (5 h1)	–
37	Jesús Domínguez	–	–
–	Manolo Guerra	–	–
139	Isidoro Martínez-Vela	–	–
38	Isidoro Pérez	–	–
138	Alejandro Febrero DNS	–	–
11	–	Canada	👁 Image CAN	9:43.2 (6 h2)	–
120	Doug Gibson	–	–
9	Eric Jubb	–	–
119	Allen Gilchrist	–	–
10	Peter Salmon	–	–
55	Peter Mingie DNS	–	–
12	–	Egypt	👁 Image EGY	10:25.0 (7 h2)	–
14	Ali Bagdadi	–	–
89	Ahmed Kandil	–	–
15	Taha El-Gamal	–	–
–	Abdel Aziz Khalifa	–	–
–	Dorri Abdel Kader DNS	–	–
206	Samir Gharbo DNS	–	–
13	–	Pakistan	👁 Image PAK	12:25.8 (6 h1)	–
135	Anwar Aziz Chaudhry	–	–
75	Iftikhar Ahmed Shah	–	–
73	Jaffar Ali Shah	–	–
–	Sultan Karim Ali	–	–
35	Brian O'Connell DNS	–	–
–	Bermuda	👁 Image BER	– (DQ h1)	–
118	Walter Bardgett	–	–
5	Derek Oatway	–	–
117	Robert Cook	–	–
–	Philip Tribley	–	–
–	Frank Gosling DNS	–	–
51	Donald Shanks DNS	–	–
–	Australia	👁 Image AUS	– (DNS h1)	–
115	Garrick Agnew DNS	–	–
–	Bruce Bourke DNS	–	–
4	Warren Boyd DNS	–	–
116	John Marshall DNS	–	–
204	Herman Doerner DNS	–	–
205	Jack Ferguson DNS	–	–

Round One

Date	2 August 1948 — 16:00
Format	Top three in each heat and the next two fastest advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	2	Hungary	👁 Image HUN	8:53.6
2	1	United States	👁 Image USA	8:55.9
3	2	France	👁 Image FRA	9:08.8
4	4	Yugoslavia	👁 Image YUG	9:12.4
5	3	Sweden	👁 Image SWE	9:12.9
6	4	Argentina	👁 Image ARG	9:16.9
7	5	Brazil	👁 Image BRA	9:19.9
8	1	Mexico	👁 Image MEX	9:23.4
9	7	Great Britain	👁 Image GBR	9:26.6
10	6	Spain	👁 Image ESP	9:28.3
11	6	Canada	👁 Image CAN	9:43.2
12	5	Egypt	👁 Image EGY	10:25.0
13	3	Pakistan	👁 Image PAK	12:25.8
7	Bermuda	👁 Image BER	–	1
8	Australia	👁 Image AUS	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time
1	2	Hungary	👁 Image HUN	8:53.6
Lead-off	–	Géza Kádas	–
2nd Leg	–	György Mitró	–
3rd Leg	–	Imre Nyéki	–
Anchor	–	Elemér Szathmáry	–
2	1	United States	👁 Image USA	8:55.9
Lead-off	–	Bob Gibe	–
2nd Leg	–	William Dudley	–
3rd Leg	–	Eddie Gilbert	–
Anchor	–	Eugene R. Rogers	–
3	4	Argentina	👁 Image ARG	9:16.9
Lead-off	–	Augusto Cantón	–
2nd Leg	–	José Durañona	–
3rd Leg	–	Juan Garay	–
Anchor	–	Alfredo Yantorno	–
4	5	Brazil	👁 Image BRA	9:19.9
Lead-off	–	Sérgio Rodrígues	–
2nd Leg	–	Willy Otto Jordan	–
3rd Leg	–	Rolf Kestener	–
Anchor	–	Aram Boghossian	–
5	6	Spain	👁 Image ESP	9:28.3
Lead-off	–	Jesús Domínguez	–
2nd Leg	–	Manolo Guerra	–
3rd Leg	–	Isidoro Martínez-Vela	–
Anchor	–	Isidoro Pérez	–
6	3	Pakistan	👁 Image PAK	12:25.8
Lead-off	–	Anwar Aziz Chaudhry	–
2nd Leg	–	Iftikhar Ahmed Shah	–
3rd Leg	–	Jaffar Ali Shah	–
Anchor	–	Sultan Karim Ali	–
7	Bermuda	👁 Image BER	–	2
Lead-off	–	Walter Bardgett	–
2nd Leg	–	Derek Oatway	–
3rd Leg	–	Robert Cook	–
Anchor	–	Philip Tribley	–
8	Australia	👁 Image AUS	–
–	Garrick Agnew DNS	–
–	Bruce Bourke DNS	–
–	Warren Boyd DNS	–
–	John Marshall DNS	–
–	Herman Doerner DNS	–
–	Jack Ferguson DNS	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time
1	2	France	👁 Image FRA	9:08.8
Lead-off	–	René Cornu	–
2nd Leg	–	Alex Jany	–
3rd Leg	–	Jo Bernardo	–
Anchor	–	Henri Padou, Jr.	–
2	4	Yugoslavia	👁 Image YUG	9:12.4
Lead-off	–	Vanja Ilić	–
2nd Leg	–	Ciril Pelhan	–
3rd Leg	–	Janko Puhar	–
Anchor	–	Branko Vidović	–
3	3	Sweden	👁 Image SWE	9:12.9
Lead-off	–	Olle Johansson	–
2nd Leg	–	Martin Lundén	–
3rd Leg	–	Per-Olof Olsson	–
Anchor	–	Per-Olof Östrand	–
4	1	Mexico	👁 Image MEX	9:23.4
Lead-off	–	Ramón Bravo	–
2nd Leg	–	Apolonio Castillo	–
3rd Leg	–	Ángel Maldonado	–
Anchor	–	Alberto Isaac	–
5	7	Great Britain	👁 Image GBR	9:26.6
Lead-off	–	Roy Botham	–
2nd Leg	–	Jack Hale	–
3rd Leg	–	Norman Wainwright	–
Anchor	–	John Holt	–
6	6	Canada	👁 Image CAN	9:43.2
Lead-off	–	Doug Gibson	–
2nd Leg	–	Eric Jubb	–
3rd Leg	–	Allen Gilchrist	–
Anchor	–	Peter Salmon	–
7	5	Egypt	👁 Image EGY	10:25.0
Lead-off	–	Ali Bagdadi	–
2nd Leg	–	Ahmed Kandil	–
3rd Leg	–	Taha El-Gamal	–
Anchor	–	Abdel Aziz Khalifa	–

Final Round

Date	3 August 1948 — 19:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time
1	4	United States	👁 Image USA	8:46.0
Lead-off	–	Wally Ris	–
2nd Leg	–	Jimmy McLane	–
3rd Leg	–	Wally Wolf	–
Anchor	–	Bill Smith	–
2	5	Hungary	👁 Image HUN	8:48.4
Lead-off	–	Elemér Szathmáry	–
2nd Leg	–	György Mitró	–
3rd Leg	–	Imre Nyéki	–
Anchor	–	Géza Kádas	–
3	6	France	👁 Image FRA	9:08.0
Lead-off	–	Jo Bernardo	–
2nd Leg	–	René Cornu	–
3rd Leg	–	Henri Padou, Jr.	–
Anchor	–	Alex Jany	–
4	7	Sweden	👁 Image SWE	9:09.1
Lead-off	–	Martin Lundén	–
2nd Leg	–	Per-Olof Östrand	–
3rd Leg	–	Olle Johansson	–
Anchor	–	Per-Olof Olsson	–
5	3	Yugoslavia	👁 Image YUG	9:14.0
Lead-off	–	Vanja Ilić	–
2nd Leg	–	Ciril Pelhan	–
3rd Leg	–	Janko Puhar	–
Anchor	–	Branko Vidović	–
6	2	Argentina	👁 Image ARG	9:19.2
Lead-off	–	Horacio White	–
2nd Leg	–	José Durañona	–
3rd Leg	–	Juan Garay	–
Anchor	–	Alfredo Yantorno	–
7	1	Mexico	👁 Image MEX	9:20.2
Lead-off	–	Ramón Bravo	–
2nd Leg	–	Ángel Maldonado	–
3rd Leg	–	Apolonio Castillo	–
Anchor	–	Alberto Isaac	–
8	8	Brazil	👁 Image BRA	9:31.0
Lead-off	–	Sérgio Rodrígues	–
2nd Leg	–	Willy Otto Jordan	–
3rd Leg	–	Rolf Kestener	–
Anchor	–	Aram Boghossian	–

URL: https://www.olympedia.org/results/5192

⇱ Olympedia – 4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Round One

Heat #1

Heat #2

Final Round