Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay

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Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
VenueWhite City Stadium
DateJuly 24
Competitors24 from 6 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Great Britain
John Derbyshire, William Foster, Paul Radmilovic, Henry Taylor
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Hungary
Zoltán Halmay, Béla Las Torres, József Munk, Imre Zachár
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  United States
Charles Daniels, Leo Goodwin, Harry Hebner, Leslie Rich
1912 →

The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, or 800 metre team race, was one of six swimming events on the Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. It was the only relay event on the schedule, and the first appearance of the 4x200 in Olympic competition. Each nation could enter 1 team of 4 swimmers.[1]

Results[edit]

Semifinals[edit]

The fastest team in each semifinal and the fastest losing team from across the semifinals advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1[edit]

Place Nation Swimmers Time
1  Australasia Frank Beaurepaire
Frank Springfield
Reginald Baker
Theodore Tartakover
11:35.0
2  Denmark Poul Holm
Harald Klem
Ludvig Dam
Hjalmar Saxtorph
12:53.0

Semifinal 2[edit]

Place Nation Swimmers Time
1  Great Britain William Foster
Paul Radmilovic
John Derbyshire
Henry Taylor
10:53.4 WR
2  United States Harry Hebner
Leo Goodwin
Charles Daniels
Leslie Rich
11:01.4
3  Sweden Gustaf Wretman
Gunnar Wennerström
Harald Julin
Adolf Andersson
Unknown

Semifinal 3[edit]

Hungary had no competition in the third semifinal.

Place Nation Swimmers Time
1  Hungary József Munk
Imre Zachár
Béla Las Torres
Zoltán Halmay
Swam over

Final[edit]

Hungary led throughout the race until Halmay veered towards the wall and was caught by Taylor (who had only just before passed Rich) in the final 20 yards. Halmay struggled to the finish line, and was hauled out of the pool before he drowned.[2]

Place Nation Swimmers Time
1  Great Britain John Derbyshire
Paul Radmilovic
William Foster
Henry Taylor
10:55.6
2  Hungary József Munk
Imre Zachár
Béla las Torres
Zoltán Halmay
10:59.0
3  United States Harry Hebner
Leo Goodwin
Charles Daniels
Leslie Rich
11:02.8
4  Australasia Frank Beaurepaire
Frank Springfield
Reginald Baker
Theodore Tartakover
Unknown

Sources[edit]

  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman (2001). "Swimming 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 13 May 2006.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Official Report, p. 40.
  2. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 412. ISBN 0140066322.