The men's 4x200 metre freestyle relay was a swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 event held as part of the swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics

At the 1912 Summer Olympics, nine swimming events were contested. Swimming events were held in a 100 m course built in Stockholm harbor. For the first time, women's events were part of the Olympic swimming program. The competitions were held from Saturday July 6, 1912 to Friday July 12, 1912...

 programme. It was the second appearance of the event, which had been introduced in 1908. The competition was held on Friday July 12, 1912 and Monday July 15, 1912.

Twenty swimmers from five nations competed.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World Record	10:53.4	William Foster William Foster (swimmer) William Foster was a British freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics and in the 1912 Summer Olympics....   Paul Radmilovic   John Derbyshire John Derbyshire (swimmer) John Henry "Rob" Derbyshire was an English freestyle swimmer and water polo player from Chorlton, Lancashire, who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics, 1906 Summer Olympics, 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics....   Henry Taylor Henry Taylor (swimmer) Henry Taylor was a British freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1906 Summer Olympics, in the 1908 Summer Olympics, in the 1912 Summer Olympics, and in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He served in the Royal Navy during the First World War, and continued to swim competitively until 1926...	London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...  (GBR Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles... )	July 24, 1908
Olympic Record	10:53.4	William Foster William Foster (swimmer) William Foster was a British freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics and in the 1912 Summer Olympics....   Paul Radmilovic   John Derbyshire John Derbyshire (swimmer) John Henry "Rob" Derbyshire was an English freestyle swimmer and water polo player from Chorlton, Lancashire, who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics, 1906 Summer Olympics, 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics....   Henry Taylor Henry Taylor (swimmer) Henry Taylor was a British freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1906 Summer Olympics, in the 1908 Summer Olympics, in the 1912 Summer Olympics, and in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He served in the Royal Navy during the First World War, and continued to swim competitively until 1926...	London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...  (GBR Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles... )	July 24, 1908

All five teams swam in times under the standing world record in the semifinals. The Americans, by virtue of winning the first semifinal, held the new record only until the Australasian team won the second in a better time. The Australasians bettered their own record in the final, making the 4x200 free relay an event in which the Olympic record (and world record) was broken each heat.

Semifinals

The top two from each heat and the fastest of third place teams advanced. Since there were only five teams that started, this resulted in all five advancing to the finals with no team eliminated by the semifinals.

Semifinal 1

Place	Swimmers	Time	Qual.
1		10:26.4	QF WR
2		10:34.6	QF
3		10:39.4	qf

Semifinal 2

Place	Swimmers	Time	Qual.
1		10:14.0	QF WR
2		10:42.2	QF

Final

Place	Swimmers	Time
1		10:11.2 WR
2		10:20.2
3		10:28.6
4		10:37.0
5		DNS