The men's 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1936 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the seventh appearance of the event, which was established in 1908. The competition was held on Monday and Tuesday, 10 and 11 August 1936.
Seventy-four swimmers from 18 nations competed.
Shigeo Arai Shigeo Sugiura Masaharu Taguchi Masanori Yusa | Ralph Flanagan John Macionis Jack Medica Paul Wolf | Oszkár Abay-Nemes Ferenc Csik Ödön Gróf Árpád Lengyel |
Note: The International Olympic Committee medal database shows only these swimmers as medalists. Ralph Gilman and Charles Hutter swam for the United States in the semi-finals but were not credited with silver medals.
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 8:52.2 |  Masanori Yusa Shozo Makino Sunao Ishiharada Hiroshi Negami | Tokyo (JPN) | 19 August 1935 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Record | 8:58.4 | Yasuji Miyazaki Masanori Yusa Hisakichi Toyoda Takashi Yokoyama | Los Angeles (USA) | 9 August 1932 |
In the final the Japan set a new world record with 8:51.5 minutes.
Monday, 10 August 1936: The fastest two in each semi-final and the next two fastest from across the semi-finals advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
| Place | width=620 | Swimmers | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9:21.7 | |||||
| 2 | 9:40.0 | |||||
| 3 | 9:42.5 | |||||
| 4 | 9:45.8 | |||||
| 5 | 10:50.5 | |||||
| 6 | 10:51.0 |
Semifinal 2
| Place | width=620 | Swimmers | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9:10.4 | |||||
| 2 | 9:20.8 | |||||
| 3 | 9:30.8 | |||||
| 4 | 9:39.6 | |||||
| 5 | 10:58.4 | |||||
| 6 | 10:59.8 | |||||
| — | DSQ |
Semifinal 3
| Place | width=620 | Swimmers | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8:56.1 | |||||
| 2 | 9:21.4 | |||||
| 3 | 9:35.3 | |||||
| 4 | 9:40.3 | |||||
| 5 | 10:05.3 |
Tuesday, 11 August 1936:
| Place | width=620 | Swimmers | width=90 | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8:51.5 WR | |||
| 2 | 9:03.0 | |||
| 3 | 9:12.3 | |||
| 4 | 9:18.2 | |||
| 5 | 9:19.0 | |||
| 6 | 9:21.5 | |||
| 7 | 9:27.5 | |||
| 8 | 9:37.5 |