# Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre team swimming

The men's 200 metre team swimming was an event on the swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics schedule in Paris. It was held on August 12, 1900. 20 swimmers from two nations constituted four teams; 18 of the swimmers actually swam. The event was won by the German Swimming Federation, defeating three French teams. Tritons Lillois took silver, Pupilles de Neptune de Lille bronze, and Libellule de Paris fourth place.

## Background

This was the only time a team swimming event was held. The competition was supposed to include five teams, but the team from Great Britain arrived after the start of the competition.

## Competition format

There were four heats, with five swimmers in each heat.
Scoring used a fairly strange system: swimmers were seeded into the final heats through an initial ranking round, then received a number of points depending on what place they received in which heat. The five swimmers in the first heat were given between 1 and 5 points, with the winner receiving 1 and points increasing with place. The swimmers in the second heat received between 6 and 10 points, and so on.
The scores of the five swimmers on a team were summed, and the team with the fewest points won. This gave a strong advantage to the German team, which had three swimmers in the first heat, and an equally strong disadvantage to the Parisian team, with three swimmers in the fourth heat.
If points are given by best time regardless of heat, the Pupilles de Neptune and the Tritons switch places, though the Germans still win and the Parisian team still takes fourth.
Each race was 200 metres long. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events).

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Sunday, 11 August 1900 | | Round 1 Final |

## Results
### Round 1

Each team had one swimmer in each of the five first-round heats. These heats determined in which final heat the swimmer would swim and thus the point range that the swimmer could achieve. No times are known from the results of this round.

#### Round 1 heat 1

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Team | Notes |
| 1 | Joseph Bertrand | France | Tritons Lillois | H1 |
| 2 | B. Rosier | France | Libellule de Paris | H2 |
| — | Herbert von Petersdorff | Germany | German Swimming Federation | DNS |
| — | Philippe Houben | France | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | DNS |

#### Round 1 heat 2

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Team | Points |
| 1 | Ernst Hoppenberg | Germany | German Swimming Federation | H1 |
| 2 | Jules Clévenot | France | Libellule de Paris | H2 |
| 3 | Georges Leuillieux | France | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | H3 |
| 4 | Victor Cadet | France | Tritons Lillois | H4 |

#### Round 1 heat 3

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Team | Points |
| 1 | Maurice Hochepied | France | Tritons Lillois | H1 |
| 2 | Gustav Lexau | Germany | German Swimming Federation | H2 |
| 3 | Louis Martin | France | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | H3 |
| 4 | R. Féret | France | Libellule de Paris | H4 |

#### Round 1 heat 4

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Team | Points |
| 1 | Ernest Lührsen | Germany | German Swimming Federation | H1 |
| 2 | Désiré Mérchez | France | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | H2 |
| 3 | Victor Hochepied | France | Tritons Lillois | H3 |
| 4 | Gasaigne | France | Libellule de Paris | H4 |

#### Round 1 heat 5

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Team | Points |
| 1 | Max Hainle | Germany | German Swimming Federation | H1 |
| 2 | René Tartara | France | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | H2 |
| 3 | Jules Verbecke | France | Tritons Lillois | H3 |
| 4 | Pelloy | France | Libellule de Paris | H4 |

### Final
#### Final heat 1

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Team | Time | Points |
| 1 | Ernst Hoppenberg | Germany | German Swimming Federation | 2:35.4 | 1 |
| 2 | Max Hainle | Germany | German Swimming Federation | 2:36.0 | 2 |
| 3 | Maurice Hochepied | France | Tritons Lillois | 2:53.0 | 3 |
| 4 | Ernest Lührsen | Germany | German Swimming Federation | 2:55.0 | 4 |
| 5 | Joseph Bertrand | France | Tritons Lillois | 3:00.0 | 5 |

#### Final heat 2

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Team | Time | Points |
| 1 | Gustav Lexau | Germany | German Swimming Federation | 2:42.0 | 6 |
| 2 | Jules Clévenot | France | Libellule de Paris | 2:45.0 | 7 |
| 3 | René Tartara | France | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | 2:48.6 | 8 |
| 4 | Désiré Mérchez | France | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | 2:55.4 | 9 |
| 5 | B. Rosier | France | Libellule de Paris | 3:04.4 | 10 |

#### Final heat 3

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Team | Time | Points |
| 1 | Louis Martin | France | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | 2:51.4 | 11 |
| 2 | Victor Hochepied | France | Tritons Lillois | 2:56.4 | 12 |
| 3 | Jules Verbecke | France | Tritons Lillois | 3:01.6 | 13 |
| 4 | Georges Leuillieux | France | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | 2:55.0 | 14 |

#### Final heat 4

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Team | Time | Points |
| 1 | R. Féret | France | Libellule de Paris | 3:00.4 | 15 |
| 2 | Gasaigne | France | Libellule de Paris | 3:02.0 | 16 |
| 3 | Pelloy | France | Libellule de Paris | 3:06.0 | 17 |
| 4 | Victor Cadet | France | Tritons Lillois | 3:18.0 | 18 |

#### Did not start

The following two swimmers did not compete and thus earned 19 points for their teams:
* Herbert von Petersdorff, German Swimming Federation
* Philippe Houben, Pupilles de Neptune de Lille

### Team scores

| Rank | Nation | Team | Swimmers | Points |
| | Germany (GER) | German Swimming Federation | Ernst HoppenbergMax HainleErnest LührsenGustav LexauHerbert von Petersdorff | 32 1+2+4+6+19 |
| | France (FRA) | Tritons Lillois | Maurice HochepiedJoseph BertrandVictor HochepiedJules VerbeckeVictor Cadet | 51 3+5+12+13+18 |
| | France (FRA) | Pupilles de Neptune de Lille | René TartaraDésiré MérchezLouis MartinGeorges LeuillieuxPhilippe Houben | 61 8+9+11+14+19 |
| 4 | France (FRA) | Libellule de Paris | Jules ClévenotB. RosierR. FéretGasaignePelloy | 65 7+10+15+16+17 |