# Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 23 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | United States (USA) Chris Cavanaugh (50.83) Mike Heath (49.60) Matt Biondi (49.67) Rowdy Gaines (48.93) | 3:19.03 | Los Angeles, United States | 2 August 1984 |
| Olympic record | United States (USA) Chris Cavanaugh (50.83) Mike Heath (49.60) Matt Biondi (49.67) Rowdy Gaines (48.93) | 3:19.03 | Los Angeles, United States | 2 August 1984 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 23 September | Final | Chris Jacobs (49.63) Troy Dalbey (49.75) Tom Jager (49.34) Matt Biondi (47.81) | United States | 3:16.53 | WR |

## Results
### Heats

Rule: The eight fastest teams advance to the final (Q).
| Rank | Heat | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | United States | Brent Lang (50.18) Doug Gjertsen (49.64) Shaun Jordan (50.19) Troy Dalbey (49.51) | 3:19.52 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Soviet Union | Raimundas Mažuolis (50.90) Oleksiy Boryslavskiy (49.95) Nikolay Yevseyev (49.21) Volodymyr Tkachenko (49.83) | 3:19.89 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | East Germany | Dirk Richter (50.30) Thomas Flemming (50.01) Lars Hinneburg (50.11) Steffen Zesner (50.05) | 3:20.47 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | France | Stéphan Caron (50.68) Christophe Kalfayan (50.54) Laurent Neuville (50.45) Bruno Gutzeit (50.10) | 3:21.77 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Sweden | Tommy Werner (50.92) Rikard Milton (51.38) Joakim Holmquist (50.48) Göran Titus (50.31) | 3:23.09 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | West Germany | Björn Zikarsky (51.09) Peter Sitt (51.02) Thomas Fahrner (51.09) Torsten Wiegel (49.99) | 3:23.19 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | Italy | Fabrizio Rampazzo (51.83) Giorgio Lamberti (49.93) Andrea Ceccarini (51.25) Roberto Gleria (50.34) | 3:23.35 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Great Britain | Andy Jameson (51.40) Mark Foster (50.81) Mike Fibbens (50.68) Roland Lee (50.82) | 3:23.71 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Canada | Mark Andrews (51.66) Stephen Vandermeulen (50.90) Vlastimil Černý (51.14) Sandy Goss (50.15) | 3:23.85 | |
| 10 | 1 | Denmark | Franz Mortensen (51.21) Vagn Høgholm (50.97) Benny Nielsen (51.73) Peter Rohde (51.24) | 3:25.15 | |
| 11 | 1 | Netherlands | Frank Drost (51.52) Patrick Dybiona (50.86) Hans Kroes (51.57) Ronald Dekker (51.31) | 3:25.26 | |
| 12 | 2 | Brazil | Emanuel Nascimento (52.13) Cristiano Michelena (52.13) Jorge Fernandes (52.05) Júlio López (51.86) | 3:28.17 | |
| 13 | 2 | Mexico | Rodrigo González (51.48) Ignacio Escamilla (53.48) Jorge Alarcón (52.51) Urbano Zea (52.25) | 3:29.72 | |
| 14 | 1 | Portugal | Mabílio Albuquerque (53.06) Henrique Villaret (52.87) Vasco Sousa (53.73) Sérgio Esteves (53.65) | 3:33.31 | |
| 15 | 3 | Singapore | Ang Peng Siong (52.28) David Lim Fong Jock (53.01) Oon Jin Gee (52.77) Desmond Koh (56.48) | 3:34.54 | |
| 16 | 2 | Hong Kong | Michael Wright (53.74) Li Khai Kam (52.79) Arthur Li Kai Yien (53.48) Tsang Yi Ming (54.77) | 3:34.78 | |
| 17 | 2 | South Korea | Kwon Sang-won (54.18) Yang Wook (54.17) Song Kwang-sun (54.25) Kwon Soon-kun (55.45) | 3:38.05 | |
| 18 | 1 | Virgin Islands | Hans Foerster (54.23) Kraig Singleton (56.51) Kristan Singleton (57.78) William Cleveland (54.71) | 3:43.23 | |
| 19 | 3 | United Arab Emirates | Ahmad Faraj (58.29) Mohamed Abdullah (1:00.80) Bassam Al-Ansari (1:00.92) Mohamed Bin Abid (58.91) | 3:58.92 | |
| | 2 | China | Shen Jianqiang Li Tao Xie Jun Feng Qiangbiao | DSQ | |
| | 3 | Egypt | Mohamed El-Azoul Amin Amer Mohamed Hassan Moustafa Amer | DSQ | |
| | 3 | Austria | Stefan Opatril Markus Opatril Alexander Placheta Alexander Pilhatsch | DSQ | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | United States | Chris Jacobs (49.63) Troy Dalbey (49.75) Tom Jager (49.34) Matt Biondi (47.81) | 3:16.53 | WR |
| | 5 | Soviet Union | Gennadiy Prigoda (50.24) Iurie Başcatov (49.30) Nikolay Yevseyev (49.27) Volodymyr Tkachenko (49.52) | 3:18.33 | EU |
| | 3 | East Germany | Dirk Richter (50.25) Thomas Flemming (49.70) Lars Hinneburg (50.35) Steffen Zesner (49.52) | 3:19.82 | |
| 4 | 6 | France | Stéphan Caron (49.97) Christophe Kalfayan (50.09) Laurent Neuville (50.04) Bruno Gutzeit (49.92) | 3:20.02 | NR |
| 5 | 2 | Sweden | Per Johansson (50.58) Tommy Werner (50.00) Joakim Holmquist (50.47) Göran Titus (50.02) | 3:21.07 | NR |
| 6 | 7 | West Germany | Michael Gross (50.66) Thomas Fahrner (50.00) Björn Zikarsky (50.40) Peter Sitt (50.59) | 3:21.65 | |
| 7 | 8 | Great Britain | Mike Fibbens (51.36) Mark Foster (50.20) Roland Lee (50.33) Andy Jameson (49.82) | 3:21.71 | NR |
| 8 | 1 | Italy | Roberto Gleria (50.51) Giorgio Lamberti (50.31) Fabrizio Rampazzo (51.19) Andrea Ceccarini (50.92) | 3:22.93 | |