General
The Irish men's 4x200m relay team are competing at the Olympic Games for the first time at Tokyo 2020. Their appearance in Tokyo also makes them the first Irish men's team to compete in any swimming relay event at the Olympic Games.
Ireland made their world championship debut in 2019 in Gwangju, where they recorded the 16th-fastest time in the heats. That was not enough for the team to qualify for the final, but they did set a national record with their performance. The Irish team then broke the national record twice more at the 2020 European Championships in Budapest, which were held in May 2021. They were sixth fastest in the heats, and then placed fifth in the final, almost six seconds slower than Italy in the bronze medal position.