Swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle
| Men's 400 metre freestyle at the Games of the VIII Olympiad | ||||||||||
| Date | July 16–18 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competitors | 23 from 13 nations | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freestyle | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| 1500 m | men | |||
| Backstroke | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| Breaststroke | ||||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Freestyle relay | ||||
| 4×100 m | women | |||
| 4×200 m | men | |||
The men's 400 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which was established in 1908. The competition was held from Wednesday July 16, 1924 to Friday July 18, 1924.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 4:57.0 |  Johnny Weissmuller |
New Haven (USA) | March 6, 1923 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Record | 5:24.4 |  George Hodgson |
Stockholm (SWE) | July 14, 1912 |
In the first heat Ralph Breyer set a new Olympic record with 5:22.4 minutes, only to be bettered in the third heat by Johnny Weissmuller who set a time of 5:22.2 minutes. Weissmuller improved this record to 5:13.6 minutes in the semi-finals and finally to 5:04.2 minutes in the final.
Results
Heats
The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced.
Heat 1
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ralph Breyer (USA) | 5:22.4 | QQ OR |
| 2 |  Jack Hatfield (GBR) | 5:32.6 | |
| 3 |  Atilije Venturini (YUG) | 6:28.0 | |
| — |  Moss Christie (AUS) | DNF |
Heat 2
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Åke Borg (SWE) | 5:28.2 | |
| 2 |  Václav Antoš (TCH) | 5:34.8 | |
| 3 | .svg.png){kind=small} Dionysios Vasilopoulos (GRE) | 6:21.4 | |
| 4 | Đura Sentđerđi (YUG) | 6:41.4 |
Heat 3
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller (USA) | 5:22.2 | QQ OR |
| 2 | Boy Charlton (AUS) | 5:30.2 | |
| 3 | Edward Peter (GBR) | 5:38.6 | |
| 4 |  Salvator Pellegry (FRA) | 5:56.2 | |
| 5 |  Sjaak Köhler (NED) | 6:20.4 |
Heat 4
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arne Borg (SWE) | 5:31.8 | |
| 2 | Frank Beaurepaire (AUS) | 5:38.0 | |
| 3 | .svg.png){kind=small} Kazuo Noda (JPN) | 5:43.8 | |
| 4 |  Alberto Zorrilla (ARG) | 5:49.4 | |
| 5 | Stanislav Bičák (TCH) | 5:52.4 |
Heat 5
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lester Smith (USA) | 5:32.4 | |
| 2 | Harold Annison (GBR) | 5:32.6 | |
| 3 |  George Vernot (CAN) | 5:32.2 | |
| 4 | Édouard Vanzeveren (FRA) | 5:59.8 | |
| 5 | .svg.png){kind=small} Pedro Méndez (ESP) | 6:26.6 |
Semifinals
The fastest two in each semi-final and the faster of the two third-placed swimmer advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller (USA) | 5:13.6 | QF OR |
| 2 | Boy Charlton (AUS) | 5:32.6 | QF |
| 3 | Lester Smith (USA) | 5:37.6 | |
| 4 | George Vernot (CAN) | 5:38.0 | |
| 5 | Václav Antoš (TCH) | 5:53.2 | |
| — | Ralph Breyer (USA) | DNS |
Semifinal 2
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arne Borg (SWE) | 5:21.4 | QF |
| 2 | Åke Borg (SWE) | 5:25.0 | QF |
| 3 | Jack Hatfield (GBR) | 5:30.4 | qf |
| 4 | Harold Annison (GBR) | 5:39.4 | |
| — | Frank Beaurepaire (AUS) | DNF |
Final
| Place | Swimmer | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller (USA) | 5:04.2 OR |
| 2 | Arne Borg (SWE) | 5:05.6 |
| 3 | Boy Charlton (AUS) | 5:06.6 |
| 4 | Åke Borg (SWE) | 5:26.0 |
| 5 | Jack Hatfield (GBR) | 5:32.0 |
References
- Olympic Report
- sports-reference
- Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 25 September 2008.