Swimming at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle

The men's 400 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1932 Summer Olympics programme. It was the sixth appearance of the event, which was established in 1908. The competition was held from Monday August 8, 1932 to Wednesday August 10, 1932.

Nineteen swimmers from ten nations competed. The winning margin was 0.1 seconds which as of 2023 remains the narrowest winning margin in this event at the Olympics.

Records These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1932 Summer Olympics.

World record 4:47.0 Jean Taris Paris (FRA) April 16, 1931 Olympic record 5:01.6 Alberto Zorrilla Amsterdam (NED) August 9, 1928

In the first heat Takashi Yokoyama set a new Olympic record with 4:53.2 minutes. He bettered this record in the first semi-final with 4:51.4 minutes. But in the final Buster Crabbe took the Olympic record with 4:48.4 minutes.

Results

Heats

Monday August 8, 1932: The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced to the final.

Heat 1

Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 4:53.2 QQ OR 2 4:53.3 QQ 3 5:28.9

Heat 2

Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 4:59.8 QQ 2 5:00.2 QQ 3 5:12.0 4 5:29.1

Heat 3

Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 4:59.8 QQ 2 5:06.7 QQ 3 5:10.0 qq 4 5:40.8 5 5:54.2

Heat 4

Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 4:53.3 QQ 2 5:09.1 QQ 3 5:14.6 4 5:59.0

Heat 5

Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 5:01.9 QQ 2 5:06.3 QQ 3 5:20.1

Semifinals

Tuesday August 9, 1932: The fastest three in each semi-final advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 4:51.4 QQ OR 2 4:52.3 QQ 3 4:52.8 QQ 4 4:55.4 5 4:59.7 6 5:06.0

Semifinal 2

Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 4:52.7 QQ 2 4:59.0 QQ 3 5:02.1 QQ 4 5:10.5 5 5:15.6

Final

Wednesday August 10, 1932:

Place Swimmer Time 1 4:48.4 OR 2 4:48.5 3 4:52.3 4 4:52.5 5 4:56.1 6 4:58.6

References

External links Olympic Report