400 metres Freestyle, Men
| Date | 16 – 18 July 1924 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscine des Tourelles, Saint-Mandé |
| Participants | 23 from 13 countries |
The 400 metres brought together 1500m champion, Andrew “Boy” Charlton, of Australia, soon-to-be 100m champion Johnny Weissmuller, and Sweden’s world record holder, Arne Borg, at a distance where all were competitive. The three main protagonists soon went clear of Arne’s twin brother, Åke Borg, and John Hatfield of Great Britain with Borg holding a tiny lead at quarter distance. Weissmuller surged into the lead at the 200m point but a series of poor turns allowed Borg to reclaim his former position with two lengths of the pool remaining. The two men battled fiercely in the final stages and Weissmuller only moved away from the Swede in the last twenty-five metres of the race.
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller |  USA | 5:22.2 (1 h3) | 5:13.6 (1 h1) | 5:04.2 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Arne Borg |  SWE | 5:32.8 (1 h4) | 5:21.4 (1 h2) | 5:05.6 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Boy Charlton |  AUS | 5:30.2 (2 h3) | 5:32.6 (2 h1) | 5:06.6 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Åke Borg | SWE | 5:28.2 (1 h2) | 5:25.0 (2 h2) | 5:26.0 (4) | |||
| 5 | Jack Hatfield |  GBR | 5:32.6 (2 h1) | 5:30.4 (3 h2) | 5:32.0 (5) | |||
| 3 h1 r2/3 | Lester Smith | USA | 5:32.4 (1 h5) | 5:37.6 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r2/3 | George Vernot |  CAN | 5:35.2 (3 h5) | 5:38.0 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r2/3 | Harold Annison | GBR | 5:32.6 (2 h5) | 5:39.4 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | Václav Antoš |  TCH | 5:34.8 (2 h2) | 5:53.2 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | Frank Beaurepaire | AUS | 5:38.0 (2 h4) | – (5 h2) | – | |||
| 1 h1 r1/3 | Ralph Breyer | USA | 5:22.4 (1 h1) | – (DNS h1) | – | |||
| 3 h1 r1/3 | Atilije Venturini |  YUG | 6:28.0 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 3 h2 r1/3 | Dionysios Vasilopoulos |  GRE | 6:21.4 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 3 h3 r1/3 | Percy Peter | GBR | 5:38.6 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 3 h4 r1/3 | Kazuo Noda |  JPN | 5:43.8 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/3 | Moss Christie | AUS | 6:39.2 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r1/3 | Đuro Sentđerđi | YUG | 6:41.4 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r1/3 | Salvator Pélégry |  FRA | 5:56.2 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r1/3 | Alberto Zorrilla |  ARG | 5:49.4 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 4 h5 r1/3 | Édouard Vanzeveren | FRA | 5:59.8 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/3 | Sjaak Köhler |  NED | 6:20.4 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/3 | Stanislav Bičák | TCH | 5:52.4 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 5 h5 r1/3 | Pedro Méndez |  ESP | 6:26.6 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| Andreas Asimakopoulos | GRE | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| Béla Eperjessy |  HUN | – (DNS h1) | – | – | ||||
| Renato Bacigalupo |  ITA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Katsuo Takaishi | JPN | – (DNS h1) | – | – |
Round One (16 July 1924 — 16:30)
Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Ralph Breyer | USA | 5:22.4 | |||
| 2 | – | Jack Hatfield | GBR | 5:32.6 | |||
| 3 | – | Atilije Venturini | YUG | 6:28.0 | |||
| 4 | – | Moss Christie | AUS | 6:39.2 | |||
| – | Béla Eperjessy | HUN | – | ||||
| – | Katsuo Takaishi | JPN | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Åke Borg | SWE | 5:28.2 | |||
| 2 | – | Václav Antoš | TCH | 5:34.8 | |||
| 3 | – | Dionysios Vasilopoulos | GRE | 6:21.4 | |||
| 4 | – | Đuro Sentđerđi | YUG | 6:41.4 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Johnny Weissmuller | USA | 5:22.2 | |||
| 2 | – | Boy Charlton | AUS | 5:30.2 | |||
| 3 | – | Percy Peter | GBR | 5:38.6 | |||
| 4 | – | Salvator Pélégry | FRA | 5:56.2 | |||
| 5 | – | Sjaak Köhler | NED | 6:20.4 |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Arne Borg | SWE | 5:32.8 | |||
| 2 | – | Frank Beaurepaire | AUS | 5:38.0 | |||
| 3 | – | Kazuo Noda | JPN | 5:43.8 | |||
| 4 | – | Alberto Zorrilla | ARG | 5:49.4 | |||
| 5 | – | Stanislav Bičák | TCH | 5:52.4 | |||
| – | Renato Bacigalupo | ITA | – |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Lester Smith | USA | 5:32.4 | |||
| 2 | – | Harold Annison | GBR | 5:32.6 | |||
| 3 | – | George Vernot | CAN | 5:35.2 | |||
| 4 | – | Édouard Vanzeveren | FRA | 5:59.8 | |||
| 5 | – | Pedro Méndez | ESP | 6:26.6 | |||
| – | Andreas Asimakopoulos | GRE | – |
Semi-Finals (17 July 1924 — 10:30)
Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Johnny Weissmuller | USA | 5:13.6 | |||
| 2 | – | Boy Charlton | AUS | 5:32.6 | |||
| 3 | – | Lester Smith | USA | 5:37.6 | 1 | ||
| 4 | – | George Vernot | CAN | 5:38.0 | |||
| 5 | – | Václav Antoš | TCH | 5:53.2 | |||
| – | Ralph Breyer | USA | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Arne Borg | SWE | 5:21.4 | |||
| 2 | – | Åke Borg | SWE | 5:25.0 | |||
| 3 | – | Jack Hatfield | GBR | 5:30.4 | |||
| 4 | – | Harold Annison | GBR | 5:39.4 | |||
| 5 | – | Frank Beaurepaire | AUS | – |
Final (18 July 1924 — 15:00)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Johnny Weissmuller | USA | 5:04.2 | |||
| 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 |