| Date | 15 – 17 October 1964 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Kokuritsu Yoyogi Kyogijo, Shibuya, Tokyo |
| Participants | 22 from 12 countries |
Donna de Varona had competed at the 1960 Olympics when she was only 13-years-old. But even at that age she held the world record in the 400 individual medley, which was not an Olympic event in 1960. Over the next four years she became the best swimmer in the world, and set five more world records in this event, and eight in the 200 IM, as well as one 100 backstroke world record in 1963. She came to Tokyo as a clear favorite in this new Olympic event, and did not disappoint. In the final she took the lead at 100 metres, and kept pouring it on. Sharon Finneran had twice interrupted de Varona’s world record streak in the 400 IM, setting world records in Osaka, Japan on 26 and 28 July 1962. But she was no match in Tokyo for de Varona, although she won the silver medal, but Finneran was almost six seconds back. Martha Randall came up for third to complete an American sweep.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Donna de Varona |  USA | 5:24.2 (1 h4) | 5:18.7 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Sharon Finneran | USA | 5:32.7 (2 h1) | 5:24.1 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Martha Randall | USA | 5:27.8 (1 h2) | 5:24.2 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Veronika Holletz |  GER | 5:26.8 (1 h3) | 5:25.6 (4) | |||
| 5 | Linda McGill |  AUS | 5:38.3 (3 h3) | 5:28.4 (5) | |||
| 6 | Betty Heukels |  NED | 5:32.4 (2 h3) | 5:30.3 (6) | |||
| 7 | Anita Lonsbrough |  GBR | 5:30.6 (1 h1) | 5:30.5 (7) | |||
| 8 | Márta Egerváry |  HUN | 5:35.8 (3 h1) | 5:38.4 (8) | |||
| 9 | Barbara Hounsell |  CAN | 5:38.4 (2 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | Marianne Heemskerk | NED | 5:38.6 (2 h4) | – | |||
| 11 | Helga Zimmermann | GER | 5:38.9 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 12 | Adrie Lasterie | NED | 5:41.3 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 13 | Kimiko Ezaka |  JPN | 5:42.1 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 14 | Harriet Blank | GER | 5:42.4 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 15 | Jane Cortis | AUS | 5:43.6 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 16 | Kirsten Strange |  DEN | 5:44.4 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 17 | Louise Kennedy | CAN | 5:49.9 (3 h4) | – | |||
| 18 | Isabel Castañe |  ESP | 5:50.7 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 19 | Natsuko Matsuda | JPN | 5:51.5 (4 h4) | – | |||
| 20 | Silvia Belmar |  MEX | 6:00.7 (5 h4) | – | |||
| 21 | Margaret Harding |  PUR | 6:10.7 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 22 | Pam Johnson | GBR | 6:11.9 (6 h3) | – | |||
| Marilyn Sidelsky |  ZIM | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| Rosario de Vivanco |  PER | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| Jan Murphy | AUS | – (DNS h4) | – | ||||
| Elisabeth Ljunggren |  SWE | – (DNS h4) | – |
| Date | 15 October 1964 — 13:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Donna de Varona | USA | 5:24.2 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Veronika Holletz | GER | 5:26.8 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Martha Randall | USA | 5:27.8 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Anita Lonsbrough | GBR | 5:30.6 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Betty Heukels | NED | 5:32.4 | ||
| 6 | 4 | Sharon Finneran | USA | 5:32.7 | ||
| 7 | 5 | Márta Egerváry | HUN | 5:35.8 | ||
| 8 | 4 | Linda McGill | AUS | 5:38.3 | ||
| 9 | 7 | Barbara Hounsell | CAN | 5:38.4 | ||
| 10 | 3 | Marianne Heemskerk | NED | 5:38.6 | ||
| 11 | 2 | Helga Zimmermann | GER | 5:38.9 | ||
| 12 | 6 | Adrie Lasterie | NED | 5:41.3 | ||
| 13 | 2 | Kimiko Ezaka | JPN | 5:42.1 | ||
| 14 | 5 | Harriet Blank | GER | 5:42.4 | ||
| 15 | 6 | Jane Cortis | AUS | 5:43.6 | ||
| 16 | 7 | Kirsten Strange | DEN | 5:44.4 | ||
| 17 | 1 | Louise Kennedy | CAN | 5:49.9 | ||
| 18 | 4 | Isabel Castañe | ESP | 5:50.7 | ||
| 19 | 7 | Natsuko Matsuda | JPN | 5:51.5 | ||
| 20 | 6 | Silvia Belmar | MEX | 6:00.7 | ||
| 21 | 3 | Margaret Harding | PUR | 6:10.7 | ||
| 22 | 3 | Pam Johnson | GBR | 6:11.9 | ||
| 1 | Marilyn Sidelsky | ZIM | – | |||
| 1 | Rosario de Vivanco | PER | – | |||
| 4 | Jan Murphy | AUS | – | |||
| 2 | Elisabeth Ljunggren | SWE | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Anita Lonsbrough | GBR | 5:30.6 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Sharon Finneran | USA | 5:32.7 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Márta Egerváry | HUN | 5:35.8 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Helga Zimmermann | GER | 5:38.9 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Jane Cortis | AUS | 5:43.6 | ||
| 1 | Marilyn Sidelsky | ZIM | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Martha Randall | USA | 5:27.8 | ||
| 2 | 7 | Barbara Hounsell | CAN | 5:38.4 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Adrie Lasterie | NED | 5:41.3 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Harriet Blank | GER | 5:42.4 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Isabel Castañe | ESP | 5:50.7 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Margaret Harding | PUR | 6:10.7 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Veronika Holletz | GER | 5:26.8 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Betty Heukels | NED | 5:32.4 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Linda McGill | AUS | 5:38.3 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Kimiko Ezaka | JPN | 5:42.1 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Kirsten Strange | DEN | 5:44.4 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Pam Johnson | GBR | 6:11.9 | ||
| 1 | Rosario de Vivanco | PER | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Donna de Varona | USA | 5:24.2 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Marianne Heemskerk | NED | 5:38.6 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Louise Kennedy | CAN | 5:49.9 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Natsuko Matsuda | JPN | 5:51.5 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Silvia Belmar | MEX | 6:00.7 | ||
| 4 | Jan Murphy | AUS | – | |||
| 2 | Elisabeth Ljunggren | SWE | – |
| Date | 17 October 1964 — 21:35 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Donna de Varona | USA | 5:18.7 | ||
| 2 | 7 | Sharon Finneran | USA | 5:24.1 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Martha Randall | USA | 5:24.2 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Veronika Holletz | GER | 5:25.6 | ||
| 5 | 8 | Linda McGill | AUS | 5:28.4 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Betty Heukels | NED | 5:30.3 | ||
| 7 | 6 | Anita Lonsbrough | GBR | 5:30.5 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Márta Egerváry | HUN | 5:38.4 |
