| Date | 22 July 1976 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscine olympique, Montréal, Québec |
| Participants | 47 from 29 countries |
Tim Shaw had been the world’s top swimmer in 1975, winning the 200, 400, and 1,500 freestyles at the 1975 World Championships, but 1976 had been difficult for him. He had problems with his shoulders and a case of anemia, and never again reached the form of 1975. He had set four world records in the event in 1974-75, but his mark was bettered at the US Trials in June 1976 by Brian Goodell, where he had out-dueled Shaw.
The final in Montréal was more of the same, as the two matched stroke-for-stroke for 300 metres, going out at world record pace. On the penultimate lap, Goodell finally opened some water, leading Shaw by a stroke at the final turn. Shaw hung on for the next 25 metres, but then Goodell opened up further to win by half-a-bodylength in a world record 3:51.93, over a second ahead of the time he had set at the Trials. This was Goodell’s second gold medal in Montréal, having won the 1,500 metres two days before.
Soviet Vladimir Raskatov placed third, well back in 3:55.76. Raskatov was the European record holder coming into the 1976 Games but, as David Wallechinsky has noted in his book The Complete Book of the Olympic Games, his European record would not have even qualified him for the final of the US Olympic Trials in 1976.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 416 | Brian Goodell |  USA | 3:55.24 (1 h7) | 3:51.93 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 432 | Tim Shaw | USA | 3:56.40 (1 h6) | 3:52.54 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 396 | Vladimir Raskatov |  URS | 3:57.56 (1 h3) | 3:55.76 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 37 | Djan Madruga |  BRA | 3:59.62 (1 h2) | 3:57.18 (4) | |||
| 5 | 7 | Steve Holland |  AUS | 3:58.39 (1 h4) | 3:57.59 (5) | |||
| 6 | 218 | Sándor Nagy |  HUN | 4:00.02 (2 h7) | 3:57.81 (6) | |||
| 7 | 389 | Vladimir Mikheyev | URS | 4:00.20 (1 h5) | 4:00.79 (7) | |||
| 8 | – | Steve Badger |  CAN | 4:00.14 (2 h4) | 4:20.83 (8) | |||
| 9 | 108 | Pierre Andraca |  FRA | 4:00.34 (1 h1) | – | |||
| 10 | 313 | Brett Naylor |  NZL | 4:00.38 (2 h1) | – | |||
| 11 | 224 | Zoltán Wladár | HUN | 4:00.55 (2 h6) | – | |||
| 12 | 410 | Casey Converse | USA | 4:00.65 (2 h5) | – | |||
| 13 | – | Max Metzker | AUS | 4:00.82 (3 h7) | – | |||
| 14 | 126 | Gordon Downie |  GBR | 4:01.00 (3 h6) | – | |||
| 15 | 134 | Alan McClatchey | GBR | 4:02.09 (3 h5) | – | |||
| 16 | 189 | Henk Elzerman |  NED | 4:02.16 (3 h4) | – | |||
| 17 | 75 | Bill Sawchuk | CAN | 4:02.18 (2 h3) | – | |||
| 18 | 152 | Rainer Strohbach |  GDR | 4:02.24 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 19 | 398 | Vladimir Salnikov | URS | 4:02.79 (4 h4) | – | |||
| 20 | 168 | Werner Lampe |  FRG | 4:03.04 (4 h5) | – | |||
| 21 | 198 | René van der Kuil | NED | 4:03.14 (4 h7) | – | |||
| 22 | 305 | Arne Borgstrøm |  NOR | 4:03.49 (5 h5) | – | |||
| 23 | 106 | David López-Zubero |  ESP | 4:03.73 (5 h7) | – | |||
| 24 | 215 | István Koczka | HUN | 4:03.75 (3 h3) | – | |||
| 25 | 360 | Peter Pettersson |  SWE | 4:04.15 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 26 | 25 | Graham Windeatt | AUS | 4:04.31 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 27 | 149 | Frank Pfütze | GDR | 4:04.66 (2 h2) | – | |||
| 28 | 356 | Bengt Gingsjö | SWE | 4:04.68 (4 h6) | – | |||
| 29 | 46 | Tom Alexander | CAN | 4:05.63 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 30 | – | Stefan Wenz | FRG | 4:06.25 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 31 | 357 | Bengt Jönsson | SWE | 4:07.28 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 32 | 457 | Borut Petrič |  YUG | 4:07.54 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 33 | 34 | Johan Van Steenberge |  BEL | 4:08.28 (5 h6) | – | |||
| 34 | 351 | Gerhard Waldmann |  SUI | 4:09.54 (6 h5) | – | |||
| 35 | 227 | Kevin Williamson |  IRL | 4:09.60 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 36 | 31 | Andy Knowles |  BAH | 4:10.78 (6 h7) | – | |||
| 37 | 182 | Georgios Karpouzis |  GRE | 4:12.41 (5 h4) | – | |||
| 38 | 147 | Lutz Löscher | GDR | 4:12.88 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 39 | 175 | Andreas Schmidt | FRG | 4:14.36 (6 h4) | – | |||
| 40 | 81 | Tomás Becerra |  COL | 4:14.73 (7 h7) | – | |||
| 41 | 329 | Francisco Canales |  PUR | 4:15.78 (6 h6) | – | |||
| 42 | 225 | Kris Sumono |  INA | 4:17.48 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 43 | 240 | Sigurður Ólafsson |  ISL | 4:18.11 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 44 | – | Edwin Borja |  PHI | 4:18.97 (7 h5) | – | |||
| 45 | 301 | Patrick Novaretti |  MON | 4:20.62 (8 h7) | – | |||
| 46 | 326 | Rui de Abreu |  POR | 4:28.43 (7 h4) | – | |||
| 47 | 303 | Frank Richardson |  NCA | 4:40.76 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 285 | Guillermo García |  MEX | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 121 | Brian Brinkley | GBR | – (DNS h6) | – | ||||
| 364 | Ali Gharbi |  TUN | – (DNS h6) | – |
| Date | 22 July 1976 — 9:45 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Pierre Andraca | FRA | 4:00.34 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Brett Naylor | NZL | 4:00.38 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Rainer Strohbach | GDR | 4:02.24 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Stefan Wenz | FRG | 4:06.25 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Kevin Williamson | IRL | 4:09.60 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Sigurður Ólafsson | ISL | 4:18.11 | ||
| 7 | Guillermo García | MEX | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Djan Madruga | BRA | 3:59.62 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Frank Pfütze | GDR | 4:04.66 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Tom Alexander | CAN | 4:05.63 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Bengt Jönsson | SWE | 4:07.28 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Borut Petrič | YUG | 4:07.54 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Lutz Löscher | GDR | 4:12.88 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Kris Sumono | INA | 4:17.48 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Vladimir Raskatov | URS | 3:57.56 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Bill Sawchuk | CAN | 4:02.18 | ||
| 3 | 2 | István Koczka | HUN | 4:03.75 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Peter Pettersson | SWE | 4:04.15 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Graham Windeatt | AUS | 4:04.31 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Frank Richardson | NCA | 4:40.76 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Steve Holland | AUS | 3:58.39 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Steve Badger | CAN | 4:00.14 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Henk Elzerman | NED | 4:02.16 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Vladimir Salnikov | URS | 4:02.79 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Georgios Karpouzis | GRE | 4:12.41 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Andreas Schmidt | FRG | 4:14.36 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Rui de Abreu | POR | 4:28.43 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Vladimir Mikheyev | URS | 4:00.20 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Casey Converse | USA | 4:00.65 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Alan McClatchey | GBR | 4:02.09 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Werner Lampe | FRG | 4:03.04 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Arne Borgstrøm | NOR | 4:03.49 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Gerhard Waldmann | SUI | 4:09.54 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Edwin Borja | PHI | 4:18.97 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Tim Shaw | USA | 3:56.40 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Zoltán Wladár | HUN | 4:00.55 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Gordon Downie | GBR | 4:01.00 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Bengt Gingsjö | SWE | 4:04.68 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Johan Van Steenberge | BEL | 4:08.28 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Francisco Canales | PUR | 4:15.78 | ||
| 3 | Brian Brinkley | GBR | – | |||
| 8 | Ali Gharbi | TUN | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Brian Goodell | USA | 3:55.24 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Sándor Nagy | HUN | 4:00.02 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Max Metzker | AUS | 4:00.82 | ||
| 4 | 6 | René van der Kuil | NED | 4:03.14 | ||
| 5 | 2 | David López-Zubero | ESP | 4:03.73 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Andy Knowles | BAH | 4:10.78 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Tomás Becerra | COL | 4:14.73 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Patrick Novaretti | MON | 4:20.62 |
| Date | 22 July 1976 — 19:15 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Brian Goodell | USA | 3:51.93 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Tim Shaw | USA | 3:52.54 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Vladimir Raskatov | URS | 3:55.76 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Djan Madruga | BRA | 3:57.18 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Steve Holland | AUS | 3:57.59 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Sándor Nagy | HUN | 3:57.81 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Vladimir Mikheyev | URS | 4:00.79 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Steve Badger | CAN | 4:20.83 |
