| | Event type

400 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	8 – 10 August 1932
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Park Swimming Stadium, Los Angeles, California
Participants	19 from 10 countries

All but one of the men’s swimming events at the 1932 Olympic Games resulted in Japanese victories, and the exception was the victory of Buster Crabbe in the 400 metres freestyle. Although Crabbe was well respected over the distance, France’s Jean Taris was the world record holder, and another of the talented young Japanese swimmers, Takashi Yokoyama, had recorded the best heat times.

The final quickly turned into a duel between Taris and Crabbe, with the three Japanese finalists fighting for the bronze medal. The Frenchman pulled out to an early lead and was two lengths ahead of his rival at the halfway stage, but Crabbe came back at him, drew level and, as the excited crowd roared their local boy onwards, passed Taris to touch first. The margin between first and second at the finish was just a tenth of a second.

Crabbe followed Johnny Weissmuller into an acting career and followed him in the role of “Tarzan”. He is perhaps best known for his appearances in the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon serials from the 1930s and early 1940s.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Buster Crabbe	USA	4:59.8 (1 h2)	4:52.7 (1 h2)	4:48.4 (1)	Gold
2	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.3 (1 h4)	4:52.3 (2 h1)	4:48.5 (2)	Silver
3	Tsutomu Oyokota	JPN	5:06.3 (2 h5)	4:52.8 (3 h1)	4:52.3 (3)	Bronze
4	Takashi Yokoyama	JPN	4:53.2 (1 h1)	4:51.4 (1 h1)	4:52.5 (4)
5	Noboru Sugimoto	JPN	5:00.2 (2 h2)	4:59.0 (2 h2)	4:56.1 (5)
6	Boy Charlton	AUS	4:59.8 (1 h3)	5:02.1 (3 h2)	4:58.6 (6)
7	Jim Gilhula	USA	4:53.3 (2 h1)	4:55.4 (4 h1)	–
8	Noel Ryan	AUS	5:01.9 (1 h5)	4:59.7 (5 h1)	–
9	Paolo Costoli	ITA	5:06.7 (2 h3)	5:06.0 (6 h1)	–
10	Giuseppe Perentin	ITA	5:09.1 (2 h4)	5:10.5 (4 h2)	–
11	Walter Spence	CAN	5:10.0 (3 h3)	5:15.6 (5 h2)	–
12	Norman Wainwright	GBR	5:12.0 (3 h2)	–	–
13	Bobby Leivers	GBR	5:14.6 (3 h4)	–	–
14	George Larson	CAN	5:20.1 (3 h5)	–	–
15	George Burrows	CAN	5:28.9 (3 h1)	–	–
16	Ignacio Gutiérrez	MEX	5:29.1 (4 h2)	–	–
17	Gyula Kánásy	HUN	5:40.8 (4 h3)	–	–
18	Manuel Villegas	MEX	5:54.2 (5 h3)	–	–
19	Nalin Malik	IND	5:59.0 (4 h4)	–	–
DNS	Carlos Kennedy	ARG	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Alberto Zorrilla	ARG	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	Mario de Lorenzo	BRA	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	Oscar da Silva Callares	BRA	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Fernando de Macedo	BRA	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	László Szabados	HUN	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	András Wanié	HUN	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	Herbert Barthels	USA	– (DNS h4)	–	–

Round One

Date	8 August 1932 — 15:15
Format	Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Takashi Yokoyama	JPN	4:53.2	QOR
=2	–	Jim Gilhula	USA	4:53.3	Q
=2	–	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.3	Q
=4	–	Buster Crabbe	USA	4:59.8	Q
=4	–	Boy Charlton	AUS	4:59.8	Q
6	–	Noboru Sugimoto	JPN	5:00.2	Q
7	–	Noel Ryan	AUS	5:01.9	Q
8	–	Tsutomu Oyokota	JPN	5:06.3	Q
9	–	Paolo Costoli	ITA	5:06.7	Q
10	–	Giuseppe Perentin	ITA	5:09.1	Q
11	–	Walter Spence	CAN	5:10.0	q
12	–	Norman Wainwright	GBR	5:12.0
13	–	Bobby Leivers	GBR	5:14.6
14	–	George Larson	CAN	5:20.1
15	–	George Burrows	CAN	5:28.9
16	–	Ignacio Gutiérrez	MEX	5:29.1
17	–	Gyula Kánásy	HUN	5:40.8
18	–	Manuel Villegas	MEX	5:54.2
19	–	Nalin Malik	IND	5:59.0
DNS	–	Alberto Zorrilla	ARG	–
DNS	–	Fernando de Macedo	BRA	–
DNS	–	András Wanié	HUN	–
DNS	–	Carlos Kennedy	ARG	–
DNS	–	Oscar da Silva Callares	BRA	–
DNS	–	Herbert Barthels	USA	–
DNS	–	Mario de Lorenzo	BRA	–
DNS	–	László Szabados	HUN	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Takashi Yokoyama	JPN	4:53.2	QOR
2	–	Jim Gilhula	USA	4:53.3	Q
3	–	George Burrows	CAN	5:28.9
DNS	–	Alberto Zorrilla	ARG	–
DNS	–	Fernando de Macedo	BRA	–
DNS	–	András Wanié	HUN	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Buster Crabbe	USA	4:59.8	Q
2	–	Noboru Sugimoto	JPN	5:00.2	Q
3	–	Norman Wainwright	GBR	5:12.0
4	–	Ignacio Gutiérrez	MEX	5:29.1
DNS	–	Carlos Kennedy	ARG	–
DNS	–	Oscar da Silva Callares	BRA	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Boy Charlton	AUS	4:59.8	Q
2	–	Paolo Costoli	ITA	5:06.7	Q
3	–	Walter Spence	CAN	5:10.0	q
4	–	Gyula Kánásy	HUN	5:40.8
5	–	Manuel Villegas	MEX	5:54.2

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.3	Q
2	–	Giuseppe Perentin	ITA	5:09.1	Q
3	–	Bobby Leivers	GBR	5:14.6
4	–	Nalin Malik	IND	5:59.0
DNS	–	Herbert Barthels	USA	–

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Noel Ryan	AUS	5:01.9	Q
2	–	Tsutomu Oyokota	JPN	5:06.3	Q
3	–	George Larson	CAN	5:20.1
DNS	–	Mario de Lorenzo	BRA	–
DNS	–	László Szabados	HUN	–

Semi-Finals

Date	9 August 1932 — 10:00
Format	Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Takashi Yokoyama	JPN	4:51.4	QOR
2	Jean Taris	FRA	4:52.3	Q
3	Buster Crabbe	USA	4:52.7	Q
4	Tsutomu Oyokota	JPN	4:52.8	Q
5	Jim Gilhula	USA	4:55.4
6	Noboru Sugimoto	JPN	4:59.0	Q
7	Noel Ryan	AUS	4:59.7
8	Boy Charlton	AUS	5:02.1	Q
9	Paolo Costoli	ITA	5:06.0
10	Giuseppe Perentin	ITA	5:10.5
11	Walter Spence	CAN	5:15.6

Heat #1

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Takashi Yokoyama	JPN	4:51.4	QOR
2	Jean Taris	FRA	4:52.3	Q
3	Tsutomu Oyokota	JPN	4:52.8	Q
4	Jim Gilhula	USA	4:55.4
5	Noel Ryan	AUS	4:59.7
6	Paolo Costoli	ITA	5:06.0

Heat #2

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Buster Crabbe	USA	4:52.7	Q
2	Noboru Sugimoto	JPN	4:59.0	Q
3	Boy Charlton	AUS	5:02.1	Q
4	Giuseppe Perentin	ITA	5:10.5
5	Walter Spence	CAN	5:15.6

Final

Date	10 August 1932 — 15:30

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Buster Crabbe	USA	4:48.4	OR
2	Jean Taris	FRA	4:48.5
3	Tsutomu Oyokota	JPN	4:52.3
4	Takashi Yokoyama	JPN	4:52.5
5	Noboru Sugimoto	JPN	4:56.1
6	Boy Charlton	AUS	4:58.6