| | Event type

400 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	10 – 12 August 1936
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmstadion, Reichssportfeld, Berlin
Participants	34 from 16 countries

Like the 100 metre freestyle at the same Games, this event was predicted to be a battle between an American world record holder and a strong Japanese trio. Unlike the 100, this race would follow the predicted course and turn into a triumph for the USA’s Jack Medica but only after a tremendous duel. Shumpei Uto took a lead over Medica but the American fought back and narrowed a lead. A spurt by the Japanese swimmer pushed him further ahead but his exertion took much out of him and Medica responded. Medica and Uto battled for gold in the final 50 metres with the American only taking the lead with 10 metres to go.

One competitor who did not qualify from his heat was Brazil’s João Havelange. Havelange became one of the world’s leading sports administrators as both a long serving member of the IOC and as president of FIFA, the governing body of world football.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	446	Jack Medica	USA	4:55.9 (1 h6)	4:48.2 (=1 h2)	4:44.5 (1)	Gold
2	215	Shunpei Uto	JPN	4:45.5 (1 h5)	4:48.4 (1 h1)	4:45.6 (2)	Silver
3	214	Shozo Makino	JPN	4:51.3 (1 h3)	4:48.2 (=1 h2)	4:48.1 (3)	Bronze
4	448	Ralph Flanagan	USA	4:54.7 (2 h3)	4:49.9 (2 h1)	4:52.7 (4)
5	213	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	4:52.6 (1 h1)	4:55.4 (3 h1)	4:53.6 (5)
6	–	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.9 (2 h5)	4:53.6 (3 h2)	4:53.8 (6)
7	131	Bobby Leivers	GBR	4:57.2 (1 h2)	4:55.7 (4 h2)	5:00.9 (7)
8	445	John Macionis	USA	4:57.1 (2 h1)	4:56.4 (4 h1)	–
9	495	Hans Freese	GER	5:03.1 (2 h4)	4:58.5 (5 h1)	–
10	63	Bob Pirie	CAN	4:56.0 (3 h5)	4:58.7 (6 h1)	–
11	–	Ödön Gróf	HUN	4:59.4 (1 h4)	5:01.9 (7 h1)	–
12	494	Heinz Arendt	GER	4:57.2 (3 h1)	5:13.4 (5 h2)	–
13	496	Otto Przywara	GER	5:11.7 (2 h2)	5:14.9 (6 h2)	–
14	400	Árpád Lengyel	HUN	4:57.7 (4 h1)	–	–
15	133	Norman Wainwright	GBR	5:03.6 (3 h3)	–	–
16	319	Walter Ledgard Jiménez	PER	5:05.5 (2 h6)	– (DNS h2)	–
17	165	Piet Stam	NED	5:07.8 (3 h6)	–	–
18	102	Heikki Hietanen	FIN	5:08.9 (3 h4)	–	–
19	132	Willie Pearson	GBR	5:12.7 (4 h4)	–	–
20	57	Bob Hamerton	CAN	5:13.3 (4 h3)	–	–
21	–	Edmund Pader	AUT	5:16.9 (5 h1)	–	–
22	62	Robert Hooper	CAN	5:17.2 (6 h1)	–	–
23	87	Jørgen Jørgensen	DEN	5:17.8 (5 h3)	–	–
=24	86	Aage Hellstrøm	DEN	5:18.2 (3 h2)	–	–
=24	45	Manoel Villar	BRA	5:18.2 (4 h6)	–	–
26	–	Aluizio Lage	BRA	5:18.3 (5 h4)	–	–
27	76	Washington Guzmán	CHI	5:19.1 (6 h4)	–	–
28	–	Poul Petersen	DEN	5:20.3 (4 h5)	–	–
29	402	István Angyal	HUN	5:20.9 (6 h3)	–	–
30	51	João Havelange	BRA	5:31.5 (4 h2)	–	–
31	360	Hans Brenner	SUI	5:33.8 (5 h6)	–	–
32	361	Werner Lehmann	SUI	5:36.8 (7 h3)	–	–
33	289	Franz Seltenheim	AUT	5:38.3 (7 h4)	–	–
34	41	Edmund Cooper	BER	5:53.8 (5 h5)	–	–
DNS	284	Günther Zobernig	AUT	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	42	Dudley Spurling	BER	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	78	Chen Zhenxiang	CHN	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	7	Qadri Mahmud	EGY	– (DNS h6)	–	–
DNS	100	Egon Roolaid	EST	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	4	Panagiotis Provatopoulos	GRE	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	–	Roger Zirilli	SUI	– (DNS h1)	–	–

Round One

Date	10 August 1936 — 15:15
Format	Top two in each heat and the next two fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Shunpei Uto	JPN	4:45.5	QOR
2	–	Shozo Makino	JPN	4:51.3	Q
3	–	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	4:52.6	Q
4	–	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.9	Q
5	–	Ralph Flanagan	USA	4:54.7	Q
6	–	Jack Medica	USA	4:55.9	Q
7	–	Bob Pirie	CAN	4:56.0	q
8	–	John Macionis	USA	4:57.1	Q
=9	–	Heinz Arendt	GER	4:57.2	q
=9	–	Bobby Leivers	GBR	4:57.2	Q
11	–	Árpád Lengyel	HUN	4:57.7
12	–	Ödön Gróf	HUN	4:59.4	Q
13	–	Hans Freese	GER	5:03.1	Q
14	–	Norman Wainwright	GBR	5:03.6
15	–	Walter Ledgard Jiménez	PER	5:05.5	Q
16	–	Piet Stam	NED	5:07.8
17	–	Heikki Hietanen	FIN	5:08.9
18	–	Otto Przywara	GER	5:11.7	Q
19	–	Willie Pearson	GBR	5:12.7
20	–	Bob Hamerton	CAN	5:13.3
21	–	Edmund Pader	AUT	5:16.9
22	–	Robert Hooper	CAN	5:17.2
23	–	Jørgen Jørgensen	DEN	5:17.8
=24	–	Aage Hellstrøm	DEN	5:18.2
=24	–	Manoel Villar	BRA	5:18.2
26	–	Aluizio Lage	BRA	5:18.3
27	–	Washington Guzmán	CHI	5:19.1
28	–	Poul Petersen	DEN	5:20.3
29	–	István Angyal	HUN	5:20.9
30	–	João Havelange	BRA	5:31.5
31	–	Hans Brenner	SUI	5:33.8
32	–	Werner Lehmann	SUI	5:36.8
33	–	Franz Seltenheim	AUT	5:38.3
34	–	Edmund Cooper	BER	5:53.8
DNS	–	Roger Zirilli	SUI	–
DNS	–	Günther Zobernig	AUT	–
DNS	–	Chen Zhenxiang	CHN	–
DNS	–	Dudley Spurling	BER	–
DNS	–	Egon Roolaid	EST	–
DNS	–	Panagiotis Provatopoulos	GRE	–
DNS	–	Qadri Mahmud	EGY	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	4:52.6	Q
2	–	John Macionis	USA	4:57.1	Q
3	–	Heinz Arendt	GER	4:57.2	q
4	–	Árpád Lengyel	HUN	4:57.7
5	–	Edmund Pader	AUT	5:16.9
6	–	Robert Hooper	CAN	5:17.2
DNS	–	Roger Zirilli	SUI	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Bobby Leivers	GBR	4:57.2	Q
2	–	Otto Przywara	GER	5:11.7	Q
3	–	Aage Hellstrøm	DEN	5:18.2
4	–	João Havelange	BRA	5:31.5
DNS	–	Günther Zobernig	AUT	–
DNS	–	Chen Zhenxiang	CHN	–
DNS	–	Dudley Spurling	BER	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Shozo Makino	JPN	4:51.3	Q
2	–	Ralph Flanagan	USA	4:54.7	Q
3	–	Norman Wainwright	GBR	5:03.6
4	–	Bob Hamerton	CAN	5:13.3
5	–	Jørgen Jørgensen	DEN	5:17.8
6	–	István Angyal	HUN	5:20.9
7	–	Werner Lehmann	SUI	5:36.8

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Ödön Gróf	HUN	4:59.4	Q
2	–	Hans Freese	GER	5:03.1	Q
3	–	Heikki Hietanen	FIN	5:08.9
4	–	Willie Pearson	GBR	5:12.7
5	–	Aluizio Lage	BRA	5:18.3
6	–	Washington Guzmán	CHI	5:19.1
7	–	Franz Seltenheim	AUT	5:38.3

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Shunpei Uto	JPN	4:45.5	QOR
2	–	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.9	Q
3	–	Bob Pirie	CAN	4:56.0	q
4	–	Poul Petersen	DEN	5:20.3
5	–	Edmund Cooper	BER	5:53.8
DNS	–	Egon Roolaid	EST	–
DNS	–	Panagiotis Provatopoulos	GRE	–

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Jack Medica	USA	4:55.9	Q
2	–	Walter Ledgard Jiménez	PER	5:05.5	Q
3	–	Piet Stam	NED	5:07.8
4	–	Manoel Villar	BRA	5:18.2
5	–	Hans Brenner	SUI	5:33.8
DNS	–	Qadri Mahmud	EGY	–

Semi-Finals

Date	11 August 1936 — 10:00
Format	Top three in each heat and the fastest fourth-place advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
=1	–	Shozo Makino	JPN	4:48.2	Q
=1	–	Jack Medica	USA	4:48.2	Q
3	–	Shunpei Uto	JPN	4:48.4	Q
4	–	Ralph Flanagan	USA	4:49.9	Q
5	–	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.6	Q
6	–	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	4:55.4	Q
7	–	Bobby Leivers	GBR	4:55.7	q
8	–	John Macionis	USA	4:56.4
9	–	Hans Freese	GER	4:58.5
10	–	Bob Pirie	CAN	4:58.7
11	–	Ödön Gróf	HUN	5:01.9
12	–	Heinz Arendt	GER	5:13.4
13	–	Otto Przywara	GER	5:14.9
DNS	–	Walter Ledgard Jiménez	PER	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Shunpei Uto	JPN	4:48.4	Q
2	–	Ralph Flanagan	USA	4:49.9	Q
3	–	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	4:55.4	Q
4	–	John Macionis	USA	4:56.4
5	–	Hans Freese	GER	4:58.5
6	–	Bob Pirie	CAN	4:58.7
7	–	Ödön Gróf	HUN	5:01.9

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
=1	–	Shozo Makino	JPN	4:48.2	Q
=1	–	Jack Medica	USA	4:48.2	Q
3	–	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.6	Q
4	–	Bobby Leivers	GBR	4:55.7	q
5	–	Heinz Arendt	GER	5:13.4
6	–	Otto Przywara	GER	5:14.9
DNS	–	Walter Ledgard Jiménez	PER	–

Final Round

Date	12 August 1936 — 15:30

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Jack Medica	USA	4:44.5	OR
2	–	Shunpei Uto	JPN	4:45.6
3	–	Shozo Makino	JPN	4:48.1
4	–	Ralph Flanagan	USA	4:52.7
5	–	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	4:53.6
6	–	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.8
7	–	Bobby Leivers	GBR	5:00.9