| Date | 4 December 1956 — 19:30 |
|---|---|
| Location | Olympic Park Swimming and Diving Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Murray Rose | 4:27.3 | ||||
| 2 | 5 | Tsuyoshi Yamanaka | 4:30.4 | ||||
| 3 | 6 | George Breen | 4:32.5 | ||||
| 4 | 7 | Kevin O'Halloran | 4:32.9 | ||||
| 5 | 2 | Hans Zierold | 4:34.6 | ||||
| 6 | 3 | Gary Winram | 4:34.9 | ||||
| 7 | 1 | Koji Nonoshita | 4:38.2 | ||||
| 8 | 8 | Angelo Romani | 4:41.7 |