| | Event type

400 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	31 August – 1 September 1960
Status	Olympic
Location	Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto, Roma
Participants	22 from 13 countries

The world record had been broken twice in the Olympic year, first by Ilsa Konrads at Sydney in February with 4:45.4, and then by Chris von Saltza of the USA at the US Trials in Detroit in August, posting 4:44.5. They both won their heats, with von Saltza’s time of 4:53.6 the fastest by two seconds. She easily won the gold medal, pulling out to an early lead, and holding on in the last lap as Sweden’s Jane Cederqvist, the 800 metre world record holder, finished strongly for the silver medal. The bronze went to Tineke Lagerberg of the Netherlands, with Konrads fading and finishing fourth.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	Chris von Saltza	USA	4:53.6 (1 h1)	4:50.6 (1)	Gold
2	Jane Cederqvist	SWE	4:55.6 (1 h3)	4:53.9 (2)	Silver
3	Tineke Lagerberg	NED	4:57.0 (2 h1)	4:56.9 (3)	Bronze
4	Ilsa Konrads	AUS	4:59.2 (1 h2)	4:57.9 (4)
5	Dawn Fraser	AUS	4:57.6 (3 h3)	4:58.5 (5)
6	Nan Rae	GBR	4:55.7 (2 h3)	4:59.7 (6)
7	Corrie Schimmel	NED	5:00.1 (2 h2)	5:02.3 (7)
8	Bibbi Segerström	SWE	4:57.6 (3 h1)	5:02.4 (8)
9	Héda Frost	FRA	5:00.6 (3 h2)	–
10	Carolyn House	USA	5:00.7 (4 h2)	–
11	Ursel Brunner	GER	5:05.3 (4 h3)	–
12	Gisela Weiß	GER	5:08.6 (4 h1)	–
13	Judy Samuel	GBR	5:12.9 (5 h1)	–
14	Paola Saini	ITA	5:13.1 (6 h1)	–
15	Hillary Wilson	RHO	5:16.8 (5 h2)	–
16	Welleda Veschi	ITA	5:18.3 (5 h3)	–
17	María Luisa Souza	MEX	5:21.3 (6 h2)	–
18	Mária Frank	HUN	5:21.9 (6 h3)	–
19	Sigrid Müller	AUT	5:25.1 (7 h2)	–
20	Blanca Barrón	MEX	5:26.4 (7 h3)	–
=21	Kimiko Ezaka	JPN	5:26.8 (7 h1)	–
=21	Eiko Wada	JPN	5:26.8 (8 h1)	–
DNS	Margaret Iwasaki	CAN	– (DNS h3)	–

Round One

Date	31 August 1960 — 21:30
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Chris von Saltza	USA	4:53.6	QOR
2	–	Jane Cederqvist	SWE	4:55.6	Q
3	–	Nan Rae	GBR	4:55.7	Q
4	–	Tineke Lagerberg	NED	4:57.0	Q
=5	–	Bibbi Segerström	SWE	4:57.6	Q
=5	–	Dawn Fraser	AUS	4:57.6	Q
7	–	Ilsa Konrads	AUS	4:59.2	Q
8	–	Corrie Schimmel	NED	5:00.1	Q
9	–	Héda Frost	FRA	5:00.6
10	–	Carolyn House	USA	5:00.7
11	–	Ursel Brunner	GER	5:05.3
12	–	Gisela Weiß	GER	5:08.6
13	–	Judy Samuel	GBR	5:12.9
14	–	Paola Saini	ITA	5:13.1
15	–	Hillary Wilson	RHO	5:16.8
16	–	Welleda Veschi	ITA	5:18.3
17	–	María Luisa Souza	MEX	5:21.3
18	–	Mária Frank	HUN	5:21.9
19	–	Sigrid Müller	AUT	5:25.1
20	–	Blanca Barrón	MEX	5:26.4
=21	–	Kimiko Ezaka	JPN	5:26.8
=21	–	Eiko Wada	JPN	5:26.8
DNS	–	Margaret Iwasaki	CAN	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)	200-300 m Time (Rank)	300-400 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Chris von Saltza	USA	4:53.6	1:06.5 (1)	2:20.3 (1)	3:36.0 (1)	1:13.8 (1)	1:15.7 (1)	1:17.6 (3)	QOR
2	–	Tineke Lagerberg	NED	4:57.0	1:08.8 (2)	2:24.7 (2)	3:40.8 (2)	1:15.9 (3)	1:16.1 (2)	1:16.2 (2)	Q
3	–	Bibbi Segerström	SWE	4:57.6	1:09.4 (3)	2:25.0 (3)	3:41.5 (3)	1:15.6 (2)	1:16.5 (3)	1:16.1 (1)	Q
4	–	Gisela Weiß	GER	5:08.6	1:10.7 (5)	2:30.2 (5)	3:49.6 (4)	1:19.5 (4)	1:19.4 (4)	1:19.0 (4)
5	–	Judy Samuel	GBR	5:12.9	1:10.0 (4)	2:29.7 (4)	3:51.5 (5)	1:19.7 (5)	1:21.8 (6)	1:21.4 (6)
6	–	Paola Saini	ITA	5:13.1	1:11.0 (6)	2:31.4 (6)	3:53.0 (6)	1:20.4 (6)	1:21.6 (5)	1:20.1 (5)
7	–	Kimiko Ezaka	JPN	5:26.8	1:13.0 (=7)	2:35.8 (7)	4:00.6 (7)	1:22.8 (7)	1:24.8 (7)	1:26.2 (8)
8	–	Eiko Wada	JPN	5:26.8	1:13.0 (=7)	2:36.7 (8)	4:02.6 (8)	1:23.7 (8)	1:25.9 (8)	1:24.2 (7)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)	200-300 m Time (Rank)	300-400 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Ilsa Konrads	AUS	4:59.2	1:10.0 (4)	2:25.5 (1)	3:42.0 (1)	1:15.5 (1)	1:16.5 (1)	1:17.2 (1)	Q
2	–	Corrie Schimmel	NED	5:00.1	1:09.6 (3)	2:26.0 (4)	3:42.6 (2)	1:16.4 (3)	1:16.6 (2)	1:17.5 (2)	Q
3	–	Héda Frost	FRA	5:00.6	1:09.4 (2)	2:25.7 (=2)	3:42.9 (3)	1:16.3 (2)	1:17.2 (3)	1:17.7 (=3)
4	–	Carolyn House	USA	5:00.7	1:09.2 (1)	2:25.7 (=2)	3:43.0 (4)	1:16.5 (4)	1:17.3 (4)	1:17.7 (=3)
5	–	Hillary Wilson	RHO	5:16.8	1:11.7 (=6)	2:31.7 (5)	3:54.9 (5)	1:20.0 (5)	1:23.2 (5)	1:21.9 (5)
6	–	María Luisa Souza	MEX	5:21.3	1:11.7 (=6)	2:33.7 (6)	3:58.0 (6)	1:22.0 (6)	1:24.3 (6)	1:23.3 (6)
7	–	Sigrid Müller	AUT	5:25.1	1:11.5 (5)	2:34.4 (7)	4:00.0 (7)	1:22.9 (7)	1:25.6 (7)	1:25.1 (7)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)	200-300 m Time (Rank)	300-400 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Jane Cederqvist	SWE	4:55.6	1:09.4 (3)	2:25.3 (2)	3:41.5 (2)	1:15.9 (=1)	1:16.2 (1)	1:14.1 (1)	Q
2	–	Nan Rae	GBR	4:55.7	1:07.1 (1)	2:23.0 (1)	3:40.1 (1)	1:15.9 (=1)	1:17.1 (3)	1:15.6 (3)	Q
3	–	Dawn Fraser	AUS	4:57.6	1:10.4 (5)	2:26.3 (4)	3:43.0 (3)	1:15.9 (=1)	1:16.7 (2)	1:14.6 (2)	Q
4	–	Ursel Brunner	GER	5:05.3	1:08.5 (2)	2:25.9 (3)	3:44.5 (4)	1:17.4 (4)	1:18.6 (4)	1:20.8 (5)
5	–	Welleda Veschi	ITA	5:18.3	1:10.5 (6)	2:31.5 (5)	3:54.4 (5)	1:21.0 (5)	1:22.9 (5)	1:23.9 (6)
6	–	Mária Frank	HUN	5:21.9	1:10.0 (4)	2:31.6 (6)	3:56.3 (6)	1:21.6 (6)	1:24.7 (6)	1:25.6 (7)
7	–	Blanca Barrón	MEX	5:26.4	1:12.7 (7)	2:36.3 (7)	4:10.4 (7)	1:23.6 (7)	1:34.1 (7)	1:16.0 (4)
DNS	–	Margaret Iwasaki	CAN	–	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	–	–	–

Final Round

Date	1 September 1960

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)	200-300 m Time (Rank)	300-400 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Chris von Saltza	USA	4:50.6	1:06.5 (1)	2:18.7 (1)	3:33.2 (1)	1:12.2 (1)	1:14.5 (1)	1:17.4 (6)	OR
2	–	Jane Cederqvist	SWE	4:53.9	1:09.2 (8)	2:24.2 (4)	3:40.0 (3)	1:15.0 (3)	1:15.8 (3)	1:13.9 (1)
3	–	Tineke Lagerberg	NED	4:56.9	1:08.5 (=4)	2:22.6 (2)	3:38.2 (2)	1:14.1 (2)	1:15.6 (2)	1:18.7 (=7)
4	–	Ilsa Konrads	AUS	4:57.9	1:09.0 (7)	2:24.8 (7)	3:42.1 (4)	1:15.8 (5)	1:17.3 (4)	1:15.8 (3)
5	–	Dawn Fraser	AUS	4:58.5	1:08.5 (=4)	2:24.5 (6)	3:43.2 (6)	1:16.0 (6)	1:18.7 (=5)	1:15.3 (2)
6	–	Nan Rae	GBR	4:59.7	1:08.1 (2)	2:24.3 (5)	3:43.0 (5)	1:16.2 (7)	1:18.7 (=5)	1:16.7 (4)
7	–	Corrie Schimmel	NED	5:02.3	1:08.3 (3)	2:24.0 (3)	3:43.6 (7)	1:15.7 (4)	1:19.6 (8)	1:18.7 (=7)
8	–	Bibbi Segerström	SWE	5:02.4	1:08.8 (6)	2:26.5 (8)	3:45.3 (8)	1:17.7 (8)	1:18.8 (7)	1:17.1 (5)