| Date | 19 – 20 October 1968 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México |
| Participants | 30 from 17 countries |
At the US Olympic Trials Debbie Meyer had set world records in the 200, 400, and 800 metre freestyles. Better in the distances she had already set five world records in this event, five in the 800, and three in the non-Olympic 1,500 free. She was the class of the field, opening a two body length lead by 100 metres, and simply opening it up throughout the race, to win by almost four seconds over teammate Linda Gustavson, who the day before had won a bronze in the 100 freestyle. Australia’s Karen Moras, only 14-years-old, won the bronze medal, edging out American Pam Kruse.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15392 | Debbie Meyer |  USA | 4:35.0 (1 h2) | 4:31.8 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 15383 | Linda Gustavson | USA | 4:41.4 (1 h4) | 4:35.5 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 13065 | Karen Moras |  AUS | 4:39.6 (1 h5) | 4:37.0 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 15391 | Pam Kruse | USA | 4:45.2 (1 h3) | 4:37.2 (4) | |||
| 5 | 23078 | Gabriele Wetzko |  GDR | 4:49.8 (2 h1) | 4:40.2 (5) | |||
| 6 | 18776 | María Teresa Ramírez |  MEX | 4:43.9 (1 h1) | 4:42.2 (6) | |||
| 7 | 13888 | Angela Coughlan |  CAN | 4:47.4 (1 h6) | 4:51.9 (7) | |||
| 8 | 20396 | Elisabeth Morris |  SWE | 4:51.6 (2 h5) | 4:53.8 (8) | |||
| 9 | 13061 | Denise Langford | AUS | 4:52.2 (2 h6) | – | |||
| 10 | 16006 | Marjatta Hara |  FIN | 4:53.0 (2 h3) | – | |||
| 11 | 18777 | Laura Vaca | MEX | 4:53.3 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 12 | 16246 | Marie-José Kersaudy |  FRA | 4:57.3 (2 h4) | – | |||
| 13 | 22933 | Kristina Moir |  PUR | 4:57.7 (3 h4) | – | |||
| 14 | – | Eva Sigg | FIN | 4:58.5 (3 h6) | – | |||
| 15 | 17963 | Novella Calligaris |  ITA | 4:59.4 (3 h5) | – | |||
| 16 | 15890 | Helen Elliott |  PHI | 4:59.9 (4 h1) | – | |||
| =17 | 18780 | Norma Amezcua | MEX | 5:00.5 (2 h2) | – | |||
| =17 | 16251 | Dominique Mollier | FRA | 5:00.5 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 19 | 13058 | Christine Deakes | AUS | 5:01.5 (4 h6) | – | |||
| 20 | 13972 | Patricia Olano |  COL | 5:01.8 (5 h6) | – | |||
| 21 | 16691 | Sue Williams |  GBR | 5:02.7 (4 h4) | – | |||
| 22 | 21969 | Consuelo Changanachi |  PER | 5:02.9 (4 h5) | – | |||
| 23 | 16700 | Sheila Clayton | GBR | 5:08.0 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 24 | 13974 | Olga de Ángulo | COL | 5:08.6 (3 h3) | – | |||
| 25 | 16702 | Sally Davison | GBR | 5:11.2 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 26 | 21524 | Mónica E. Figueroa |  URU | 5:21.0 (5 h4) | – | |||
| 27 | 16863 | Silvana Asturias |  GUA | 5:25.6 (5 h5) | – | |||
| 28 | 21522 | Lylián Castillo | URU | 5:30.2 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 29 | 23710 | Shen Bao-Ni |  TPE | 5:41.8 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 30 | – | Lorna Blake | PUR | 5:54.7 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 14927 | Donatella Ferracuti |  ESA | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| – | Claude Mandonnaud | FRA | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 20262 | Pat Chan |  SGP | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 20391 | Elisabeth Berglund | SWE | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 21692 | Mirjana Šegrt |  YUG | – (DNS h3) | – | ||||
| 20394 | Ingrid Gustavsson | SWE | – (DNS h4) | – | ||||
| 22935 | Ana Marcial | PUR | – (DNS h5) | – | ||||
| 14609 | Oľga Kozičová |  TCH | – (DNS h5) | – | ||||
| 23709 | Oei Liana | TPE | – (DNS h6) | – |
| Date | 19 October 1968 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | María Teresa Ramírez | MEX | 4:43.9 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Gabriele Wetzko | GDR | 4:49.8 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Laura Vaca | MEX | 4:53.3 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Helen Elliott | PHI | 4:59.9 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Shen Bao-Ni | TPE | 5:41.8 | ||
| – | Donatella Ferracuti | ESA | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Debbie Meyer | USA | 4:35.0 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Norma Amezcua | MEX | 5:00.5 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Dominique Mollier | FRA | 5:00.5 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Sheila Clayton | GBR | 5:08.0 | ||
| – | Claude Mandonnaud | FRA | – | |||
| – | Pat Chan | SGP | – | |||
| – | Elisabeth Berglund | SWE | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Pam Kruse | USA | 4:45.2 | ||
| 2 | 7 | Marjatta Hara | FIN | 4:53.0 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Olga de Ángulo | COL | 5:08.6 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Sally Davison | GBR | 5:11.2 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Lylián Castillo | URU | 5:30.2 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Lorna Blake | PUR | 5:54.7 | ||
| – | Mirjana Šegrt | YUG | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Linda Gustavson | USA | 4:41.4 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Marie-José Kersaudy | FRA | 4:57.3 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Kristina Moir | PUR | 4:57.7 | ||
| 4 | 4 | Sue Williams | GBR | 5:02.7 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Mónica E. Figueroa | URU | 5:21.0 | ||
| – | Ingrid Gustavsson | SWE | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Karen Moras | AUS | 4:39.6 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Elisabeth Morris | SWE | 4:51.6 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Novella Calligaris | ITA | 4:59.4 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Consuelo Changanachi | PER | 5:02.9 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Silvana Asturias | GUA | 5:25.6 | ||
| – | Ana Marcial | PUR | – | |||
| – | Oľga Kozičová | TCH | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Angela Coughlan | CAN | 4:47.4 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Denise Langford | AUS | 4:52.2 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Eva Sigg | FIN | 4:58.5 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Christine Deakes | AUS | 5:01.5 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Patricia Olano | COL | 5:01.8 | ||
| – | Oei Liana | TPE | – |
| Date | 20 October 1968 — 17:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Debbie Meyer | USA | 4:31.8 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Linda Gustavson | USA | 4:35.5 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Karen Moras | AUS | 4:37.0 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Pam Kruse | USA | 4:37.2 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Gabriele Wetzko | GDR | 4:40.2 | ||
| 6 | 6 | María Teresa Ramírez | MEX | 4:42.2 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Angela Coughlan | CAN | 4:51.9 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Elisabeth Morris | SWE | 4:53.8 |
