Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle

The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place September 1. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of eight lengths of the pool.

Rick DeMont of the United States originally won the gold medal in 4:00.26, but was disqualified after he tested positive for ephedrine. In 2001, Jacques Rogge gave him his medal, but the IOC has so far declined to overturn the results.

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Key: DQ = Disqualified, OR = Olympic record

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