| | Event type
400 metres Freestyle, Men
| Date | 16 – 18 July 1924 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscine des Tourelles, Saint-Mandé |
| Participants | 23 from 13 countries |
The 400 metres brought together the 1,500 metre champion, Andrew “Boy” Charlton of Australia, soon-to-be 100 metre champion, Johnny Weissmuller, and Sweden’s world record holder, Arne Borg, at a distance where all were competitive. The three main protagonists soon went clear of Arne’s twin brother, Åke Borg, and Jack Hatfield of Great Britain, with Borg holding a tiny lead at quarter distance. Weissmuller surged into the lead at the 200 metre point, but a series of poor turns allowed Borg to reclaim his former position with two lengths of the pool remaining. The two men battled fiercely in the final stages, and Weissmuller only moved away from the Swede in the last twenty-five metres of the race.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller |  USA | 5:22.2 (1 h3) | 5:13.6 (1 h1) | 5:04.2 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Arne Borg |  SWE | 5:32.8 (1 h4) | 5:21.4 (1 h2) | 5:05.6 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Boy Charlton |  AUS | 5:30.2 (2 h3) | 5:32.6 (2 h1) | 5:06.6 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Åke Borg | SWE | 5:28.2 (1 h2) | 5:25.0 (2 h2) | 5:26.0 (4) | |||
| 5 | Jack Hatfield |  GBR | 5:32.6 (2 h1) | 5:30.4 (3 h2) | 5:32.0 (5) | |||
| 6 | Lester Smith | USA | 5:32.4 (1 h5) | 5:37.6 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 7 | George Vernot |  CAN | 5:35.2 (3 h5) | 5:38.0 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 8 | Harold Annison | GBR | 5:32.6 (2 h5) | 5:39.4 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 9 | Václav Antoš |  TCH | 5:34.8 (2 h2) | 5:53.2 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 10 | Frank Beaurepaire | AUS | 5:38.0 (2 h4) | – (5 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | Ralph Breyer | USA | 5:22.4 (1 h1) | – (DNS h1) | – | |||
| 12 | Percy Peter | GBR | 5:38.6 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 13 | Kazuo Noda |  JPN | 5:43.8 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 14 | Alberto Zorrilla |  ARG | 5:49.4 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 15 | Stanislav Bičák | TCH | 5:52.4 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 16 | Salvator Pélégry |  FRA | 5:56.2 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 17 | Édouard Vanzeveren | FRA | 5:59.8 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 18 | Sjaak Köhler |  NED | 6:20.4 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 19 | Dionysios Vasilopoulos |  GRE | 6:21.4 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 20 | Pedro Méndez |  ESP | 6:26.6 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 21 | Atilije Venturini |  YUG | 6:28.0 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 22 | Moss Christie | AUS | 6:39.2 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 23 | Đuro Sentđerđi | YUG | 6:41.4 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| Andreas Asimakopoulos | GRE | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| Béla Eperjessy |  HUN | – (DNS h1) | – | – | ||||
| Renato Bacigalupo |  ITA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Katsuo Takaishi | JPN | – (DNS h1) | – | – |
Round One
| Date | 16 July 1924 — 16:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller | USA | 5:22.2 | ||
| 2 | Ralph Breyer | USA | 5:22.4 | ||
| 3 | Åke Borg | SWE | 5:28.2 | ||
| 4 | Boy Charlton | AUS | 5:30.2 | ||
| 5 | Lester Smith | USA | 5:32.4 | ||
| =6 | Jack Hatfield | GBR | 5:32.6 | ||
| =6 | Harold Annison | GBR | 5:32.6 | ||
| 8 | Arne Borg | SWE | 5:32.8 | ||
| 9 | Václav Antoš | TCH | 5:34.8 | ||
| 10 | George Vernot | CAN | 5:35.2 | ||
| 11 | Frank Beaurepaire | AUS | 5:38.0 | ||
| 12 | Percy Peter | GBR | 5:38.6 | ||
| 13 | Kazuo Noda | JPN | 5:43.8 | ||
| 14 | Alberto Zorrilla | ARG | 5:49.4 | ||
| 15 | Stanislav Bičák | TCH | 5:52.4 | ||
| 16 | Salvator Pélégry | FRA | 5:56.2 | ||
| 17 | Édouard Vanzeveren | FRA | 5:59.8 | ||
| 18 | Sjaak Köhler | NED | 6:20.4 | ||
| 19 | Dionysios Vasilopoulos | GRE | 6:21.4 | ||
| 20 | Pedro Méndez | ESP | 6:26.6 | ||
| 21 | Atilije Venturini | YUG | 6:28.0 | ||
| 22 | Moss Christie | AUS | 6:39.2 | ||
| 23 | Đuro Sentđerđi | YUG | 6:41.4 | ||
| Béla Eperjessy | HUN | – | |||
| Katsuo Takaishi | JPN | – | |||
| Renato Bacigalupo | ITA | – | |||
| Andreas Asimakopoulos | GRE | – |
Heat #1
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Breyer | USA | 5:22.4 | ||
| 2 | Jack Hatfield | GBR | 5:32.6 | ||
| 3 | Atilije Venturini | YUG | 6:28.0 | ||
| 4 | Moss Christie | AUS | 6:39.2 | ||
| Béla Eperjessy | HUN | – | |||
| Katsuo Takaishi | JPN | – |
Heat #2
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Åke Borg | SWE | 5:28.2 | ||
| 2 | Václav Antoš | TCH | 5:34.8 | ||
| 3 | Dionysios Vasilopoulos | GRE | 6:21.4 | ||
| 4 | Đuro Sentđerđi | YUG | 6:41.4 |
Heat #3
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller | USA | 5:22.2 | ||
| 2 | Boy Charlton | AUS | 5:30.2 | ||
| 3 | Percy Peter | GBR | 5:38.6 | ||
| 4 | Salvator Pélégry | FRA | 5:56.2 | ||
| 5 | Sjaak Köhler | NED | 6:20.4 |
Heat #4
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arne Borg | SWE | 5:32.8 | ||
| 2 | Frank Beaurepaire | AUS | 5:38.0 | ||
| 3 | Kazuo Noda | JPN | 5:43.8 | ||
| 4 | Alberto Zorrilla | ARG | 5:49.4 | ||
| 5 | Stanislav Bičák | TCH | 5:52.4 | ||
| Renato Bacigalupo | ITA | – |
Heat #5
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lester Smith | USA | 5:32.4 | ||
| 2 | Harold Annison | GBR | 5:32.6 | ||
| 3 | George Vernot | CAN | 5:35.2 | ||
| 4 | Édouard Vanzeveren | FRA | 5:59.8 | ||
| 5 | Pedro Méndez | ESP | 6:26.6 | ||
| Andreas Asimakopoulos | GRE | – |
Semi-Finals
| Date | 17 July 1924 — 10:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller | USA | 5:13.6 | ||
| 2 | Arne Borg | SWE | 5:21.4 | ||
| 3 | Åke Borg | SWE | 5:25.0 | ||
| 4 | Jack Hatfield | GBR | 5:30.4 | ||
| 5 | Boy Charlton | AUS | 5:32.6 | ||
| 6 | Lester Smith | USA | 5:37.6 | 1 | |
| 7 | George Vernot | CAN | 5:38.0 | ||
| 8 | Harold Annison | GBR | 5:39.4 | ||
| 9 | Václav Antoš | TCH | 5:53.2 | ||
| Frank Beaurepaire | AUS | – | 2 | ||
| Ralph Breyer | USA | – |
Heat #1
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller | USA | 5:13.6 | ||
| 2 | Boy Charlton | AUS | 5:32.6 | ||
| 3 | Lester Smith | USA | 5:37.6 | 3 | |
| 4 | George Vernot | CAN | 5:38.0 | ||
| 5 | Václav Antoš | TCH | 5:53.2 | ||
| Ralph Breyer | USA | – |
Heat #2
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arne Borg | SWE | 5:21.4 | ||
| 2 | Åke Borg | SWE | 5:25.0 | ||
| 3 | Jack Hatfield | GBR | 5:30.4 | ||
| 4 | Harold Annison | GBR | 5:39.4 | ||
| 5 | Frank Beaurepaire | AUS | – |
Final
| Date | 18 July 1924 — 15:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller | USA | 5:04.2 | ||
| 2 | Arne Borg | SWE | 5:05.6 | ||
| 3 | Boy Charlton | AUS | 5:06.6 | ||
| 4 | Åke Borg | SWE | 5:26.0 | ||
| 5 | Jack Hatfield | GBR | 5:32.0 |