| | Event type

400 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	4 – 6 August 1928
Status	Olympic
Location	Zwemstadion, Amsterdam
Participants	20 from 10 countries

The reigning champion, Martha Norelius of the USA, had improved considerably since Paris and entered the Games as a hot favorite. Norelius lived up to her reputation by smashing the world record in her heat, although a rival emerged in the form of the teenaged European champion Zus Braun from the host country, who was the only other competitor to break the six minute barrier.

The Dutchwoman continued to impress in the semi-final, but the American was a dominant force in the final and improved her own record again. To the approval of the Dutch crowd, Braun took the silver medal ahead of Josephine McKim of the USA. Norelius later married the rower Joe Wright, Jr., who won a silver medal for Canada at these same games, although the two eventually divorced.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Martha Norelius	USA	5:45.4 (1 h1)	5:58.0 (1 h1)	5:42.8 (1)	Gold
2	Zus Braun	NED	5:53.8 (1 h4)	5:54.6 (1 h2)	5:57.8 (2)	Silver
3	Josephine McKim	USA	6:10.0 (1 h3)	5:55.0 (2 h2)	6:00.2 (3)	Bronze
4	Cissie Stewart	GBR	6:12.2 (2 h1)	6:06.4 (3 h1)	6:07.0 (4)
5	Freddie van der Goes	RSA	6:03.6 (2 h4)	6:01.6 (2 h1)	6:07.2 (5)
6	Vera Tanner	GBR	6:11.0 (2 h2)	6:09.0 (3 h2)	6:11.6 (6)
4 h1 r2/3	Ethel McGary	USA	6:04.6 (1 h2)	– (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	Edith Mayne	GBR	6:10.4 (3 h4)	– (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/3	Kay Miller	NZL	6:16.8 (2 h3)	– (5 h1)	–
3 h1 r1/3	Truus Baumeister	NED	6:26.4 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h2 r1/3	Edna Davey	AUS	6:12.0 (3 h2)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	Fritzi Löwy	AUT	6:20.0 (3 h3)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	Marguerite Ledoux	FRA	– (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	Lotte Lehmann	GER	6:28.0 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	Disa Lindberg	FIN	– (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	Reni Erkens	GER	– (4 h4)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	Mary Bedford	RSA	– (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	Rhoda Rennie	RSA	– (5 h2)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	Dora Schönemann	GER	6:37.0 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	Georgina Roty	FRA	– (6 h2)	–	–
DNS	Marguerite Dockrell	IRL	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	Halina Iżycka	POL	– (DNS h4)	–	–

Round One

Date	4 August 1928 — 16:10
Format	Top two in each heat and the next fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Martha Norelius	USA	5:45.4	QOR
2	–	Cissie Stewart	GBR	6:12.2	Q
3	–	Truus Baumeister	NED	6:26.4
4	–	Marguerite Ledoux	FRA	–
5	–	Mary Bedford	RSA	–
6	–	Dora Schönemann	GER	6:37.0

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Ethel McGary	USA	6:04.6	Q
2	–	Vera Tanner	GBR	6:11.0	Q
3	–	Edna Davey	AUS	6:12.0
4	–	Lotte Lehmann	GER	6:28.0
5	–	Rhoda Rennie	RSA	–
6	–	Georgina Roty	FRA	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Josephine McKim	USA	6:10.0	Q
2	–	Kay Miller	NZL	6:16.8	Q
3	–	Fritzi Löwy	AUT	6:20.0
4	–	Disa Lindberg	FIN	–
DNS	–	Marguerite Dockrell	IRL	–

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Zus Braun	NED	5:53.8	Q
2	–	Freddie van der Goes	RSA	6:03.6	Q
3	–	Edith Mayne	GBR	6:10.4	q
4	–	Reni Erkens	GER	–
DNS	–	Halina Iżycka	POL	–

Semi-Finals

Date	5 August 1928 — 15:10
Format	Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Time	15:10

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Martha Norelius	USA	5:58.0	Q
2	–	Freddie van der Goes	RSA	6:01.6	Q
3	–	Cissie Stewart	GBR	6:06.4	Q
4	–	Ethel McGary	USA	–
5	–	Kay Miller	NZL	–

Heat #2

Time	15:25

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Zus Braun	NED	5:54.6	Q
2	–	Josephine McKim	USA	5:55.0	Q
3	–	Vera Tanner	GBR	6:09.0	Q
4	–	Edith Mayne	GBR	–

Final Round

Date	6 August 1928 — 13:45

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Martha Norelius	USA	5:42.8	WR
2	–	Zus Braun	NED	5:57.8
3	–	Josephine McKim	USA	6:00.2
4	–	Cissie Stewart	GBR	6:07.0
5	–	Freddie van der Goes	RSA	6:07.2
6	–	Vera Tanner	GBR	6:11.6