| | Event type

400 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	10 – 12 August 1936
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmstadion, Reichssportfeld, Berlin
Participants	34 from 16 countries

Like the 100 metre freestyle at the same Games, this event was predicted to be a battle between an American world record holder and a strong Japanese trio. Unlike the 100, this race would follow the predicted course and turn into a triumph for the USA’s Jack Medica but only after a tremendous duel. Shumpei Uto took a lead over Medica but the American fought back and narrowed a lead. A spurt by the Japanese swimmer pushed him further ahead but his exertion took much out of him and Medica responded. Medica and Uto battled for gold in the final 50 metres with the American only taking the lead with 10 metres to go.

One competitor who did not qualify from his heat was Brazil’s João Havelange. Havelange became one of the world’s leading sports administrators as both a long serving member of the IOC and as president of FIFA, the governing body of world football.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Jack Medica	USA	4:55.9 (1 h6)	4:48.2 (=1 h2)	4:44.5 (1)	Gold
2	Shunpei Uto	JPN	4:45.5 (1 h5)	4:48.4 (1 h1)	4:45.6 (2)	Silver
3	Shozo Makino	JPN	4:51.3 (1 h3)	4:48.2 (=1 h2)	4:48.1 (3)	Bronze
4	Ralph Flanagan	USA	4:54.7 (2 h3)	4:49.9 (2 h1)	4:52.7 (4)
5	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	4:52.6 (1 h1)	4:55.4 (3 h1)	4:53.6 (5)
6	Jean Taris	FRA	4:53.9 (2 h5)	4:53.6 (3 h2)	4:53.8 (6)
7	Bobby Leivers	GBR	4:57.2 (1 h2)	4:55.7 (4 h2)	5:00.9 (7)
4 h1 r2/3	John Macionis	USA	4:57.1 (2 h1)	4:56.4 (4 h1)	–
5 h1 r2/3	Hans Freese	GER	5:03.1 (2 h4)	4:58.5 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	Heinz Arendt	GER	4:57.2 (3 h1)	5:13.4 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	Bob Pirie	CAN	4:56.0 (3 h5)	4:58.7 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	Otto Przywara	GER	5:11.7 (2 h2)	5:14.9 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r2/3	Ödön Gróf	HUN	4:59.4 (1 h4)	5:01.9 (7 h1)	–
2 h6 r1/3	Walter Ledgard Jiménez	PER	5:05.5 (2 h6)	– (DNS h2)	–
3 h2 r1/3	Aage Hellstrøm	DEN	5:18.2 (3 h2)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	Norman Wainwright	GBR	5:03.6 (3 h3)	–	–
3 h4 r1/3	Heikki Hietanen	FIN	5:08.9 (3 h4)	–	–
3 h6 r1/3	Piet Stam	NED	5:07.8 (3 h6)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	Árpád Lengyel	HUN	4:57.7 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	João Havelange	BRA	5:31.5 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	Bob Hamerton	CAN	5:13.3 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	Willie Pearson	GBR	5:12.7 (4 h4)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	Poul Petersen	DEN	5:20.3 (4 h5)	–	–
4 h6 r1/3	Manoel Villar	BRA	5:18.2 (4 h6)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	Edmund Pader	AUT	5:16.9 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	Jørgen Jørgensen	DEN	5:17.8 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	Aluizio Lage	BRA	5:18.3 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	Edmund Cooper	BER	5:53.8 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	Hans Brenner	SUI	5:33.8 (5 h6)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	Robert Hooper	CAN	5:17.2 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	István Angyal	HUN	5:20.9 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	Washington Guzmán	CHI	5:19.1 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	Werner Lehmann	SUI	5:36.8 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	Franz Seltenheim	AUT	5:38.3 (7 h4)	–	–
DNS	Günther Zobernig	AUT	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Dudley Spurling	BER	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Chen Zhenxiang	CHN	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Qadri Mahmud	EGY	– (DNS h6)	–	–
DNS	Egon Roolaid	EST	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	Panagiotis Provatopoulos	GRE	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	Roger Zirilli	SUI	– (DNS h1)	–	–

Round One (10 August 1936 — 15:15)

Top two in each heat and the next two fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	1	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	– (–) –	4:52.6	Q
2	3	John Macionis	USA	– (–) –	4:57.1	Q
3	4	Heinz Arendt	GER	– (–) –	4:57.2	q
4	7	Árpád Lengyel	HUN	– (–) –	4:57.7
5	6	Edmund Pader	AUT	– (–) –	5:16.9
6	5	Robert Hooper	CAN	– (–) –	5:17.2
DNS	2	Roger Zirilli	SUI	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	1	Bobby Leivers	GBR	– (–) –	4:57.2	Q
2	5	Otto Przywara	GER	– (–) –	5:11.7	Q
3	3	Aage Hellstrøm	DEN	– (–) –	5:18.2
4	2	João Havelange	BRA	– (–) –	5:31.5
DNS	4	Günther Zobernig	AUT	– (–) –	–
DNS	6	Chen Zhenxiang	CHN	– (–) –	–
DNS	7	Dudley Spurling	BER	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Shozo Makino	JPN	– (–) –	4:51.3	Q
2	2	Ralph Flanagan	USA	– (–) –	4:54.7	Q
3	7	Norman Wainwright	GBR	– (–) –	5:03.6
4	1	Bob Hamerton	CAN	– (–) –	5:13.3
5	5	Jørgen Jørgensen	DEN	– (–) –	5:17.8
6	3	István Angyal	HUN	– (–) –	5:20.9
7	6	Werner Lehmann	SUI	– (–) –	5:36.8

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Ödön Gróf	HUN	– (–) –	4:59.4	Q
2	7	Hans Freese	GER	– (–) –	5:03.1	Q
3	3	Heikki Hietanen	FIN	– (–) –	5:08.9
4	2	Willie Pearson	GBR	– (–) –	5:12.7
5	1	Aluizio Lage	BRA	– (–) –	5:18.3
6	4	Washington Guzmán	CHI	– (–) –	5:19.1
7	6	Franz Seltenheim	AUT	– (–) –	5:38.3

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	1	Shunpei Uto	JPN	– (–) –	4:45.5	QOR
2	5	Jean Taris	FRA	– (–) –	4:53.9	Q
3	4	Bob Pirie	CAN	– (–) –	4:56.0	q
4	3	Poul Petersen	DEN	– (–) –	5:20.3
5	2	Edmund Cooper	BER	– (–) –	5:53.8
DNS	6	Egon Roolaid	EST	– (–) –	–
DNS	7	Panagiotis Provatopoulos	GRE	– (–) –	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	6	Jack Medica	USA	– (–) –	4:55.9	Q
2	2	Walter Ledgard Jiménez	PER	– (–) –	5:05.5	Q
3	5	Piet Stam	NED	– (–) –	5:07.8
4	1	Manoel Villar	BRA	– (–) –	5:18.2
5	4	Hans Brenner	SUI	– (–) –	5:33.8
DNS	3	Qadri Mahmud	EGY	– (–) –	–

Semi-Finals (11 August 1936 — 10:00)

Top three in each heat and the fastest fourth-place advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	1	Shunpei Uto	JPN	– (–) –	4:48.4	Q
2	3	Ralph Flanagan	USA	– (–) –	4:49.9	Q
3	4	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	– (–) –	4:55.4	Q
4	6	John Macionis	USA	– (–) –	4:56.4
5	5	Hans Freese	GER	– (–) –	4:58.5
6	2	Bob Pirie	CAN	– (–) –	4:58.7
7	7	Ödön Gróf	HUN	– (–) –	5:01.9

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
=1	5	Shozo Makino	JPN	– (–) –	4:48.2	Q
=1	4	Jack Medica	USA	– (–) –	4:48.2	Q
3	2	Jean Taris	FRA	– (–) –	4:53.6	Q
4	6	Bobby Leivers	GBR	– (–) –	4:55.7	q
5	3	Heinz Arendt	GER	– (–) –	5:13.4
6	7	Otto Przywara	GER	– (–) –	5:14.9
DNS	1	Walter Ledgard Jiménez	PER	– (–) –	–

Final (12 August 1936 — 15:30)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	Jack Medica	USA	– (–) –	4:44.5	OR
2	3	Shunpei Uto	JPN	– (–) –	4:45.6
3	7	Shozo Makino	JPN	– (–) –	4:48.1
4	5	Ralph Flanagan	USA	– (–) –	4:52.7
5	1	Hiroshi Negami	JPN	– (–) –	4:53.6
6	6	Jean Taris	FRA	– (–) –	4:53.8
7	4	Bobby Leivers	GBR	– (–) –	5:00.9