| | Event type

400 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	13 – 15 August 1936
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmstadion, Reichssportfeld, Berlin
Participants	20 from 10 countries

Fourteen year old Ragnhild Hveger had set the first of her 42 world records early in 1936 and although that record was for the 800m she had emerged as a strong contender for the Olympic title. This was confirmed by her heat swim in which she broke the Olympic record. Waiting for Hveger in the final however was the 100m champion, Rie Mastenbroek. Hveger pushed out to a lead and tried to shake off the presence of the Dutch swimmer but it was to no avail and Mastenbroek sprinted ahead with less than ten metres left to win her third gold of the Games. Mastenbroek later told of an incident that happened during before one of the earlier races of the Games. Hveger was handing out chocolates to some of the other swimmers but not to Mastenbroek. This angered the Dutchwoman who was determined to get her “revenge” in the 400m race.

Hveger would go on to dominate the European Championships in London in 1938 and set world bests at both freestyle and backstroke before her retirement. Coming out of retirement to compete in the Helsinki she was still good enough at the age of 32 to reach the final of the 400 metre freestyle. Judging by the times she recorded it is possible that if she competed between 1940 and 1948 her medal tally may have been in double figures.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Rie Mastenbroek	NED	5:38.6 (1 h5)	5:40.3 (1 h1)	5:26.4 (1)	Gold
2	Ragnhild Hveger	DEN	5:28.0 (1 h1)	5:33.7 (1 h2)	5:27.5 (2)	Silver
3	Lenore Kight-Wingard	USA	5:34.0 (2 h1)	5:42.2 (2 h1)	5:29.0 (3)	Bronze
4	Mary Lou Petty	USA	6:16.6 (3 h4)	5:45.9 (4 h2)	5:32.2 (4)
5	Piedade Coutinho	BRA	5:35.5 (3 h1)	5:42.5 (2 h2)	5:35.2 (5)
6	Kazue Kojima	JPN	5:50.4 (3 h5)	5:43.5 (3 h2)	5:43.1 (6)
7	Grete Frederiksen	DEN	5:39.5 (1 h3)	5:42.5 (3 h1)	5:45.0 (7)
8	Tini Wagner	NED	5:57.5 (1 h2)	5:45.9 (4 h1)	5:46.0 (8)
5 h1 r2/3	Irma Schramková	TCH	5:47.5 (2 h5)	5:46.0 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	Louisette Fleuret	FRA	5:46.8 (3 h3)	5:46.1 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	Hatsuko Morioka	JPN	5:51.0 (4 h3)	5:49.1 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	Ans Timmermans	NED	5:42.5 (2 h3)	5:49.4 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r2/3	Borbála Sóthy	HUN	6:14.8 (2 h2)	6:11.2 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	Inger Carlsen	DEN	5:57.1 (1 h4)	5:55.0 (7 h2)	–
8 h2 r2/3	Margaret Jeffery	GBR	6:12.7 (2 h4)	6:07.2 (8 h2)	–
4 h1 r1/3	Gladys Morcom	GBR	6:00.8 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	Ágnes Bíró	HUN	6:14.3 (4 h5)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	Vera Harsányi	HUN	6:14.7 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	Evelyn de Lacy	AUS	5:51.9 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	Scylla Venâncio	BRA	6:23.0 (5 h5)	–	–
DNS	Jeanette Campbell	ARG	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	Ruth Langer	AUT	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	Helena Salles	BRA	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Sieglinde Lenk	BRA	–	–	–
DNS	Phyllis Dewar	CAN	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Irene Pirie-Milton	CAN	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	Margaret Stone	CAN	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	Yang Xiuqiong	CHN	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	Margery Hinton	GBR	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Annie Villiger	SUI	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	Dorothea Dickinson	USA	– (DNS h2)	–	–

Round One (13 August 1936 — 10:00)

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

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Ragnhild Hveger	DEN	– (–) –	5:28.0	QOR
2	1	Lenore Kight-Wingard	USA	– (–) –	5:34.0	Q
3	6	Piedade Coutinho	BRA	– (–) –	5:35.5	Q
4	4	Gladys Morcom	GBR	– (–) –	6:00.8
5	3	Vera Harsányi	HUN	– (–) –	6:14.7
DNS	2	Margaret Stone	CAN	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Tini Wagner	NED	– (–) –	5:57.5	Q
2	1	Borbála Sóthy	HUN	– (–) –	6:14.8	Q
DNS	6	Helena Salles	BRA	– (–) –	–
DNS	2	Phyllis Dewar	CAN	– (–) –	–
DNS	5	Margery Hinton	GBR	– (–) –	–
DNS	4	Dorothea Dickinson	USA	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	Grete Frederiksen	DEN	– (–) –	5:39.5	Q
2	1	Ans Timmermans	NED	– (–) –	5:42.5	Q
3	6	Louisette Fleuret	FRA	– (–) –	5:46.8	Q
4	3	Hatsuko Morioka	JPN	– (–) –	5:51.0	q
5	4	Evelyn de Lacy	AUS	– (–) –	5:51.9
DNS	5	Annie Villiger	SUI	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Inger Carlsen	DEN	– (–) –	5:57.1	Q
2	5	Margaret Jeffery	GBR	– (–) –	6:12.7	Q
3	6	Mary Lou Petty	USA	– (–) –	6:16.6	Q
DNS	4	Ruth Langer	AUT	– (–) –	–
DNS	1	Irene Pirie-Milton	CAN	– (–) –	–
DNS	2	Yang Xiuqiong	CHN	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Rie Mastenbroek	NED	– (–) –	5:38.6	Q
2	5	Irma Schramková	TCH	– (–) –	5:47.5	Q
3	4	Kazue Kojima	JPN	– (–) –	5:50.4	Q
4	6	Ágnes Bíró	HUN	– (–) –	6:14.3
5	2	Scylla Venâncio	BRA	– (–) –	6:23.0
DNS	1	Jeanette Campbell	ARG	– (–) –	–

Semi-Finals (14 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	3	Rie Mastenbroek	NED	– (–) –	5:40.3	Q
2	4	Lenore Kight-Wingard	USA	– (–) –	5:42.2	Q
3	6	Grete Frederiksen	DEN	– (–) –	5:42.5	Q
4	2	Tini Wagner	NED	– (–) –	5:45.9	Q	1
5	1	Irma Schramková	TCH	– (–) –	5:46.0
6	7	Hatsuko Morioka	JPN	– (–) –	5:49.1
7	5	Borbála Sóthy	HUN	– (–) –	6:11.2

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	7	Ragnhild Hveger	DEN	– (–) –	5:33.7	Q
2	4	Piedade Coutinho	BRA	– (–) –	5:42.5	Q
3	6	Kazue Kojima	JPN	– (–) –	5:43.5	Q
4	1	Mary Lou Petty	USA	– (–) –	5:45.9	Q	2
5	2	Louisette Fleuret	FRA	– (–) –	5:46.1
6	3	Ans Timmermans	NED	– (–) –	5:49.4
7	5	Inger Carlsen	DEN	– (–) –	5:55.0
8	8	Margaret Jeffery	GBR	– (–) –	6:07.2

Final (15 August 1936 — 15:50)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Rie Mastenbroek	NED	– (–) –	5:26.4	OR
2	2	Ragnhild Hveger	DEN	– (–) –	5:27.5
3	8	Lenore Kight-Wingard	USA	– (–) –	5:29.0
4	7	Mary Lou Petty	USA	– (–) –	5:32.2
5	1	Piedade Coutinho	BRA	– (–) –	5:35.2
6	6	Kazue Kojima	JPN	– (–) –	5:43.1
7	5	Grete Frederiksen	DEN	– (–) –	5:45.0
8	4	Tini Wagner	NED	– (–) –	5:46.0