| | 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	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	173	Rie Mastenbroek	NED	5:38.6 (1 h5)	5:40.3 (1 h1)	5:26.4 (1)	Gold
2	89	Ragnhild Hveger	DEN	5:28.0 (1 h1)	5:33.7 (1 h2)	5:27.5 (2)	Silver
3	464	Lenore Kight-Wingard	USA	5:34.0 (2 h1)	5:42.2 (2 h1)	5:29.0 (3)	Bronze
4	463	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	97	Grete Frederiksen	DEN	5:39.5 (1 h3)	5:42.5 (3 h1)	5:45.0 (7)
8	171	Tini Wagner	NED	5:57.5 (1 h2)	5:45.9 (4 h1)	5:46.0 (8)
9	382	Irma Schramková	TCH	5:47.5 (2 h5)	5:46.0 (5 h1)	–
10	–	Louisette Fleuret	FRA	5:46.8 (3 h3)	5:46.1 (5 h2)	–
11	225	Hatsuko Morioka	JPN	5:51.0 (4 h3)	5:49.1 (6 h1)	–
12	178	Ans Timmermans	NED	5:42.5 (2 h3)	5:49.4 (6 h2)	–
13	96	Inger Carlsen	DEN	5:57.1 (1 h4)	5:55.0 (7 h2)	–
14	146	Margaret Jeffery	GBR	6:12.7 (2 h4)	6:07.2 (8 h2)	–
15	412	Borbála Sóthy	HUN	6:14.8 (2 h2)	6:11.2 (7 h1)	–
16	21	Evelyn de Lacy	AUS	5:51.9 (5 h3)	–	–
17	147	Gladys Morcom	GBR	6:00.8 (4 h1)	–	–
18	410	Ágnes Bíró	HUN	6:14.3 (4 h5)	–	–
19	411	Vera Harsányi	HUN	6:14.7 (5 h1)	–	–
20	54	Scylla Venâncio	BRA	6:23.0 (5 h5)	–	–
DNS	16	Jeanette Campbell	ARG	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	–	Ruth Langer	AUT	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	52	Helena Salles	BRA	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	53	Sieglinde Lenk	BRA	–	–	–
DNS	65	Phyllis Dewar	CAN	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	66	Irene Pirie-Milton	CAN	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	–	Margaret Stone	CAN	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	79	Yang Xiuqiong	CHN	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	137	Margery Hinton	GBR	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	363	Annie Villiger	SUI	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	482	Dorothea Dickinson	USA	– (DNS h2)	–	–

Round One

Date	13 August 1936 — 10:00
Format	Top three in each heat and the fastest fourth-place advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Ragnhild Hveger	DEN	5:28.0	QOR
2	–	Lenore Kight-Wingard	USA	5:34.0	Q
3	–	Piedade Coutinho	BRA	5:35.5	Q
4	–	Rie Mastenbroek	NED	5:38.6	Q
5	–	Grete Frederiksen	DEN	5:39.5	Q
6	–	Ans Timmermans	NED	5:42.5	Q
7	–	Louisette Fleuret	FRA	5:46.8	Q
8	–	Irma Schramková	TCH	5:47.5	Q
9	–	Kazue Kojima	JPN	5:50.4	Q
10	–	Hatsuko Morioka	JPN	5:51.0	q
11	–	Evelyn de Lacy	AUS	5:51.9
12	–	Inger Carlsen	DEN	5:57.1	Q
13	–	Tini Wagner	NED	5:57.5	Q
14	–	Gladys Morcom	GBR	6:00.8
15	–	Margaret Jeffery	GBR	6:12.7	Q
16	–	Ágnes Bíró	HUN	6:14.3
17	–	Vera Harsányi	HUN	6:14.7
18	–	Borbála Sóthy	HUN	6:14.8	Q
19	–	Mary Lou Petty	USA	6:16.6	Q
20	–	Scylla Venâncio	BRA	6:23.0
DNS	–	Margaret Stone	CAN	–
DNS	–	Helena Salles	BRA	–
DNS	–	Phyllis Dewar	CAN	–
DNS	–	Margery Hinton	GBR	–
DNS	–	Dorothea Dickinson	USA	–
DNS	–	Annie Villiger	SUI	–
DNS	–	Ruth Langer	AUT	–
DNS	–	Irene Pirie-Milton	CAN	–
DNS	–	Yang Xiuqiong	CHN	–
DNS	–	Jeanette Campbell	ARG	–

Heat #1

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

Heat #2

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

Heat #3

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

Heat #4

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

Heat #5

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

Semi-Finals

Date	14 August 1936 — 10:00
Format	Top three in each heat and the fastest fourth-place advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Ragnhild Hveger	DEN	5:33.7	Q
2	–	Rie Mastenbroek	NED	5:40.3	Q
3	–	Lenore Kight-Wingard	USA	5:42.2	Q
=4	–	Grete Frederiksen	DEN	5:42.5	Q
=4	–	Piedade Coutinho	BRA	5:42.5	Q
6	–	Kazue Kojima	JPN	5:43.5	Q
=7	–	Tini Wagner	NED	5:45.9	Q	1
=7	–	Mary Lou Petty	USA	5:45.9	Q	2
9	–	Irma Schramková	TCH	5:46.0
10	–	Louisette Fleuret	FRA	5:46.1
11	–	Hatsuko Morioka	JPN	5:49.1
12	–	Ans Timmermans	NED	5:49.4
13	–	Inger Carlsen	DEN	5:55.0
14	–	Margaret Jeffery	GBR	6:07.2
15	–	Borbála Sóthy	HUN	6:11.2

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Rie Mastenbroek	NED	5:40.3	Q
2	–	Lenore Kight-Wingard	USA	5:42.2	Q
3	–	Grete Frederiksen	DEN	5:42.5	Q
4	–	Tini Wagner	NED	5:45.9	Q	3
5	–	Irma Schramková	TCH	5:46.0
6	–	Hatsuko Morioka	JPN	5:49.1
7	–	Borbála Sóthy	HUN	6:11.2

Heat #2

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

Final Round

Date	15 August 1936 — 15:50

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