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  5. 400 metres Freestyle, Men
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400 metres Freestyle, Men

Date31 July – 4 August 1948
StatusOlympic
LocationWembley Arena, Wembley, London
Participants41 from 21 countries

Frenchman Alex Jany entered the competition as world record holder and a solid favourite for all three freestyle titles but he had disappointed in the sprint event and would withdraw from the 1500m. Jany did reach the final of the 400m but his qualification was overshadowed by a duo of Americans, Bill Smith and Jimmy McLane, and by the 100m bronze medallist, Hungary’s Géza Kádas. It was Smith who set the pace in the final and only his team-mate McLane, who started slowly but then moved through the pack, could challenge him. At the 200m mark the two Americans battled for the lead but Smith had enough in hand to pull away to a comfortable victory breaking the Olympic record in the process. McLane finished in second with the Australian John Marshal holding off the Hungarian challenge for the bronze medal. Jany finished sixth in a time fully fifteen seconds off his best. Bill Smith had contracted Typhoid as a child and took to swimming as a way to rebuild his strength. Hironoshin Furuhashi of Japan set a world record for this event in 1949 and would have been amongst the favourites if Japan had been permitted to compete.

PosNumberCompetitorNOCR1SFFinal
1143Bill SmithUSA4:45.3 (1 h6)4:48.4 (2 h2)4:41.0 (1)Gold
2142Jimmy McLaneUSA4:42.2 (1 h1)4:49.5 (1 h1)4:43.4 (2)Silver
3116John MarshallAUS4:51.4 (2 h6)4:50.0 (2 h1)4:47.4 (3)Bronze
427Géza KádasHUN4:52.8 (1 h5)4:47.8 (1 h2)4:49.4 (4)
5–György MitróHUN4:56.0 (1 h4)4:50.8 (3 h1)4:49.9 (5)
620Alex JanyFRA4:53.3 (2 h3)4:51.3 (3 h2)4:51.4 (6)
7128Jack HaleGBR4:53.3 (1 h3)4:51.4 (4 h1)4:55.9 (7)
8113Alfredo YantornoARG4:53.8 (1 h2)4:57.3 (4 h2)4:58.7 (8)
9–Bill HeusnerUSA4:58.3 (2 h4)4:57.4 (5 h2)–
10146Marijan StipetićYUG5:01.4 (3 h3)4:58.6 (5 h1)–
=11123Miroslav BartůšekTCH4:57.9 (3 h2)4:58.7 (6 h1)–
=11145Janko PuharYUG5:00.8 (3 h6)4:58.7 (6 h2)–
13147Branko VidovićYUG4:58.7 (3 h4)4:59.4 (7 h1)–
14–Don JohnstonRSA4:57.4 (2 h2)4:59.5 (7 h2)–
15140Per-Olof ÖstrandSWE4:53.5 (2 h5)– (DNS h1)–
16131Imre NyékiHUN5:01.8 (2 h1)– (DNS h2)–
17–Luis GonzálezCOL5:02.1 (4 h6)––
18127Roy BothamGBR5:03.4 (3 h1)––
19126Jo BernardoFRA5:03.8 (4 h2)––
20144Florbel PérezURU5:04.7 (3 h5)––
21125René CornuFRA5:05.2 (4 h5)––
22114José DurañonaARG5:05.8 (4 h1)––
23115Garrick AgnewAUS5:06.1 (4 h3)––
24122Luis ChildCOL5:08.5 (5 h3)––
25139Isidoro Martínez-VelaESP5:10.0 (4 h4)––
26112Juan GarayARG5:10.4 (5 h4)––
27120Doug GibsonCAN5:13.4 (5 h2)––
2838Isidoro PérezESP5:16.1 (5 h5)––
2930Ari GuðmundssonISL5:16.2 (5 h6)––
30138Alejandro FebreroESP5:16.9 (5 h1)––
31129Tom HoltGBR5:20.7 (6 h6)––
325Derek OatwayBER5:20.9 (6 h4)––
=33119Allen GilchristCAN5:21.5 (6 h3)––
=33136Sambiao BasanungPHI5:21.5 (6 h5)––
3543Walter SchneiderSUI5:25.5 (6 h2)––
36118Walter BardgettBER5:37.2 (7 h2)––
37117Robert CookBER5:37.9 (6 h1)––
38132Bimal ChandraIND5:38.6 (7 h4)––
39535Jack HakimEGY5:40.3 (7 h1)––
40135Anwar Aziz ChaudhryPAK6:17.4 (7 h3)––
41–Sultan Karim AliPAK7:16.9 (7 h6)––
DNS15Taha El-GamalEGY– (DNS h4)––
DNS33Sachin NagIND– (DNS h5)––
DNS124Liam JonesIRL– (DNS h1)––
DNS133Ramón BravoMEX– (DNS h5)––
DNS134Ángel MaldonadoMEX– (DNS h2)––

Round One

Date31 July – 2 August 1948
FormatTop two in each heat and the next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Jimmy McLaneUSA4:42.2QOR
2–Bill SmithUSA4:45.3Q
3–John MarshallAUS4:51.4Q
4–Géza KádasHUN4:52.8Q
=5–Jack HaleGBR4:53.3Q
=5–Alex JanyFRA4:53.3Q
7–Per-Olof ÖstrandSWE4:53.5Q
8–Alfredo YantornoARG4:53.8Q
9–György MitróHUN4:56.0Q
10–Don JohnstonRSA4:57.4Q
11–Miroslav BartůšekTCH4:57.9q
12–Bill HeusnerUSA4:58.3Q
13–Branko VidovićYUG4:58.7q
14–Janko PuharYUG5:00.8q
15–Marijan StipetićYUG5:01.4q
16–Imre NyékiHUN5:01.8Q
17–Luis GonzálezCOL5:02.1
18–Roy BothamGBR5:03.4
19–Jo BernardoFRA5:03.8
20–Florbel PérezURU5:04.7
21–René CornuFRA5:05.2
22–José DurañonaARG5:05.8
23–Garrick AgnewAUS5:06.1
24–Luis ChildCOL5:08.5
25–Isidoro Martínez-VelaESP5:10.0
26–Juan GarayARG5:10.4
27–Doug GibsonCAN5:13.4
28–Isidoro PérezESP5:16.1
29–Ari GuðmundssonISL5:16.2
30–Alejandro FebreroESP5:16.9
31–Tom HoltGBR5:20.7
32–Derek OatwayBER5:20.9
=33–Allen GilchristCAN5:21.5
=33–Sambiao BasanungPHI5:21.5
35–Walter SchneiderSUI5:25.5
36–Walter BardgettBER5:37.2
37–Robert CookBER5:37.9
38–Bimal ChandraIND5:38.6
39–Jack HakimEGY5:40.3
40–Anwar Aziz ChaudhryPAK6:17.4
41–Sultan Karim AliPAK7:16.9
DNS–Liam JonesIRL–
DNS–Ángel MaldonadoMEX–
DNS–Taha El-GamalEGY–
DNS–Sachin NagIND–
DNS–Ramón BravoMEX–

Heat #1

Time31 July 1948 — 19:00
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Jimmy McLaneUSA4:42.2QOR
2–Imre NyékiHUN5:01.8Q
3–Roy BothamGBR5:03.4
4–José DurañonaARG5:05.8
5–Alejandro FebreroESP5:16.9
6–Robert CookBER5:37.9
7–Jack HakimEGY5:40.3
DNS–Liam JonesIRL–

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Alfredo YantornoARG4:53.8Q
2–Don JohnstonRSA4:57.4Q
3–Miroslav BartůšekTCH4:57.9q
4–Jo BernardoFRA5:03.8
5–Doug GibsonCAN5:13.4
6–Walter SchneiderSUI5:25.5
7–Walter BardgettBER5:37.2
DNS–Ángel MaldonadoMEX–

Heat #3

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Jack HaleGBR4:53.3Q
2–Alex JanyFRA4:53.3Q
3–Marijan StipetićYUG5:01.4q
4–Garrick AgnewAUS5:06.1
5–Luis ChildCOL5:08.5
6–Allen GilchristCAN5:21.5
7–Anwar Aziz ChaudhryPAK6:17.4

Heat #4

Time2 August 1948 — 19:00
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–György MitróHUN4:56.0Q
2–Bill HeusnerUSA4:58.3Q
3–Branko VidovićYUG4:58.7q
4–Isidoro Martínez-VelaESP5:10.0
5–Juan GarayARG5:10.4
6–Derek OatwayBER5:20.9
7–Bimal ChandraIND5:38.6
DNS–Taha El-GamalEGY–

Heat #5

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Géza KádasHUN4:52.8Q
2–Per-Olof ÖstrandSWE4:53.5Q
3–Florbel PérezURU5:04.7
4–René CornuFRA5:05.2
5–Isidoro PérezESP5:16.1
6–Sambiao BasanungPHI5:21.5
DNS–Sachin NagIND–
DNS–Ramón BravoMEX–

Heat #6

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Bill SmithUSA4:45.3Q
2–John MarshallAUS4:51.4Q
3–Janko PuharYUG5:00.8q
4–Luis GonzálezCOL5:02.1
5–Ari GuðmundssonISL5:16.2
6–Tom HoltGBR5:20.7
7–Sultan Karim AliPAK7:16.9

Semi-Finals

Date2 August 1948 — 21:00
FormatTop two in each heat and the next four fastest advanced to the final.
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Géza KádasHUN4:47.8Q
2–Bill SmithUSA4:48.4Q
3–Jimmy McLaneUSA4:49.5Q
4–John MarshallAUS4:50.0Q
5–György MitróHUN4:50.8q
6–Alex JanyFRA4:51.3q
7–Jack HaleGBR4:51.4q
8–Alfredo YantornoARG4:57.3q
9–Bill HeusnerUSA4:57.4
10–Marijan StipetićYUG4:58.6
=11–Miroslav BartůšekTCH4:58.7
=11–Janko PuharYUG4:58.7
13–Branko VidovićYUG4:59.4
14–Don JohnstonRSA4:59.5
DNS–Per-Olof ÖstrandSWE–
DNS–Imre NyékiHUN–

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Jimmy McLaneUSA4:49.5Q
2–John MarshallAUS4:50.0Q
3–György MitróHUN4:50.8q
4–Jack HaleGBR4:51.4q
5–Marijan StipetićYUG4:58.6
6–Miroslav BartůšekTCH4:58.7
7–Branko VidovićYUG4:59.4
DNS–Per-Olof ÖstrandSWE–

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Géza KádasHUN4:47.8Q
2–Bill SmithUSA4:48.4Q
3–Alex JanyFRA4:51.3q
4–Alfredo YantornoARG4:57.3q
5–Bill HeusnerUSA4:57.4
6–Janko PuharYUG4:58.7
7–Don JohnstonRSA4:59.5
DNS–Imre NyékiHUN–

Final Round

Date4 August 1948 — 19:00
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Bill SmithUSA4:41.0OR
2–Jimmy McLaneUSA4:43.4
3–John MarshallAUS4:47.4
4–Géza KádasHUN4:49.4
5–György MitróHUN4:49.9
6–Alex JanyFRA4:51.4
7–Jack HaleGBR4:55.9
8–Alfredo YantornoARG4:58.7