| | Event type

400 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	19 – 20 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	30 from 17 countries

At the US Olympic Trials Debbie Meyer had set world records in the 200, 400, and 800 metre freestyles. Better in the distances she had already set five world records in this event, five in the 800, and three in the non-Olympic 1,500 free. She was the class of the field, opening a two body length lead by 100 metres, and simply opening it up throughout the race, to win by almost four seconds over teammate Linda Gustavson, who the day before had won a bronze in the 100 freestyle. Australia’s Karen Moras, only 14-years-old, won the bronze medal, edging out American Pam Kruse.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Debbie Meyer	USA	4:35.0 (1 h2)	4:31.8 (1)	Gold
2	Linda Gustavson	USA	4:41.4 (1 h4)	4:35.5 (2)	Silver
3	Karen Moras	AUS	4:39.6 (1 h5)	4:37.0 (3)	Bronze
4	Pam Kruse	USA	4:45.2 (1 h3)	4:37.2 (4)
5	Gabriele Wetzko	GDR	4:49.8 (2 h1)	4:40.2 (5)
6	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	4:43.9 (1 h1)	4:42.2 (6)
7	Angela Coughlan	CAN	4:47.4 (1 h6)	4:51.9 (7)
8	Elisabeth Morris	SWE	4:51.6 (2 h5)	4:53.8 (8)
9	Denise Langford	AUS	4:52.2 (2 h6)	–
10	Marjatta Hara	FIN	4:53.0 (2 h3)	–
11	Laura Vaca	MEX	4:53.3 (3 h1)	–
12	Marie-José Kersaudy	FRA	4:57.3 (2 h4)	–
13	Kristina Moir	PUR	4:57.7 (3 h4)	–
14	Eva Sigg	FIN	4:58.5 (3 h6)	–
15	Novella Calligaris	ITA	4:59.4 (3 h5)	–
16	Helen Elliott	PHI	4:59.9 (4 h1)	–
=17	Norma Amezcua	MEX	5:00.5 (2 h2)	–
=17	Dominique Mollier	FRA	5:00.5 (3 h2)	–
19	Christine Deakes	AUS	5:01.5 (4 h6)	–
20	Patricia Olano	COL	5:01.8 (5 h6)	–
21	Sue Williams	GBR	5:02.7 (4 h4)	–
22	Consuelo Changanachi	PER	5:02.9 (4 h5)	–
23	Sheila Clayton	GBR	5:08.0 (4 h2)	–
24	Olga de Ángulo	COL	5:08.6 (3 h3)	–
25	Sally Davison	GBR	5:11.2 (4 h3)	–
26	Mónica E. Figueroa	URU	5:21.0 (5 h4)	–
27	Silvana Asturias	GUA	5:25.6 (5 h5)	–
28	Lylián Castillo	URU	5:30.2 (5 h3)	–
29	Shen Bao-Ni	TPE	5:41.8 (5 h1)	–
30	Lorna Blake	PUR	5:54.7 (6 h3)	–
DNS	Donatella Ferracuti	ESA	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	Claude Mandonnaud	FRA	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Pat Chan	SGP	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Elisabeth Berglund	SWE	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Mirjana Šegrt	YUG	– (DNS h3)	–
DNS	Ingrid Gustavsson	SWE	– (DNS h4)	–
DNS	Ana Marcial	PUR	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	Oľga Kozičová	TCH	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	Oei Liana	TPE	– (DNS h6)	–

Round One (19 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	1:05.8 (1) 1:11.1 (1)	2:16.9 (1) 1:13.5 (1)	3:30.4 (1) 1:13.5 (1)	4:43.9	Q
2	2	Gabriele Wetzko	GDR	1:08.0 (3) 1:12.3 (2)	2:20.3 (2) 1:14.0 (2)	3:34.3 (2) 1:15.5 (3)	4:49.8	Q
3	3	Laura Vaca	MEX	1:07.5 (2) 1:13.9 (3)	2:21.4 (3) 1:16.1 (3)	3:37.5 (3) 1:15.8 (4)	4:53.3
4	6	Helen Elliott	PHI	1:11.9 (4) 1:16.0 (4)	2:27.9 (4) 1:16.6 (4)	3:44.5 (4) 1:15.4 (2)	4:59.9
5	5	Shen Bao-Ni	TPE	1:13.8 (5) 1:27.1 (5)	2:40.9 (5) 1:31.6 (5)	4:12.5 (5) 1:29.3 (5)	5:41.8
DNS	–	Donatella Ferracuti	ESA	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	3	Debbie Meyer	USA	1:05.3 (1) 1:09.8 (1)	2:15.1 (1) 1:10.9 (1)	3:26.0 (1) 1:09.0 (1)	4:35.0	QOR
2	4	Norma Amezcua	MEX	1:11.2 (2) 1:16.2 (=2)	2:27.4 (2) 1:17.5 (=2)	3:44.9 (2) 1:15.6 (3)	5:00.5
3	5	Dominique Mollier	FRA	1:11.4 (3) 1:16.2 (=2)	2:27.6 (3) 1:17.5 (=2)	3:45.1 (3) 1:15.4 (2)	5:00.5
4	6	Sheila Clayton	GBR	1:12.0 (4) 1:17.8 (4)	2:29.8 (4) 1:19.5 (4)	3:49.3 (4) 1:18.7 (4)	5:08.0
DNS	–	Claude Mandonnaud	FRA	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Pat Chan	SGP	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Elisabeth Berglund	SWE	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	5	Pam Kruse	USA	1:10.2 (1) 1:13.1 (1)	2:23.3 (1) 1:10.9 (1)	3:34.2 (1) 1:11.0 (1)	4:45.2	Q
2	7	Marjatta Hara	FIN	1:10.3 (2) 1:13.9 (2)	2:24.2 (2) 1:14.9 (2)	3:39.1 (2) 1:13.9 (2)	4:53.0
3	4	Olga de Ángulo	COL	1:12.3 (4) 1:18.5 (4)	2:30.8 (4) 1:19.8 (3)	3:50.6 (3) 1:18.0 (3)	5:08.6
4	6	Sally Davison	GBR	1:11.3 (3) 1:18.1 (3)	2:29.4 (3) 1:21.4 (4)	3:50.8 (4) 1:20.4 (4)	5:11.2
5	3	Lylián Castillo	URU	1:14.1 (5) 1:23.6 (5)	2:37.7 (5) 1:26.7 (5)	4:04.4 (5) 1:25.8 (5)	5:30.2
6	2	Lorna Blake	PUR	1:18.0 (6) 1:29.8 (6)	2:47.8 (6) 1:34.2 (6)	4:22.0 (6) 1:32.7 (6)	5:54.7
DNS	–	Mirjana Šegrt	YUG	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	2	Linda Gustavson	USA	1:05.8 (1) 1:10.0 (1)	2:15.8 (1) 1:12.7 (1)	3:28.5 (1) 1:12.9 (1)	4:41.4	Q
2	5	Marie-José Kersaudy	FRA	1:08.4 (2) 1:13.7 (2)	2:22.1 (2) 1:18.0 (3)	3:40.1 (2) 1:17.2 (3)	4:57.3
3	6	Kristina Moir	PUR	1:11.2 (4) 1:15.5 (3)	2:26.7 (4) 1:16.0 (2)	3:42.7 (3) 1:15.0 (2)	4:57.7
4	4	Sue Williams	GBR	1:10.1 (3) 1:15.7 (4)	2:25.8 (3) 1:18.2 (4)	3:44.0 (4) 1:18.7 (4)	5:02.7
5	3	Mónica E. Figueroa	URU	1:13.1 (5) 1:19.8 (5)	2:32.9 (5) 1:24.3 (5)	3:57.2 (5) 1:23.8 (5)	5:21.0
DNS	–	Ingrid Gustavsson	SWE	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	5	Karen Moras	AUS	1:07.2 (1) 1:10.5 (1)	2:17.7 (1) 1:11.4 (1)	3:29.1 (1) 1:10.5 (1)	4:39.6	Q
2	2	Elisabeth Morris	SWE	1:10.6 (3) 1:13.8 (2)	2:24.4 (2) 1:14.3 (2)	3:38.7 (2) 1:12.9 (2)	4:51.6	Q
3	6	Novella Calligaris	ITA	1:09.5 (2) 1:16.4 (3)	2:25.9 (3) 1:17.6 (4)	3:43.5 (3) 1:15.9 (3)	4:59.4
4	3	Consuelo Changanachi	PER	1:13.5 (4) 1:16.9 (4)	2:30.4 (4) 1:16.4 (3)	3:46.8 (4) 1:16.1 (4)	5:02.9
5	2	Silvana Asturias	GUA	1:15.2 (5) 1:21.0 (5)	2:36.2 (5) 1:25.2 (5)	4:01.4 (5) 1:24.2 (5)	5:25.6
DNS	–	Ana Marcial	PUR	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Oľga Kozičová	TCH	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	3	Angela Coughlan	CAN	1:08.0 (1) 1:11.4 (1)	2:19.4 (1) 1:14.2 (1)	3:33.6 (1) 1:13.8 (1)	4:47.4	Q
2	2	Denise Langford	AUS	1:08.6 (2) 1:13.3 (2)	2:21.9 (2) 1:14.9 (2)	3:36.8 (2) 1:15.4 (3)	4:52.2
3	4	Eva Sigg	FIN	1:11.1 (4) 1:16.2 (4)	2:27.3 (4) 1:16.0 (3)	3:43.3 (4) 1:15.2 (2)	4:58.5
4	6	Christine Deakes	AUS	1:10.3 (3) 1:15.3 (3)	2:25.6 (3) 1:17.3 (5)	3:42.9 (3) 1:18.6 (5)	5:01.5
5	5	Patricia Olano	COL	1:12.5 (5) 1:16.5 (5)	2:29.0 (5) 1:16.3 (4)	3:45.3 (5) 1:16.5 (4)	5:01.8
DNS	–	Oei Liana	TPE	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Final (20 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	Debbie Meyer	USA	1:04.1 (1) 1:09.5 (1)	2:13.6 (1) 1:09.9 (1)	3:23.5 (1) 1:08.3 (1)	4:31.8	OR
2	3	Linda Gustavson	USA	1:06.3 (2) 1:10.0 (2)	2:16.3 (2) 1:10.1 (2)	3:26.4 (2) 1:09.1 (2)	4:35.5
3	5	Karen Moras	AUS	1:06.9 (4) 1:10.4 (=4)	2:17.3 (4) 1:10.5 (3)	3:27.8 (4) 1:09.2 (3)	4:37.0
4	2	Pam Kruse	USA	1:06.6 (3) 1:10.1 (3)	2:16.7 (3) 1:11.0 (5)	3:27.7 (3) 1:09.5 (4)	4:37.2
5	1	Gabriele Wetzko	GDR	1:08.2 (7) 1:10.4 (=4)	2:18.6 (6) 1:10.9 (4)	3:29.5 (=5) 1:10.7 (5)	4:40.2
6	6	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	1:07.1 (5) 1:10.4 (=4)	2:17.5 (5) 1:12.0 (6)	3:29.5 (=5) 1:12.7 (6)	4:42.2
7	7	Angela Coughlan	CAN	1:08.1 (6) 1:12.2 (7)	2:20.3 (7) 1:15.1 (8)	3:35.4 (7) 1:16.5 (8)	4:51.9
8	8	Elisabeth Morris	SWE	1:11.0 (8) 1:14.6 (8)	2:25.6 (8) 1:14.6 (7)	3:40.2 (8) 1:13.6 (7)	4:53.8