| | Event type

400 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	30 August 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München
Participants	29 from 17 countries

Shane Gould was favored, as she was in every freestyle event in Munich. She held the world record, set at a meet in Santa Clara, California in July 1971. But she had lost the 100 free final the day before, and was considered slightly vulnerable. But it was not to be, as Gould took the lead comfortably on the first lap, and simply kept pulling ahead. She eventually won by over three seconds, at least 10 metres of open water between Gould and silver medalist Novella Calligaris of Italy, which was the first ever Olympic medal for Italy by a female swimmer. Trailing in third was East German Gudrun Wegner, who held off a fast-closing Shirley Babashoff (USA).

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Shane Gould	AUS	4:28.46 (1 h3)	4:19.04 (1)	Gold
2	Novella Calligaris	ITA	4:24.14 (1 h4)	4:22.44 (2)	Silver
3	Gudrun Wegner	GDR	4:25.13 (3 h4)	4:23.11 (3)	Bronze
4	Shirley Babashoff	USA	4:31.98 (1 h2)	4:23.59 (4)
5	Jenny Wylie	USA	4:27.53 (1 h1)	4:24.07 (5)
6	Keena Rothhammer	USA	4:24.82 (2 h4)	4:24.22 (6)
7	Hansje Bunschoten	NED	4:31.76 (2 h3)	4:29.70 (7)
8	Anke Rijnders	NED	4:29.94 (2 h1)	4:31.51 (8)
9	Karin Tülling	GDR	4:32.56 (3 h1)	–
10	Uta Schütz	FRG	4:34.67 (3 h3)	–
11	Karen Moras	AUS	4:36.14 (2 h2)	–
12	Federica Stabilini	ITA	4:36.32 (4 h1)	–
13	Mary Beth Rondeau	CAN	4:36.71 (3 h2)	–
14	Narelle Moras	AUS	4:37.57 (4 h3)	–
15	Susan Edmondson	GBR	4:39.10 (5 h3)	–
16	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	4:39.14 (5 h1)	–
17	Anne Marie McCaffrey	CAN	4:39.92 (4 h2)	–
18	Olga de Ángulo	COL	4:40.09 (4 h4)	–
19	Jaynie Parkhouse	NZL	4:40.24 (5 h4)	–
20	Ileana Morales	VEN	4:44.73 (6 h3)	–
21	June Green	GBR	4:45.81 (6 h4)	–
22	Roselina Ángel	COL	4:45.97 (5 h2)	–
23	Belinda Phillips	JAM	4:47.54 (6 h2)	–
24	Helga Wagner	FRG	4:47.61 (6 h1)	–
25	Diana Sutherland	GBR	4:47.66 (7 h3)	–
26	Eleni Avlonitou	GRE	4:52.10 (7 h4)	–
27	Kirsten Knudsen	DEN	4:53.76 (7 h1)	–
28	Hsu Yue-Yun	TPE	4:58.57 (7 h2)	–
29	Patricia López	ARG	4:59.68 (8 h4)	–
DNS	Elke Sehmisch	GDR	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Mireille Bassoul	LBN	– (DNS h3)	–

Round One (30 August 1972 — 11:35)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	–	Jenny Wylie	USA	1:03.84 (2) 1:07.51 (1)	2:11.35 (1) 1:08.35 (1)	3:19.70 (1) 1:07.83 (1)	4:27.53	QOR
2	–	Anke Rijnders	NED	1:03.97 (3) 1:07.91 (3)	2:11.88 (3) 1:08.96 (2)	3:20.84 (2) 1:09.10 (2)	4:29.94	Q
3	–	Karin Tülling	GDR	1:03.74 (1) 1:07.73 (2)	2:11.47 (2) 1:10.52 (3)	3:21.99 (3) 1:10.57 (4)	4:32.56
4	–	Federica Stabilini	ITA	1:06.08 (5) 1:09.52 (4)	2:15.60 (5) 1:11.04 (4)	3:26.64 (4) 1:09.68 (3)	4:36.32
5	–	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	1:05.09 (4) 1:10.17 (5)	2:15.26 (4) 1:12.07 (5)	3:27.33 (5) 1:11.81 (5)	4:39.14
6	–	Helga Wagner	FRG	1:07.00 (6) 1:13.00 (6)	2:20.00 (6) 1:14.76 (6)	3:34.76 (6) 1:12.85 (6)	4:47.61
7	–	Kirsten Knudsen	DEN	1:08.46 (7) 1:14.45 (7)	2:22.91 (7) 1:16.30 (7)	3:39.21 (7) 1:14.55 (7)	4:53.76

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	–	Shirley Babashoff	USA	1:04.73 (1) 1:09.06 (1)	2:13.79 (1) 1:09.65 (1)	3:23.44 (1) 1:08.54 (1)	4:31.98	Q
2	–	Karen Moras	AUS	1:05.73 (2) 1:09.62 (2)	2:15.35 (2) 1:11.10 (2)	3:26.45 (2) 1:09.69 (3)	4:36.14
3	–	Mary Beth Rondeau	CAN	1:06.43 (4) 1:10.23 (3)	2:16.66 (3) 1:11.14 (3)	3:27.80 (3) 1:08.91 (2)	4:36.71
4	–	Anne Marie McCaffrey	CAN	1:06.04 (3) 1:10.96 (4)	2:17.00 (4) 1:12.24 (4)	3:29.24 (4) 1:10.68 (4)	4:39.92
5	–	Roselina Ángel	COL	1:07.90 (6) 1:12.71 (5)	2:20.61 (5) 1:12.71 (5)	3:33.32 (5) 1:12.65 (6)	4:45.97
6	–	Belinda Phillips	JAM	1:07.47 (5) 1:13.23 (6)	2:20.70 (6) 1:14.43 (6)	3:35.13 (6) 1:12.41 (5)	4:47.54
7	–	Hsu Yue-Yun	TPE	1:08.33 (7) 1:14.55 (7)	2:22.88 (7) 1:17.64 (7)	3:40.52 (7) 1:18.05 (7)	4:58.57
DNS	–	Elke Sehmisch	GDR	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	–	Shane Gould	AUS	1:04.88 (3) 1:07.71 (1)	2:12.59 (1) 1:08.62 (1)	3:21.21 (1) 1:07.25 (1)	4:28.46	Q
2	–	Hansje Bunschoten	NED	1:04.48 (1) 1:08.38 (2)	2:12.86 (2) 1:10.40 (3)	3:23.26 (2) 1:08.50 (2)	4:31.76	Q
3	–	Uta Schütz	FRG	1:04.68 (2) 1:09.67 (3)	2:14.35 (3) 1:10.32 (2)	3:24.67 (3) 1:10.00 (4)	4:34.67
4	–	Narelle Moras	AUS	1:06.02 (5) 1:10.77 (4)	2:16.79 (4) 1:11.06 (4)	3:27.85 (4) 1:09.72 (3)	4:37.57
5	–	Susan Edmondson	GBR	1:05.65 (4) 1:11.18 (5)	2:16.83 (5) 1:11.32 (5)	3:28.15 (5) 1:10.95 (5)	4:39.10
6	–	Ileana Morales	VEN	1:06.87 (6) 1:12.24 (6)	2:19.11 (6) 1:13.30 (6)	3:32.41 (6) 1:12.32 (6)	4:44.73
7	–	Diana Sutherland	GBR	1:07.29 (7) 1:12.83 (7)	2:20.12 (7) 1:13.64 (7)	3:33.76 (7) 1:13.90 (7)	4:47.66
DNS	–	Mireille Bassoul	LBN	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	–	Novella Calligaris	ITA	1:03.87 (1) 1:06.59 (1)	2:10.46 (1) 1:07.74 (3)	3:18.20 (1) 1:05.94 (1)	4:24.14	QOR
2	–	Keena Rothhammer	USA	1:04.59 (3) 1:06.81 (2)	2:11.40 (2) 1:06.91 (2)	3:18.31 (2) 1:06.51 (2)	4:24.82	Q
3	–	Gudrun Wegner	GDR	1:04.50 (2) 1:07.09 (3)	2:11.59 (3) 1:06.82 (1)	3:18.41 (3) 1:06.72 (3)	4:25.13	Q
4	–	Olga de Ángulo	COL	1:06.85 (5) 1:10.95 (5)	2:17.80 (4) 1:11.79 (4)	3:29.59 (4) 1:10.50 (4)	4:40.09
5	–	Jaynie Parkhouse	NZL	1:07.12 (6) 1:10.70 (4)	2:17.82 (5) 1:11.87 (5)	3:29.69 (5) 1:10.55 (5)	4:40.24
6	–	June Green	GBR	1:06.21 (4) 1:12.53 (6)	2:18.74 (6) 1:14.43 (6)	3:33.17 (6) 1:12.64 (6)	4:45.81
7	–	Eleni Avlonitou	GRE	1:08.06 (7) 1:14.06 (7)	2:22.12 (7) 1:15.76 (7)	3:37.88 (7) 1:14.22 (7)	4:52.10
8	–	Patricia López	ARG	1:10.75 (8) 1:16.43 (8)	2:27.18 (8) 1:17.03 (8)	3:44.21 (8) 1:15.47 (8)	4:59.68

Final (30 August 1972 — 18:40)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	2	Shane Gould	AUS	1:01.50 (1) 1:05.54 (1)	2:07.04 (1) 1:06.51 (1)	3:13.55 (1) 1:05.49 (4)	4:19.04	WR
2	4	Novella Calligaris	ITA	1:03.64 (5) 1:06.37 (2)	2:10.01 (3) 1:06.99 (2)	3:17.00 (2) 1:05.44 (3)	4:22.44
3	3	Gudrun Wegner	GDR	1:03.70 (7) 1:06.53 (4)	2:10.23 (4) 1:07.47 (4)	3:17.70 (4) 1:05.41 (2)	4:23.11
4	8	Shirley Babashoff	USA	1:04.64 (8) 1:08.29 (7)	2:12.93 (8) 1:07.04 (3)	3:19.97 (6) 1:03.62 (1)	4:23.59
5	6	Jenny Wylie	USA	1:03.48 (4) 1:07.23 (5)	2:10.71 (5) 1:07.70 (5)	3:18.41 (5) 1:05.66 (5)	4:24.07
6	5	Keena Rothhammer	USA	1:02.57 (2) 1:06.40 (3)	2:08.97 (2) 1:08.20 (6)	3:17.17 (3) 1:07.05 (6)	4:24.22
7	1	Hansje Bunschoten	NED	1:03.65 (6) 1:07.75 (6)	2:11.40 (6) 1:09.53 (8)	3:20.93 (7) 1:08.77 (7)	4:29.70
8	7	Anke Rijnders	NED	1:03.46 (3) 1:08.62 (8)	2:12.08 (7) 1:09.20 (7)	3:21.28 (8) 1:10.23 (8)	4:31.51