| | Event type
400 metres Freestyle, Men
| Date | 2 August 1984 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympic Swim Stadium, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 36 from 25 countries |
The best 400 freestyler in the world was not in Los Angeles. That was Vladimir Salnikov of the USSR, defending champion in this event, 1978 and 1982 World Champion at both the 400 and 1,500, and a five-time world record holder in this event. Salnikov had swum 3:48.23 at Moscow in February 1983 for the current world mark as the Los Angeles Olympics opened. It was never challenged. The favorites in LA were American George DiCarlo and West German Thomas Fahrner. DiCarlo qualified comfortably in third place, as the leading morning qualifier was Fahrner’s teammate Stefan Pfeiffer, followed by American John Mykkanen, and DiCarlo. Fahrner wanted to save himself for the evening final and only aimed for a qualifying time that would put him in outside lane, but he misjudged the qualifying times, placed ninth, and did not make the final.
In the final DiCarlo and Mykkanen fought out a very close race, with DiCarlo winning gold in 3:51.23, nowhere near Salnikov’s times. Mykkanen won silver followed by Australian Justin Lemberg for the bronze. DiCarlo’s set an Olympic record, bettering Salnikov’s 3:51.31 from Moscow, but it did not last long. The B final started 10 minutes after the main final, and Thomas Fahrner elected to race. Putting everything he had into it, Fahrner finished in 3:50.91 to set the Olympic record, despite finishing 9th overall in the event. The officials from FINA initially considered not awarding the Olympic record to Fahrner, but quickly reversed themselves.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | B Final | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 456 | George DiCarlo |  USA | 3:53.44 (1 h5) | – | 3:51.23 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 477 | John Mykkanen | USA | 3:53.43 (1 h4) | – | 3:51.49 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 21 | Justin Lemberg |  AUS | 3:53.89 (1 h2) | – | 3:51.79 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | – | Stefan Pfeiffer |  FRG | 3:53.41 (1 h1) | – | 3:52.91 (4) | |||
| 5 | – | Franck Iacono |  FRA | 3:55.07 (2 h5) | – | 3:54.58 (5) | |||
| 6 | 508 | Darjan Petrič |  YUG | 3:54.39 (2 h4) | – | 3:54.88 (6) | |||
| 7 | 307 | Marco Dell'Uomo |  ITA | 3:55.00 (2 h1) | – | 3:55.44 (7) | |||
| 8 | 23 | Ron McKeon | AUS | 3:55.06 (3 h4) | – | 3:55.48 (8) | |||
| 9 | 193 | Thomas Fahrner | FRG | 3:55.26 (1 h3) | 3:50.91 (1) | – | |||
| 10 | 157 | Juan Escalas |  ESP | 3:55.93 (3 h1) | 3:55.25 (2) | – | |||
| 11 | 101 | Peter Szmidt |  CAN | 3:55.65 (2 h3) | 3:56.99 (3) | – | |||
| 12 | 315 | Stefano Grandi | ITA | 3:56.23 (3 h5) | 3:57.17 (4) | – | |||
| 13 | 385 | Arne Borgstrøm |  NOR | 3:57.88 (4 h5) | 3:57.46 (5) | – | |||
| 14 | – | Andy Astbury |  GBR | 3:58.41 (4 h3) | 3:58.14 (6) | – | |||
| 15 | 60 | Marcelo Jucá |  BRA | 3:57.43 (3 h2) | 3:58.23 (7) | – | |||
| 16 | 389 | Mike Davidson |  NZL | 3:57.88 (4 h4) | 3:58.24 (8) | – | |||
| 17 | 449 | Carlos Scanavino |  URU | 3:55.92 (3 h3) | – | – | 1 | ||
| 18 | 507 | Borut Petrič | YUG | 3:56.07 (2 h2) | – | – | 2 | ||
| 19 | 100 | Dave Shemilt | CAN | 3:58.43 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 20 | 47 | Marc Van De Weghe |  BEL | 4:00.01 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 21 | 427 | Anders Grillhammar |  SWE | 4:00.26 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 22 | – | Shigeo Ogata |  JPN | 4:02.97 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 428 | Anders Holmertz | SWE | 4:03.07 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 24 | 491 | Jean-Marie François |  VEN | 4:03.08 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 25 | 226 | Paul Howe | GBR | 4:04.07 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 26 | – | Alejandro Lecot |  ARG | 4:05.74 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 27 | 343 | Keisuke Okuno | JPN | 4:06.31 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 28 | 401 | William Wilson |  PHI | 4:06.86 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 29 | 444 | Gökhan Attaroğlu |  TUR | 4:07.07 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 30 | 136 | Franz Mortensen |  DEN | 4:09.80 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 31 | 1 | Evert Kroon |  AHO | 4:11.97 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 32 | 294 | Scott Newkirk |  ISV | 4:12.60 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 33 | 442 | Wu Ming-Hsun |  TPE | 4:13.11 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 34 | 445 | Ahmet Nakkaş | TUR | 4:16.49 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 35 | 440 | Lin Chun-Hong | TPE | 4:20.65 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 36 | 414 | Julian Bolling |  SRI | 4:23.42 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| – | Fabián Ferrari | ARG | – (DNS h4) | – | – |
Round One
| Date | 2 August 1984 — 8:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final. |
Heat #1
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 100 m | 200 m | 300 m | 100-200 m Time (Rank) | 200-300 m Time (Rank) | 300-400 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Stefan Pfeiffer | FRG | 3:53.41 | 57.65 (2) | 1:57.54 (2) | 2:56.21 (1) | 59.89 (2) | 58.67 (1) | 57.20 (1) | ||
| 2 | – | Marco Dell'Uomo | ITA | 3:55.00 | 57.04 (1) | 1:56.25 (1) | 2:56.38 (2) | 59.21 (1) | 1:00.13 (4) | 58.62 (2) | ||
| 3 | – | Juan Escalas | ESP | 3:55.93 | 57.99 (3) | 1:58.02 (3) | 2:57.07 (3) | 1:00.03 (3) | 59.05 (2) | 58.86 (3) | ||
| 4 | – | Anders Holmertz | SWE | 4:03.07 | 59.56 (5) | 2:01.23 (4) | 3:01.20 (4) | 1:01.67 (4) | 59.97 (3) | 1:01.87 (4) | ||
| 5 | – | Franz Mortensen | DEN | 4:09.80 | 58.88 (4) | 2:01.40 (5) | 3:05.10 (5) | 1:02.52 (5) | 1:03.70 (5) | 1:04.70 (7) | ||
| 6 | – | Scott Newkirk | ISV | 4:12.60 | 1:00.82 (6) | 2:04.17 (6) | 3:08.70 (6) | 1:03.35 (6) | 1:04.53 (7) | 1:03.90 (6) | ||
| 7 | – | Wu Ming-Hsun | TPE | 4:13.11 | 1:01.23 (7) | 2:05.21 (7) | 3:09.57 (7) | 1:03.98 (7) | 1:04.36 (6) | 1:03.54 (5) |
Heat #2
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 100 m | 200 m | 300 m | 100-200 m Time (Rank) | 200-300 m Time (Rank) | 300-400 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Justin Lemberg | AUS | 3:53.89 | 57.37 (1) | 1:56.82 (1) | 2:55.48 (1) | 59.45 (1) | 58.66 (1) | 58.41 (1) | ||
| 2 | – | Borut Petrič | YUG | 3:56.07 | 57.73 (2) | 1:57.20 (2) | 2:56.65 (2) | 59.47 (2) | 59.45 (2) | 59.42 (3) | ||
| 3 | – | Marcelo Jucá | BRA | 3:57.43 | 58.36 (3) | 1:58.37 (3) | 2:58.66 (3) | 1:00.01 (4) | 1:00.29 (4) | 58.77 (2) | ||
| 4 | – | Dave Shemilt | CAN | 3:58.43 | 58.86 (6) | 1:58.75 (4) | 2:58.71 (4) | 59.89 (3) | 59.96 (3) | 59.72 (4) | ||
| 5 | – | Marc Van De Weghe | BEL | 4:00.01 | 58.37 (4) | 1:58.83 (5) | 2:59.59 (5) | 1:00.46 (6) | 1:00.76 (5) | 1:00.42 (5) | ||
| 6 | – | Shigeo Ogata | JPN | 4:02.97 | 58.51 (5) | 1:58.96 (6) | 3:00.67 (6) | 1:00.45 (5) | 1:01.71 (6) | 1:02.30 (6) | ||
| 7 | – | Ahmet Nakkaş | TUR | 4:16.49 | 1:00.40 (7) | 2:04.37 (7) | 3:10.46 (7) | 1:03.97 (7) | 1:06.09 (7) | 1:06.03 (7) |
Heat #3
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 100 m | 200 m | 300 m | 100-200 m Time (Rank) | 200-300 m Time (Rank) | 300-400 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Thomas Fahrner | FRG | 3:55.26 | 57.60 (4) | 1:57.84 (2) | 2:57.85 (2) | 1:00.24 (2) | 1:00.01 (3) | 57.41 (1) | ||
| 2 | – | Peter Szmidt | CAN | 3:55.65 | 57.49 (3) | 1:57.98 (3) | 2:57.76 (1) | 1:00.49 (3) | 59.78 (2) | 57.89 (2) | ||
| 3 | – | Carlos Scanavino | URU | 3:55.92 | 57.37 (1) | 1:58.13 (4) | 2:57.88 (3) | 1:00.76 (5) | 59.75 (1) | 58.04 (3) | ||
| 4 | – | Andy Astbury | GBR | 3:58.41 | 57.40 (2) | 1:57.43 (1) | 2:58.17 (4) | 1:00.03 (1) | 1:00.74 (4) | 1:00.24 (4) | ||
| 5 | – | Anders Grillhammar | SWE | 4:00.26 | 57.99 (5) | 1:58.64 (5) | 2:59.62 (5) | 1:00.65 (4) | 1:00.98 (5) | 1:00.64 (5) | ||
| 6 | – | Alejandro Lecot | ARG | 4:05.74 | 1:00.05 (7) | 2:01.72 (7) | 3:04.03 (7) | 1:01.67 (6) | 1:02.31 (6) | 1:01.71 (6) | ||
| 7 | – | William Wilson | PHI | 4:06.86 | 59.36 (6) | 2:01.31 (6) | 3:03.74 (6) | 1:01.95 (7) | 1:02.43 (7) | 1:03.12 (7) |
Heat #4
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 100 m | 200 m | 300 m | 100-200 m Time (Rank) | 200-300 m Time (Rank) | 300-400 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | John Mykkanen | USA | 3:53.43 | 58.14 (4) | 1:57.21 (3) | 2:55.76 (1) | 59.07 (1) | 58.55 (1) | 57.67 (1) | ||
| 2 | – | Darjan Petrič | YUG | 3:54.39 | 57.42 (1) | 1:56.82 (1) | 2:56.50 (3) | 59.40 (3) | 59.68 (3) | 57.89 (2) | ||
| 3 | – | Ron McKeon | AUS | 3:55.06 | 57.69 (2) | 1:57.05 (2) | 2:56.39 (2) | 59.36 (2) | 59.34 (2) | 58.67 (3) | ||
| 4 | – | Mike Davidson | NZL | 3:57.88 | 57.93 (3) | 1:57.41 (4) | 2:57.60 (4) | 59.48 (4) | 1:00.19 (4) | 1:00.28 (4) | ||
| 5 | – | Jean-Marie François | VEN | 4:03.08 | 58.95 (5) | 1:58.93 (5) | 2:59.83 (5) | 59.98 (5) | 1:00.90 (5) | 1:03.25 (6) | ||
| 6 | – | Gökhan Attaroğlu | TUR | 4:07.07 | 59.02 (6) | 2:01.13 (6) | 3:04.35 (6) | 1:02.11 (6) | 1:03.22 (6) | 1:02.72 (5) | ||
| 7 | – | Julian Bolling | SRI | 4:23.42 | 1:03.03 (7) | 2:10.07 (7) | 3:17.42 (7) | 1:07.04 (7) | 1:07.35 (7) | 1:06.00 (7) | ||
| – | Fabián Ferrari | ARG | – | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | – | – | – |
Heat #5
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 100 m | 200 m | 300 m | 100-200 m Time (Rank) | 200-300 m Time (Rank) | 300-400 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | George DiCarlo | USA | 3:53.44 | 56.38 (1) | 1:55.50 (1) | 2:54.80 (1) | 59.12 (1) | 59.30 (1) | 58.64 (1) | ||
| 2 | – | Franck Iacono | FRA | 3:55.07 | 56.64 (2) | 1:55.92 (2) | 2:55.29 (2) | 59.28 (2) | 59.37 (2) | 59.78 (3) | ||
| 3 | – | Stefano Grandi | ITA | 3:56.23 | 57.71 (5) | 1:57.35 (4) | 2:57.46 (4) | 59.64 (4) | 1:00.11 (3) | 58.77 (2) | ||
| 4 | – | Arne Borgstrøm | NOR | 3:57.88 | 56.93 (3) | 1:56.24 (3) | 2:56.47 (3) | 59.31 (3) | 1:00.23 (4) | 1:01.41 (4) | ||
| 5 | – | Paul Howe | GBR | 4:04.07 | 57.59 (4) | 1:58.94 (5) | 3:01.84 (5) | 1:01.35 (5) | 1:02.90 (5) | 1:02.23 (5) | ||
| 6 | – | Keisuke Okuno | JPN | 4:06.31 | 57.91 (6) | 1:59.68 (6) | 3:02.81 (6) | 1:01.77 (6) | 1:03.13 (6) | 1:03.50 (7) | ||
| 7 | – | Evert Kroon | AHO | 4:11.97 | 1:00.10 (7) | 2:03.94 (7) | 3:08.49 (7) | 1:03.84 (7) | 1:04.55 (7) | 1:03.48 (6) | ||
| 8 | – | Lin Chun-Hong | TPE | 4:20.65 | 1:00.68 (8) | 2:06.01 (8) | 3:13.56 (8) | 1:05.33 (8) | 1:07.55 (8) | 1:07.09 (8) |
B Final
| Date | 2 August 1984 — 16:25 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 100 m | 200 m | 300 m | 100-200 m Time (Rank) | 200-300 m Time (Rank) | 300-400 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Thomas Fahrner | FRG | 3:50.91 | 55.66 (1) | 1:54.76 (1) | 2:53.37 (1) | 59.10 (2) | 58.61 (1) | 57.54 (1) | ||
| 2 | – | Juan Escalas | ESP | 3:55.25 | 57.50 (3) | 1:56.55 (2) | 2:55.58 (2) | 59.05 (1) | 59.03 (2) | 59.67 (5) | ||
| 3 | – | Peter Szmidt | CAN | 3:56.99 | 57.00 (2) | 1:57.21 (3) | 2:57.26 (3) | 1:00.21 (7) | 1:00.05 (4) | 59.73 (6) | ||
| 4 | – | Stefano Grandi | ITA | 3:57.17 | 58.84 (7) | 1:58.92 (7) | 2:59.21 (7) | 1:00.08 (6) | 1:00.29 (7) | 57.96 (2) | ||
| 5 | – | Arne Borgstrøm | NOR | 3:57.46 | 59.49 (8) | 1:59.28 (8) | 2:59.09 (6) | 59.79 (4) | 59.81 (3) | 58.37 (3) | ||
| 6 | – | Andy Astbury | GBR | 3:58.14 | 58.08 (5) | 1:57.67 (4) | 2:57.91 (4) | 59.59 (3) | 1:00.24 (6) | 1:00.23 (8) | ||
| 7 | – | Marcelo Jucá | BRA | 3:58.23 | 58.03 (4) | 1:58.61 (6) | 2:59.72 (8) | 1:00.58 (8) | 1:01.11 (8) | 58.51 (4) | ||
| 8 | – | Mike Davidson | NZL | 3:58.24 | 58.12 (6) | 1:58.12 (5) | 2:58.21 (5) | 1:00.00 (5) | 1:00.09 (5) | 1:00.03 (7) |
Final Round
| Date | 2 August 1984 — 16:15 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 100 m | 200 m | 300 m | 100-200 m Time (Rank) | 200-300 m Time (Rank) | 300-400 m Time (Rank) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | George DiCarlo | USA | 3:51.23 | 56.56 (1) | 1:55.27 (1) | 2:54.06 (1) | 58.71 (1) | 58.79 (4) | 57.17 (4) | ||
| 2 | – | John Mykkanen | USA | 3:51.49 | 57.98 (7) | 1:56.79 (5) | 2:54.67 (2) | 58.81 (3) | 57.88 (1) | 56.82 (=1) | ||
| 3 | – | Justin Lemberg | AUS | 3:51.79 | 57.54 (5) | 1:56.34 (2) | 2:54.86 (3) | 58.80 (2) | 58.52 (2) | 56.93 (3) | ||
| 4 | – | Stefan Pfeiffer | FRG | 3:52.91 | 58.21 (8) | 1:57.49 (8) | 2:56.09 (5) | 59.28 (5) | 58.60 (3) | 56.82 (=1) | ||
| 5 | – | Franck Iacono | FRA | 3:54.58 | 57.42 (4) | 1:56.82 (6) | 2:56.53 (6) | 59.40 (7) | 59.71 (6) | 58.05 (5) | ||
| 6 | – | Darjan Petrič | YUG | 3:54.88 | 57.24 (2) | 1:56.48 (3) | 2:56.01 (4) | 59.24 (4) | 59.53 (5) | 58.87 (8) | ||
| 7 | – | Marco Dell'Uomo | ITA | 3:55.44 | 57.61 (6) | 1:57.12 (7) | 2:56.89 (8) | 59.51 (8) | 59.77 (7) | 58.55 (6) | ||
| 8 | – | Ron McKeon | AUS | 3:55.48 | 57.41 (3) | 1:56.75 (4) | 2:56.85 (7) | 59.34 (6) | 1:00.10 (8) | 58.63 (7) |