Ringneck Pheasant

The men's 400 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1928 Summer Olympics programme.^[1] It was the fifth appearance of the event, which was established in 1908. The competition was held from Tuesday to Thursday, 7 to 9 August 1928.

Twenty-six swimmers from 17 nations competed.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1928 Summer Olympics.

World Record	4:50.3	Arne Borg	Stockholm (SWE)	11 September 1925
Olympic Record	5:04.2	Johnny Weissmuller	Paris (FRA)	18 July 1924

In the final Alberto Zorrilla bettered the Olympic record to 5:01.6 minutes.

Results

Heats

Tuesday 7 August 1928: The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced.

Heat 1

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Austin Clapp	United States	5:13.4	Q
2	Nobuo Arai	Japan	5:23.4	Q
3	Friedel Berges	Germany	5:27.8
4	James Thompson	Canada	Unknown

Heat 2

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Buster Crabbe	United States	5:09.8	Q
2	Hiroshi Yoneyama	Japan	5:17.8	Q
3	Albert Vandeplancke	France	5:20.0	q
4	Géza Szigritz	Hungary	5:41.0
5	Arthur Watts	Great Britain	Unknown

Heat 3

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Garnet Ault	Canada	5:18.8	Q
2	Herbert Heinrich	Germany	5:20.0	Q
3	Václav Antoš	Czechoslovakia	5:39.8
4	Taburan Tamse	Philippines	5:39.8

Heat 4

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Arne Borg	Sweden	5:09.6	Q
2	Ray Ruddy	United States	5:26.4	Q
3	Walter Handschuhmacher	Germany	5:32.0
4	Rezső Wanié	Hungary	5:35.2

Heat 5

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Katsuo Takaishi	Japan	5:22.8	Q
2	Boy Charlton	Australia	5:23.0	Q
3	Paolo Costoli	Italy	Unknown
4	Adán Gordón	Panama	Unknown
5	Hernán Téllez	Chile	Unknown

Heat 6

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Alberto Zorrilla	Argentina	5:19.2	Q
2	Jack Hatfield	Great Britain	5:32.8	Q
3	David Lindsay	New Zealand	5:38.6
4	Billy Broderick	Ireland	Unknown

Semifinals

Wednesday 8 August 1928: The fastest three in each semi-final advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Alberto Zorrilla	Argentina	5:11.4	Q
2	Boy Charlton	Australia	5:13.6	Q
3	Ray Ruddy	United States	5:20.6	Q
4	Garnet Ault	Canada	Unknown
5	Hiroshi Yoneyama	Japan	Unknown
—	Jack Hatfield	Great Britain	DNS
—	Nobuo Arai	Japan	DNS

Semifinal 2

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Arne Borg	Sweden	5:05.4	Q
2	Buster Crabbe	United States	5:06.2	Q
3	Austin Clapp	United States	5:06.8	Q
4	Katsuo Takaishi	Japan	Unknown
5	Herbert Heinrich	Germany	Unknown
6	Albert Vandeplancke	France	Unknown

Final

Friday 10 August 1928:

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
	Alberto Zorrilla	Argentina	5:01.6	OR
	Boy Charlton	Australia	5:03.6
	Arne Borg	Sweden	5:04.6
4	Buster Crabbe	United States	5:05.4
5	Austin Clapp	United States	5:16.0
6	Ray Ruddy	United States	5:25.0