Men 400m Freestyle Swimming Olympic Games 1936 Berlin, Germany - Wednesday, 12th August

Men 400m Freestyle Swimming Olympic Games 1936 Berlin, Germany - Wednesday, 12th August - Gold Medal: Jack Medica, United States

Final 15:20		time	gap	L	Y
1. Jack Medica	United States	4:44.5	OR	2	21
2. Shunpei Uto	Japan	4:45.6	+1.1s	3	17
3. Shozo Makino	Japan	4:48.1	+3.6s	7	21
4. Ralph Flanagan	United States	4:52.7	+8.2s	5	17
5. Hiroshi Negami	Japan	4:53.6	+9.1s	1	24
6. Jean Taris	France	4:53.8	+9.3s	6	27
7. Robert Leivers	Great Britain	5:00.9	+16.4s	4	21

Venue: Swimming Stadium, Imperial Sports Field. 34 Competitors from 16 Nations.

World Record: Jack Medica, United States 4:38.7 New Heaven, United States 30 August 1934

Olympic Record: Buster Crabbe, United States 4:48.4 Los Angeles, United States 10 August 1932

Todor 66	index Swimming OG
index Berlin 1956	index Swimming Berlin 1936


Men 100m Freestyle	Women 100m Freestyle
Men 400m Freestyle	Women 400m Freestyle
Men 1500m Freestyle
Men 100m Backstroke	Women 100m Backstroke
Men 200m Breaststroke	Women 200m Breaststroke
Men 4x200m Freestyle Relay	Women 4x100m Freestyle Relay

1948 Men 400m Freestyle

Men 400m Freestyle History

1932 Men 400m Freestyle

Unlike the 100, this race would follow the predicted course and turn into a triumph for the USA’s Jack Medica but only after a tremendous duel. Shumpei Uto took a lead over Medica but the American fought back and narrowed a lead. A spurt by the Japanese swimmer pushed him further ahead but his exertion took much out of him and Medica responded. Medica and Uto battled for gold in the final 50 metres with the American only taking the lead with 10 metres to go.

Semi-Finals - Tuesday, 11th August 10:00

First 3 from each Semi and Best 4th (Robert Leivers, Great Britain) advanced to Final.

Semi 1		time	gap	L	Y	Rk.
1. Shunpei Uto	Japan	4:48.4	+0.2s	1	17	3.
2. Ralph Flanagan	United States	4:49.9	+1.7s	3	17	4.
3. Hiroshi Negami	Japan	4:55.4	+7.2s	4	24	5.
4. John Macionis	United States	4:56.4	+8.2s	6	20	8.
5. Hans Freese	Germany	4:58.5	+10.3s	5	18	9.
6. Robert Pirie	Canada	4:58.7	+10.5s	2	20	10.
7. Odon Grof	Hungary	5:01.9	+13.7s	7	21	11.

Semi 2		time	gap	L	Y	Rk.
1. Shozo Makino	Japan	4:48.2		5	21	1.
2. Jack Medica	United States	4:48.2		4	21	1.
3. Jean Taris	France	4:55.6	+7.4s	2	27	6.
4. Robert Leivers	Great Britain	4:55.7	+7.5s	6	21	7.
5. Heinz Arendt	Germany	5:13.4	+25.2s	3	19	12.
6. Otto Przywara	Germany	5:14.9	+26.7s	7	21	13.
-. Walter Ledgard Sr	Peru	DNS		1	20	-.

Like the 100 metre freestyle at the same Games, this event was predicted to be a battle between an American world record holder and a strong Japanese trio.
One competitor who did not qualify from his heat was Brazil’s João Havelange. Havelange became one of the world’s leading sports administrators as both a long serving member of the IOC and as president of FIFA, the governing body of world football.

Heats - Monday, 10th August 15:15

First 2 from each Heat and 2 Best 3rds (Robert Pirie, Canada and Heinz Arendt, Germany) advanced to Semi-Finals.

Heat 1		time	gap	L	Y	Rk.
1. Hiroshi Negami	Japan	4:52.6	+7.1s	1	24	3.
2. John Macionis	United States	4:57.1	+11.6s	3	20	8.
3. Heinz Arendt	Germany	4:57.2	+11.7s	4	19	9.
4. Arpad Lengyel	Hungary	4:57.7	+12.2s	7	20	11.
5. Edmund Pader	Austria	5:16.9	+31.4s	6	_	21.
6. Robert Hooper	Canada	5:17.2	+31.7s	5	17	22.
-. Roger Zirilli	Switzerland	DNS		2	25	-.

Heat 2		time	gap	L	Y	Rk.
1. Robert Leivers	Great Britain	4:57.2	+11.7s	1	21	9.
2. Otto Przywara	Germany	5:11.7	+26.2s	5	21	18.
3. Aage Even Hellstrom	Denmark	5:18.2	+32.7s	3	15	24.
4. Joao Havelange	Brazil	5:31.5	+46.0s	2	20	30.
-. Gunther Zobernig	Austria	DNS		4	20	-.
-. Charlie Chan	China	DNS		6	25	-.
-. Dudley Spurling	Bermuda	DNS		7	22	-.

Heat 3		time	gap	L	Y	Rk.
1. Shozo Makino	Japan	4:51.3	+5.8s	4	21	2.
2. Ralph Flanagan	United States	4:54.7	+9.2s	2	17	5.
3. Norman Wainwright	Great Britain	5:03.6	+18.1s	7	22	14.
4. Robert Williams Hamerton	Canada	5:13.3	+27.8s	1	25	20.
5. Jorgen Kurt Jorgensen	Denmark	5:17.8	+32.3s	5	22	23.
6. Istvan Angyel	Hungary	5:20.9	+35.4s	3	21	29.
7. Werner Lehmann	Switzerland	5:36.8	+51.3s	6	20	32.

Heat 4		time	gap	L	Y	Rk.
1. Odon Grof	Hungary	4:59.4	+13.9s	5	21	12.
2. Hans Freese	Germany	5:03.1	+17.6s	7	18	13.
3. Heikki Johannes Hietanen	Finland	5:08.9	+23.4s	3	21	17.
4. William Pearson	Great Britain	5:12.7	+27.2s	2	19	19.
5. Aluizio Courrage Lage	Brazil	5:18.3	+32.8s	1	17	26.
6. Washington Guzman	Chile	5:19.1	+33.6s	4	17	27.
7. Franz Seltenheim	Austria	5:38.3	+52.8s	6	_	33.

Heat 5		time	gap	L	Y	Rk.
1. Shunpei Uto	Japan	4:45.5	OR	1	17	1.
2. Jean Taris	France	4:53.9	+8.4s	5	27	4.
3. Robert Pirie	Canada	4:56.0	+10.5s	4	20	7.
4. Poul Arne Petersen	Denmark	5:20.3	+34.8s	3	23	28.
5. Edmund Cooper	Bermuda	5:53.8	+1:08.3	2	23	34.
-. Egon Roolaid	Estonia	DNS		6	17	-.
-. Panagiotis Provatopoulos	Greece	DNS		7	_	-.

Heat 6		time	gap	L	Y	Rk.
1. Jack Medica	United States	4:55.9	+10.4s	6	21	6.
2. Walter Ledgard Sr	Peru	5:05.5	+20.0s	2	20	15.
3. Pieter Hendrik Stam	Netherlands	5:07.8	+22.3s	5	17	16.
4. Manoel Da Rocha Villar	Brazil	5:18.2	+32.7s	1	23	24.
5. Hans Brenner	Switzerland	5:33.8	+48.3s	4	23	31.
-. Qadri Mahmud	Egypt	DNS		-	_	-.

Prepared and maintained by Todor Krastev

todor1966@yahoo.com
Last updated: 5 Mar 2023
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