# Swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle

The men's 400 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the third appearance of the event, which had been introduced in 1904. The competition was held from Thursday July 11, 1912 to Sunday July 14, 1912.
Twenty-six swimmers from 13 nations competed.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 5:28.4 | Béla Las-Torres | Budapest (HUN) | June 5, 1912 |
| Olympic Record | 5:36.8 | Henry Taylor | London (GBR) | July 16, 1908 |
In the first heat Harold Hardwick set a new Olympic record with 5:36.0 minutes. In the fifth heat Cecil Healy improved the Olympic record with 5:34.0 minutes. In the first semi-final George Hodgson set a world record with 5:25.4 minutes and in the final he improved his record again with 5:24.4 minutes.

## Results
### Quarterfinals

The top two in each heat advanced along with the fastest loser overall.

#### Heat 1

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Harold Hardwick (ANZ) | 5:36.0 | QS OR |
| 2 | Malcolm Champion (ANZ) | 5:37.0 | QS |
| 3 | James Reilly (USA) | 6:10.2 | |
| 4 | Nils-Erik Haglund (SWE) | 6:23.4 | |
| 5 | Davide Baiardo (ITA) | | |
| — | Mario Massa (ITA) | DNF | |

#### Heat 2

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Thomas Battersby (GBR) | 6:03.6 | QS |
| 2 | John Johnsen (NOR) | 6:14.4 | QS |
| 3 | Eskil Wedholm (SWE) | 6:29.8 | |
| — | Pavel Avksentyev (RUS) | DNF | |

#### Heat 3

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Max Ritter (GER) | 5:44.6 | QS |
| 2 | Alajos Kenyery (HUN) | 5:46.0 | QS |
| 3 | Nicholas Nerich (USA) | 5:50.4 | qs |
| — | Theodore Tartakover (ANZ) | DNF | |
| — | David Theander (SWE) | DNF | |

#### Heat 4

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Béla Las-Torres (HUN) | 5:36.2 | QS |
| 2 | Henry Taylor (GBR) | 5:48.4 | QS |
| — | Nikolay Voronkov (RUS) | DNF | |

#### Heat 5

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Cecil Healy (ANZ) | 5:34.0 | QS OR |
| 2 | John Hatfield (GBR) | 5:35.6 | QS |
| 3 | Franz Schuh (AUT) | 6:09.4 | |

#### Heat 6

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | George Hodgson (CAN) | 5:50.6 | QS |
| 2 | William Foster (GBR) | 5:52.4 | QS |
| 3 | Oscar Schiele (GER) | 5:57.0 | |
| 4 | George Godfrey (RSA) | 6:30.6 | |
| 5 | Harry Hedegaard (DEN) | 7:07.8 | |

### Semifinals

The top two from each heat and the faster of the two third place swimmers advanced.
Semifinal 1
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | George Hodgson (CAN) | 5:25.4 | QF WR |
| 2 | John Hatfield (GBR) | 5:25.6 | QF |
| 3 | William Foster (GBR) | 5:49.0 | |
| 4 | Nicholas Nerich (USA) | 5:51.0 | |
| 5 | Thomas Battersby (GBR) | 5:51.2 | |
| 6 | John Johnsen (NOR) | | |
| — | Max Ritter (GER) | DNS | |
Semifinal 2
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Harold Hardwick (ANZ) | 5:31.0 | QF |
| 2 | Béla Las-Torres (HUN) | 5:34.8 | QF |
| 3 | Cecil Healy (ANZ) | 5:37.8 | qf |
| 4 | Malcolm Champion (ANZ) | 5:38.0 | |
| 5 | Henry Taylor (GBR) | 5:48.2 | |
| — | Alajos Kenyery (HUN) | DNS | |

### Final

| Place | Swimmer | Time |
| 1 | George Hodgson (CAN) | 5:24.4 WR |
| 2 | John Hatfield (GBR) | 5:25.8 |
| 3 | Harold Hardwick (ANZ) | 5:31.2 |
| 4 | Cecil Healy (ANZ) | 5:37.8 |
| 5 | Béla Las-Torres (HUN) | 5:42.0 |