# Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held on 30 July and 1 August 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It will be the event's twenty-seventh consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1904.

## Summary

In similar fashion to his victory in the inaugural 800 freestyle days days earlier, the U.S.' Bobby Finke (14:39.65) came from behind to complete the distance double. In a close affair in the middle lanes, Finke split an astonishing 25.78 on the last 50 to overtake the field and become the first American to win gold in the event since Mike O'Brien in 1984.
In a battle against Germany's Florian Wellbrock, Ukraine's Mykhailo Romanchuk was able to outlast the German at the finish and claim silver in 14:40.66. 2019 World Champion Wellbrock held a 0.72 second advantage over Finke at the final turn but could not withstand the latter's finishing speed, settling for bronze in 14:40.91. Italy's defending champion Gregorio Paltrinieri (14:45.01), who posted a world leading time of 14:33.10 in 2020, faded over the last 150 m to take fourth in 14:45.01. Great Britain's Daniel Jervis (14:55.48), ROC's Kirill Martynychev (14:55.85), Austria's Felix Auboeck (15:03.47) and Ukraine's Serhiy Frolov (15:04.26) rounded out the championship field, with all four swimmers slower than their preliminary times.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Sun Yang (CHN) | 14:31.02 | London, United Kingdom | 4 August 2012 |
| Olympic record | Sun Yang (CHN) | 14:31.02 | London, United Kingdom | 4 August 2012 |

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 15:00.99. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 15:28.02. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place.

## Competition format

The competition consists of two rounds: heats and a final. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 30 July 2021 | 19:48 | Heats |
| Sunday, 1 August 2021 | 10:44 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | 5 | Mykhailo Romanchuk | Ukraine | 14:45.99 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | Bobby Finke | United States | 14:47.20 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | Florian Wellbrock | Germany | 14:48.53 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | Gregorio Paltrinieri | Italy | 14:49.17 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | 3 | Daniel Jervis | Great Britain | 14:50.22 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | 7 | Sergii Frolov | Ukraine | 14:51.83 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 8 | Felix Auböck | Austria | 14:51.88 | Q, NR |
| 8 | 2 | 3 | Kirill Martynychev | ROC | 14:52.66 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | 2 | Domenico Acerenza | Italy | 14:53.84 | |
| 10 | 4 | 7 | Jack McLoughlin | Australia | 14:56.98 | |
| 11 | 4 | 2 | Lukas Märtens | Germany | 14:59.45 | |
| 12 | 3 | 8 | Nguyễn Huy Hoàng | Vietnam | 15:00.24 | |
| 13 | 4 | 1 | Guilherme Costa | Brazil | 15:01.18 | |
| 14 | 3 | 1 | Anton Ipsen | Denmark | 15:01.58 | |
| 15 | 2 | 5 | Gergely Gyurta | Hungary | 15:01.85 | |
| 16 | 2 | 4 | Thomas Neill | Australia | 15:04.65 | |
| 17 | 2 | 6 | Michael Brinegar | United States | 15:04.67 | |
| 18 | 2 | 7 | Victor Johansson | Sweden | 15:05.53 | |
| 19 | 4 | 8 | Aleksandr Yegorov | ROC | 15:06.55 | |
| 20 | 1 | 5 | Daniel Wiffen | Ireland | 15:07.69 | NR |
| 21 | 3 | 5 | Henrik Christiansen | Norway | 15:11.14 | |
| 22 | 2 | 2 | Ákos Kalmár | Hungary | 15:17.02 | |
| 23 | 3 | 6 | Jan Micka | Czech Republic | 15:17.71 | |
| 24 | 2 | 1 | Cheng Long | China | 15:18.71 | |
| 25 | 1 | 3 | Marcelo Acosta | El Salvador | 15:27.37 | |
| 26 | 4 | 6 | Alexander Nørgaard | Denmark | 15:28.70 | |
| 27 | 1 | 4 | Aflah Prawira | Indonesia | 15:29.94 | |
| 28 | 1 | 2 | Théo Druenne | Monaco | 16:17.20 | |
| | 1 | 6 | Marwan Elkamash | Egypt | DNS | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time |
| | 5 | Bobby Finke | United States | 14:39.65 |
| | 4 | Mykhailo Romanchuk | Ukraine | 14:40.66 |
| | 3 | Florian Wellbrock | Germany | 14:40.91 |
| 4 | 6 | Gregorio Paltrinieri | Italy | 14:45.01 |
| 5 | 2 | Daniel Jervis | Great Britain | 14:55.48 |
| 6 | 8 | Kirill Martynychev | ROC | 14:55.85 |
| 7 | 1 | Felix Auböck | Austria | 15:03.47 |
| 8 | 7 | Serhiy Frolov | Ukraine | 15:04.26 |