# Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle

The final of the women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1984 Summer Olympics was held in the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on July 31, 1984.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Tracey Wickham (AUS) | 4:06.28 | West Berlin | 24 August 1978 |
| Olympic record | Ines Diers (GDR) | 4:08.76 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 22 July 1980 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
| 31 July | Final A | Tiffany Cohen | United States | 4:07.10 | OR |

## Results
### Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q).
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | 4 | Tiffany Cohen | United States | 4:11.49 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | 5 | Sarah Hardcastle | Great Britain | 4:11.55 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | Kim Linehan | United States | 4:15.08 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | 3 | Anna McVann | Australia | 4:15.21 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 4 | June Croft | Great Britain | 4:15.51 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 3 | Julie Daigneault | Canada | 4:16.60 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 5 | Jolande van der Meer | Netherlands | 4:16.65 | Q |
| 8 | 4 | 3 | Birgit Kowalczik | West Germany | 4:17.92 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | 6 | Ann Linder | Sweden | 4:18.28 | q |
| 10 | 1 | 6 | Monica Olmi | Italy | 4:18.70 | q |
| 11 | 1 | 5 | Carla Lasi | Italy | 4:18.90 | q |
| 12 | 1 | 4 | Ina Beyermann | West Germany | 4:18.94 | q, WD |
| 13 | 4 | 6 | Donna McGinnis | Canada | 4:19.48 | q |
| 14 | 4 | 2 | Chikako Nakamori | Japan | 4:20.13 | q, NR |
| 15 | 3 | 5 | Susie Baumer | Australia | 4:20.69 | q |
| 16 | 3 | 7 | Lisa Ann Wen | Chinese Taipei | 4:23.30 | q |
| 17 | 2 | 2 | Irma Huerta | Mexico | 4:25.13 | q |
| 18 | 3 | 2 | Nadia Krüger | Switzerland | 4:28.20 | |
| 19 | 2 | 6 | Junko Sakurai | Japan | 4:28.68 | |
| 20 | 1 | 3 | Sofia Dara | Greece | 4:31.76 | |
| 21 | 1 | 2 | Hadar Rubinstein | Israel | 4:34.95 | |
| 22 | 4 | 1 | Carol Ann Heavey | Ireland | 4:36.07 | |
| 23 | 3 | 1 | Karen Slowing-Aceituno | Guatemala | 4:36.87 | |
| 24 | 1 | 7 | Chang Hui-chien | Chinese Taipei | 4:42.47 | |
| 25 | 4 | 7 | Fenella Ng | Hong Kong | 4:43.41 | |
| | 2 | 7 | Faten Ghattas | Tunisia | DNS | |

### Finals
#### Final B

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 9 | 7 | Susie Baumer | Australia | 4:15.46 |
| 10 | 6 | Donna McGinnis | Canada | 4:15.59 |
| 11 | 4 | Ann Linder | Sweden | 4:17.55 |
| 12 | 3 | Carla Lasi | Italy | 4:18.57 |
| 13 | 5 | Monica Olmi | Italy | 4:19.22 |
| 14 | 2 | Chikako Nakamori | Japan | 4:20.18 |
| 15 | 1 | Lisa Ann Wen | Chinese Taipei | 4:21.61 |
| 16 | 8 | Irma Huerta | Mexico | 4:23.34 |

#### Final A

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Tiffany Cohen | United States | 4:07.10 | OR |
| | 5 | Sarah Hardcastle | Great Britain | 4:10.27 | NR |
| | 2 | June Croft | Great Britain | 4:11.49 | |
| 4 | 3 | Kim Linehan | United States | 4:12.26 | |
| 5 | 6 | Anna McVann | Australia | 4:13.95 | |
| 6 | 1 | Jolande van der Meer | Netherlands | 4:16.05 | |
| 7 | 8 | Birgit Kowalczik | West Germany | 4:16.33 | |
| 8 | 7 | Julie Daigneault | Canada | 4:16.41 | |