# 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 400 metre freestyle

The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 11th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) took place 14 December 2012 at the Sinan Erdem Dome.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.
| | Name | Nation | Time | Location | Date |
| World record | Camille Muffat | France | 3:54.85 | Chartres | 24 November 2012 |
| Championship record | Katie Hoff | United States | 3:57.07 | Dubai | 17 December 2010 |
No new records were set during this competition.

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | 5 | Katinka Hosszú (HUN) | 4:03.49 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | Chloe Sutton (USA) | 4:04.16 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | Elena Sokolova (RUS) | 4:04.37 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | Melanie Costa (ESP) | 4:04.68 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | 3 | Lauren Boyle (NZL) | 4:04.83 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | Angie Bainbridge (AUS) | 4:04.94 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | 3 | Erika Villaécija García (ESP) | 4:05.04 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | Zhou Lili (CHN) | 4:05.11 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 4 | Jazmin Carlin (GBR) | 4:05.13 | |
| 10 | 3 | 6 | Alice Nesti (ITA) | 4:05.55 | |
| 11 | 5 | 4 | Lotte Friis (DEN) | 4:05.67 | |
| 12 | 5 | 5 | Allison Schmitt (USA) | 4:05.98 | |
| 13 | 5 | 6 | Diletta Carli (ITA) | 4:06.38 | |
| 14 | 1 | 5 | Xu Danlu (CHN) | 4:06.83 | |
| 15 | 5 | 0 | Emu Higuchi (JPN) | 4:07.46 | |
| 16 | 3 | 2 | Ellie Faulkner (GBR) | 4:07.72 | |
| 17 | 4 | 8 | Samantha Arévalo (ECU) | 4:08.64 | NR |
| 18 | 4 | 1 | Ksenia Yuskova (RUS) | 4:09.53 | |
| 19 | 3 | 7 | Julia Hassler (LIE) | 4:10.08 | |
| 20 | 3 | 1 | Asami Chida (JPN) | 4:10.78 | |
| 21 | 4 | 2 | Urša Bežan (SLO) | 4:11.21 | |
| 22 | 5 | 7 | Mojca Sagmeister (SLO) | 4:12.74 | |
| 23 | 4 | 7 | Heather MacLean (CAN) | 4:12.99 | |
| 24 | 4 | 6 | Nina Rangelova (BUL) | 4:13.49 | |
| 25 | 5 | 8 | Kyna Pereira (RSA) | 4:15.37 | |
| 26 | 3 | 8 | Virginia Bardach (ARG) | 4:16.78 | |
| 27 | 2 | 8 | Lani Cabrera (BAR) | 4:20.78 | NR |
| 28 | 4 | 0 | Andrea Cedrón (PER) | 4:23.87 | |
| 29 | 3 | 0 | Daniela Miyahara (PER) | 4:25.30 | |
| 30 | 2 | 3 | Karen Torrez (BOL) | 4:25.70 | NR |
| 31 | 5 | 9 | Maria Lopez Nery Huerta (PAR) | 4:29.51 | NR |
| 32 | 4 | 9 | Fatima Eugenia Flores (ESA) | 4:31.34 | |
| 33 | 3 | 9 | Machiko Suharmee Raheem (SRI) | 4:36.10 | |
| 34 | 2 | 5 | Monica Saili (SAM) | 4:37.32 | |
| 35 | 2 | 4 | Sariyah Sherry (BAR) | 4:37.33 | |
| 36 | 2 | 2 | Tieri Erasito (FIJ) | 4:45.17 | |
| 37 | 2 | 6 | Yusra Mardini (SYR) | 4:56.66 | |
| 38 | 2 | 7 | Charissa Sofia Panuve (TGA) | 5:15.87 | |
| 39 | 2 | 1 | Mahnoor Maqsood (PAK) | 5:33.66 | |
| | 5 | 1 | Céline Bertrand (SWE) | DNS | |
| | 5 | 2 | Jessica Pengelly (RSA) | DNS | |

### Final

The final was held at 20:25.
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 3 | Melanie Costa | Spain | 4:01.18 | |
| | 4 | Chloe Sutton | United States | 4:01.20 | |
| | 6 | Lauren Boyle | New Zealand | 4:01.24 | NR |
| 4 | 5 | Elena Sokolova | Russia | 4:01.49 | NR |
| 5 | 8 | Jazmin Carlin | Great Britain | 4:02.45 | |
| 6 | 2 | Angie Bainbridge | Australia | 4:04.07 | |
| 7 | 1 | Zhou Lili | China | 4:04.87 | |
| 8 | 7 | Erika Villaécija García | Spain | 4:05.78 | |