Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place September 1. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of eight lengths of the pool.
Rick DeMont of the United States originally won the gold medal in 4:00.26. Following the race, the International Olympic Committee stripped DeMont of his gold medal after his post-race urinalysis tested positive for traces of the banned substance ephedrine contained in his prescription asthma medication, Marax. The positive test following the 400-meter freestyle final also deprived him of a chance at multiple medals, as he was not permitted to swim in any other events at the 1972 Olympics, including the 1,500-meter freestyle for which he was the then-current world record-holder. Before the Olympics, DeMont had properly declared his asthma medications on his medical disclosure forms, but the U.S. Olympic Committee had not cleared them with the IOC's medical committee. The United States Olympic Committee has recognized his gold medal performance in the 1972 Summer Olympics in 2001.
Medalists
Results
Heats
Heat 1| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gunnar Larsson | 4:09.88 | ||
| 2 | Ton van Klooster | 4:11.72 | ||
| 3 | Guillermo García | 4:15.33 | ||
| 4 | Alain Charmey | 4:18.25 | ||
| 5 | Bruce Robertson | 4:20.31 | ||
| 6 | Neil Dexter | 4:24.80 | ||
| 7 | Kamal Kenawi Ali Moustafa | 4:24.97 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Bengt Gingsjö | 4:06.59 | OR, Q | |
| 2 | Hans Fassnacht | 4:09.23 | ||
| 3 | Udo Poser | 4:09.62 | ||
| 4 | Peter Rosenkranz | 4:14.01 | ||
| 5 | Tomás Becerra | 4:20.78 | ||
| 6 | Dae Imlani | 4:24.01 | ||
| 7 | Dimitrios Theodoropoulos | 4:30.54 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Steve Genter | 4:05.89 | OR, Q | |
| 2 | Anders Bellbring | 4:08.38 | ||
| 3 | Aleksandr Samsonov | 4:11.46 | ||
| 4 | Wolfram Sperling | 4:14.73 | ||
| 5 | Sverre Kile | 4:20.86 | ||
| 6 | José Luis Prado | 4:22.31 | ||
| 7 | Friðrik Guðmundsson | 4:26.25 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Brad Cooper | 4:04.59 | OR, Q | |
| 2 | Werner Lampe | 4:04.80 | Q | |
| 3 | Ralph Hutton | 4:09.27 | ||
| 4 | Władysław Wojtakajtis | 4:16.04 | ||
| 5 | Alfredo Machado | 4:18.05 | ||
| 6 | Arnaldo Cinquetti | 4:19.49 | ||
| 7 | Gustavo González | 4:21.22 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Rick DeMont | 4:05.70 | Q | |
| 2 | Graham Windeatt | 4:05.92 | Q | |
| 3 | Gerardo Vera | 4:11.37 | ||
| 4 | Jorge Delgado | 4:12.29 | ||
| 5 | Mark Treffers | 4:14.10 | ||
| 6 | Antonio Corell | 4:17.81 | ||
| 7 | Jo O-ryeon | 4:21.78 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Tom McBreen | 4:06.09 | Q | |
| 2 | Brian Brinkley | 4:06.44 | Q | |
| 3 | Graham White | 4:08.29 | ||
| 4 | Ron Jacks | 4:16.08 | ||
| 5 | Viktor Aboimov | 4:17.04 | ||
| 6 | Klaus Dockhorn | 4:17.98 | ||
| 7 | Guillermo Pacheco | 4:18.78 | ||
| 8 | François Deley | 4:24.73 |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Brad Cooper | 4:00.27 | OR | ||
| Steve Genter | 4:01.94 | |||
| Tom McBreen | 4:02.64 | |||
| 4 | Graham Windeatt | 4:02.93 | ||
| 5 | Brian Brinkley | 4:06.69 | ||
| 6 | Bengt Gingsjö | 4:06.75 | ||
| 7 | Werner Lampe | 4:06.97 | ||
| Rick DeMont | 4:00.26 | DSQ |
Key: DSQ = Disqualified, OR = Olympic record