Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metre freestyle

The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 9-10th August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). 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.

Five heats were held, with most containing the maximum number of swimmers (eight). The heat in which a swimmer competed did not formally matter for advancement, as the swimmers with the top eight times from the entire field qualified for the finals; there, they all competed in a single final heat to earn final placements.

The qualifying norms were for the 2008 event were 3:49.95 (A norm) and 3:58.00 (B norm). NOCs with two or more swimmers meeting the A standard could enter any two such swimmers; otherwise, they could enter a single swimmer meeting the B standard.

Medalists

* WR = World Record; OR = Olympic Record; AS = Asian Record
* NR = National Record; PB = Personal Best; AF = African Record

References