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.[1] 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.

Rick DeMont of the United States originally won the gold medal in 4:00.26. Following the race, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped DeMont of his gold medal[2] 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 (USOC) had not cleared them with the IOC's medical committee. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has recognized his gold medal performance in the 1972 Summer Olympics in 2001, but only the IOC has the power to restore his rankings, and it has not done so.[3]

Medalists

GoldBrad Cooper
 Australia
SilverSteve Genter
 United States
BronzeTom McBreen
 United States

Results

Heats

Heat 1

RankAthleteCountryTimeNotes
1Gunnar Larsson Sweden4:09.88
2Ton van Klooster Netherlands4:11.72
3Guillermo García Mexico4:15.33
4Alain Charmey Switzerland4:18.25
5Bruce Robertson Canada4:20.31
6Neil Dexter Great Britain4:24.80
7Kamal Kenawi Ali Moustafa Egypt4:24.97

Heat 2

RankAthleteCountryTimeNotes
1Bengt Gingsjö Sweden4:06.59OR, Q
2Hans Fassnacht West Germany4:09.23
3Udo Poser East Germany4:09.62
4Peter Rosenkranz West Germany4:14.01
5Tomás Becerra Colombia4:20.78
6Dae Imlani Philippines4:24.01
7Dimitrios Theodoropoulos Greece4:30.54

Heat 3

RankAthleteCountryTimeNotes
1Steve Genter United States4:05.89OR, Q
2Anders Bellbring Sweden4:08.38
3Aleksandr Samsonov Soviet Union4:11.46
4Wolfram Sperling East Germany4:14.73
5Sverre Kile Norway4:20.86
6José Luis Prado Mexico4:22.31
7Friðrik Guðmundsson Iceland4:26.25

Heat 4

RankAthleteCountryTimeNotes
1Brad Cooper Australia4:04.59OR, Q
2Werner Lampe West Germany4:04.80 Q
3Ralph Hutton Canada4:09.27
4Władysław Wojtakajtis Poland4:16.04
5Alfredo Machado Brazil4:18.05
6Arnaldo Cinquetti Italy4:19.49
7Gustavo González Argentina4:21.22

Heat 5

RankAthleteCountryTimeNotes
1Rick DeMont United States4:05.70Q
2Graham Windeatt Australia4:05.92 Q
3Gerardo Vera Venezuela4:11.37
4Jorge Delgado Ecuador4:12.29
5Mark Treffers New Zealand4:14.10
6Antonio Corell Spain4:17.81
7Jo O-ryeon South Korea4:21.78

Heat 6

RankAthleteCountryTimeNotes
1Tom McBreen United States4:06.09 Q
2Brian Brinkley Great Britain4:06.44 Q
3Graham White Australia4:08.29
4Ron Jacks Canada4:16.08
5Viktor Aboimov Soviet Union4:17.04
6Klaus Dockhorn East Germany4:17.98
7Guillermo Pacheco Peru4:18.78
8François Deley Belgium4:24.73

Final

RankAthleteCountryTimeNotes
Brad Cooper Australia4:00.27OR
Steve Genter United States4:01.94
Tom McBreen United States4:02.64
4Graham Windeatt Australia4:02.93
5Brian Brinkley Great Britain4:06.69
6Bengt Gingsjö Sweden4:06.75
7Werner Lampe West Germany4:06.97
Rick DeMont United States4:00.26DSQ

Key: DSQ = Disqualified, OR = Olympic record

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  2. Neil Amdur, "Of Gold and Drugs," The New York Times (September 4, 1972). Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  3. Associated Press (30 January 2001). "Better late than never". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2001.
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