Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle
The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place August 30. 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.Medalists
Results
Heats
Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jenny Wylie | | 4:27.53 | OR, Q |
| 2 | Anke Rijnders | | 4:29.94 | Q |
| 3 | Karin Tülling | | 4:32.56 | |
| 4 | Federica Stabilini | | 4:36.32 | |
| 5 | Maria Teresa Ramírez | | 4:39.14 | |
| 6 | Helga Wagner | | 4:47.61 | |
| 7 | Kirsten Knudsen | | 4:53.76 | |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Shirley Babashoff | | 4:31.98 | Q |
| 2 | Karen Moras | | 4:36.14 | |
| 3 | Mary Beth Rondeau | | 4:36.71 | |
| 4 | Anne Marie McCaffrey | | 4:39.92 | |
| 5 | Roselina Angee | | 4:45.97 | |
| 6 | Belinda Phillips | | 4:47.54 | |
| 7 | Hsu Yue-yun | | 4:57.58 | |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Shane Gould | | 4:28.46 | Q |
| 2 | Hansje Bunschoten | | 4:28.76 | Q |
| 3 | Uta Schütz | | 4:34.67 | |
| 4 | Narelle Moras | | 4:37.57 | |
| 5 | Susan Edmondson | | 4:39.10 | |
| 6 | Ileana Morales | | 4:44.73 | |
| 7 | Diana Sutherland | | 4:47.66 | |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Novella Calligaris | | 4:24.14 | OR, Q |
| 2 | Keena Rothhammer | | 4:24.82 | Q |
| 3 | Gudrun Wegner | | 4:25.13 | Q |
| 4 | Olga de Angulo | | 4:40.09 | |
| 5 | Jaynie Parkhouse | | 4:40.24 | |
| 6 | June Green | | 4:45.81 | |
| 7 | Eleni Avlonitou | | 4:52.10 | |
| 8 | Patricia López | | 4:59.68 | |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Shane Gould | | 4:19.04 | WR |
| Novella Calligaris | | 4:22.44 | |
| Gudrun Wegner | | 4:23.11 | |
| 4 | Shirley Babashoff | | 4:23.59 | |
| 5 | Jenny Wylie | | 4:24.07 | |
| 6 | Keena Rothhammer | | 4:24.22 | |
| 7 | Hansje Bunschoten | | 4:29.70 | |
| 8 | Anke Rijnders | | 4:31.51 | |
Key: WR = World record
