Swimming at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle
The women's 400 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships took place July 24. The heats and the final took place on July 24.
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.| Name | Nation | Time | Location | Date | |
| World record Championship record | Federica Pellegrini | 3:59.15 | Rome | July 26, 2009 |
Results
Heats
38 swimmers participated in 5 heats, qualified swimmers are listed:| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | 4 | Federica Pellegrini | 4:04.76 | Q | |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | Camille Muffat | 4:05.62 | Q | |
| 3 | 5 | 2 | Lauren Boyle | 4:05.86 | Q, NR | |
| 4 | 3 | 6 | Lotte Friis | 4:06.31 | Q | |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | Kylie Palmer | 4:06.38 | Q | |
| 6 | 4 | 6 | Melania Costa Schmid | 4:07.02 | Q, NR | |
| 7 | 5 | 4 | Rebecca Adlington | 4:07.38 | Q | |
| 8 | 5 | 3 | Katie Hoff | 4:07.93 | Q | |
| 9 | 3 | 5 | Chloe Sutton | 4:08.22 | ||
| 10 | 3 | 3 | Shao Yiwen | 4:08.42 | ||
| 11 | 4 | 5 | Bronte Barratt | 4:08.62 | ||
| 12 | 5 | 1 | Andreina Pinto | 4:08.80 | NR | |
| 13 | 4 | 7 | Barbara Jardin | 4:08.81 | ||
| 14 | 3 | 2 | Boglárka Kapás | 4:09.15 | ||
| 15 | 4 | 3 | Jazmin Carlin | 4:09.64 | ||
| 16 | 5 | 7 | Samantha Cheverton | 4:09.81 | ||
| 17 | 4 | 2 | Camelia Potec | 4:10.36 | ||
| 18 | 3 | 7 | Wendy Trott | 4:10.57 | ||
| 19 | 2 | 4 | Nina Rangelova | 4:12.38 | NR | |
| 20 | 4 | 1 | Charetzeni Escobar | 4:13.38 | ||
| 21 | 4 | 8 | Anna Stylianou | 4:15.46 | NR | |
| 22 | 2 | 5 | Daryna Zevina | 4:15.65 | ||
| 23 | 5 | 6 | Song Wenyan | 4:16.26 | ||
| 24 | 2 | 2 | Sycerika McMahon | 4:16.44 | ||
| 25 | 2 | 6 | Julia Hassler | 4:17.61 | NR | |
| 26 | 2 | 3 | Virginia Bardach | 4:18.57 | ||
| 27 | 3 | 1 | Cecilie Johannessen | 4:18.84 | ||
| 28 | 2 | 8 | Katarina Filova | 4:21.14 | ||
| 29 | 1 | 7 | Samantha Arevalo | 4:21.84 | NR | |
| 30 | 3 | 8 | Alexia Benitez | 4:22.59 | ||
| 31 | 1 | 5 | Daniela Kaori Miyahara | 4:23.33 | ||
| 32 | 5 | 8 | Kim Ga-Eul | 4:23.94 | ||
| 33 | 1 | 4 | Andrea Cedron | 4:25.06 | ||
| 34 | 2 | 1 | Shahd Osman | 4:26.35 | ||
| 35 | 2 | 7 | Benjaporn Sriphanomthorn | 4:29.65 | ||
| 36 | 1 | 6 | Victoria Chentsova | 5:18.67 | ||
| 37 | 1 | 2 | Jennet Saryyeva | 5:41.09 | ||
| 1 | 3 | Victoria Ho | DNS |
Final
The final was held at 18:50.| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 4 | Federica Pellegrini | 4:01.97 | |||
| 1 | Rebecca Adlington | 4:04.01 | |||
| 5 | Camille Muffat | 4:04.06 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Kylie Palmer | 4:04.62 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Lotte Friis | 4:04.68 | NR | |
| 6 | 3 | Lauren Boyle | 4:06.11 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Katie Hoff | 4:08.22 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Melania Costa Schmid | 4:09.66 |