| Event: | Women's 400 metre freestyle |
| Games: | 2004 Summer |
| Venue: | Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre |
| Date: | August 15, 2004 (heats & final) |
| Competitors: | 38 |
| Nations: | 31 |
| Win Value: | 4:05.34 EU |
| Gold: | Laure Manaudou |
| Goldnoc: | FRA |
| Silver: | Otylia Jędrzejczak |
| Silvernoc: | POL |
| Bronze: | Kaitlin Sandeno |
| Bronzenoc: | USA |
| Prev: | 2000 |
| Next: | 2008 |
The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 15.[1]
France's Laure Manaudou won the gold medal in this event, with a European record time of 4:05.34. The silver medal was awarded to Poland's Otylia Jędrzejczak, who finished behind Manaudou by half a second (0.50), in an outstanding time of 4:05.84. U.S. swimmer Kaitlin Sandeno, who earned a silver in the 400 m individual medley on the previous day, fought off a challenge from Romania's Camelia Potec in the final lap to take a bronze by two tenths of a second (0.20), clocking at 4:06.19.[2] [3]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 3 | 4:06.76 | Q | |||
| 2 | 4 | 5 | 4:07.11 | Q | |||
| 3 | 3 | 4 | 4:07.39 | Q | |||
| 4 | 3 | 5 | 4:07.63 | Q | |||
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 4:08.18 | Q | |||
| 6 | 4 | 3 | 4:08.22 | Q | |||
| 7 | 3 | 6 | 4:08.46 | Q | |||
| 8 | 5 | 5 | 4:09.10 | Q | |||
| 9 | 3 | 2 | 4:09.75 | ||||
| 10 | 4 | 2 | 4:09.83 | ||||
| 11 | 5 | 7 | 4:10.39 | ||||
| 12 | 5 | 4 | 4:10.46 | ||||
| 13 | 5 | 6 | 4:11.67 | ||||
| 14 | 5 | 1 | 4:11.81 | ||||
| 15 | 4 | 4 | 4:12.08 | ||||
| 16 | 5 | 2 | 4:12.33 | ||||
| 17 | 4 | 6 | 4:12.67 | ||||
| 18 | 4 | 7 | 4:13.03 | ||||
| 19 | 5 | 8 | 4:13.75 | ||||
| 20 | 3 | 1 | 4:13.96 | ||||
| 21 | 3 | 3 | 4:14.89 | ||||
| 22 | 2 | 6 | 4:16.42 | ||||
| 23 | 3 | 7 | 4:16.52 | ||||
| 24 | 2 | 3 | 4:17.79 | ||||
| 25 | 4 | 8 | 4:18.24 | ||||
| 26 | 2 | 7 | 4:18.68 | ||||
| 27 | 2 | 2 | 4:19.39 | ||||
| 28 | 2 | 5 | 4:20.00 | ||||
| 29 | 1 | 6 | 4:20.69 | ||||
| 30 | 3 | 8 | 4:21.12 | ||||
| 31 | 2 | 1 | 4:21.58 | ||||
| 32 | 2 | 8 | 4:21.65 | ||||
| 33 | 1 | 4 | 4:22.27 | ||||
| 34 | 1 | 5 | 4:23.62 | ||||
| 35 | 1 | 7 | 4:24.08 | ||||
| 36 | 1 | 3 | 4:25.92 | ||||
| 37 | 1 | 2 | 4:26.09 | ||||
| 38 | 2 | 4 | 4:26.30 |
| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4:05.34 | EU | ||||
| 5 | 4:05.84 | |||||
| 7 | 4:06.19 | |||||
| 4 | 3 | 4:06.34 | ||||
| 5 | 6 | 4:07.51 | ||||
| 6 | 8 | 4:10.91 | ||||
| 7 | 1 | 4:10.92 | ||||
| 8 | 2 | 4:11.35 |