| Event: | Men's 1500 metre freestyle |
| Games: | 1912 Summer |
| Venue: | Djurgårdsbrunnsviken |
| Dates: | July 6–10 |
| Competitors: | 19 |
| Nations: | 11 |
| Gold: | George Hodgson |
| Goldnoc: | CAN |
| Silver: | John Hatfield |
| Silvernoc: | GBR |
| Bronze: | Harold Hardwick |
| Bronzenoc: | ANZ |
| Prev: | 1908 |
| Next: | 1920 |
The men's 1500 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the second appearance of the event, which had been introduced in 1908. At the 1904 and 1906 Olympics a one-mile freestyle contest was held. The competition was held from Saturday July 6, 1912 to Wednesday July 10, 1912.
Nineteen swimmers from eleven nations competed. The winning margin was 39.0 seconds which as of 2023 remains the only time this event was won by more than 35 seconds at the Olympics.
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 22:48.4 |  Henry Taylor | London (GBR) | July 25, 1908 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Record | 22:48.4 | Henry Taylor | London (GBR) | July 25, 1908 |
George Hodgson set a new world record with a 22:23.0 in the qualifying round and improved his own record in the final to 22:00.0.
The top two in each heat advanced along with the fastest loser overall.
Quarterfinal 1
| Place | width=220 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23:12.2 | QS | ||||
| 2 | 23:34.0 | QS | ||||
| 3 | 24:06.4 | qs | ||||
| — | DNF |
Quarterfinal 2
| Place | width=220 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22:58.0 | QS | ||||
| 2 | 23:16.6 | QS | ||||
| — | DNF |
Quarterfinal 3
| Place | width=220 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22:23.0 | QS WR | ||||
| 2 | 23:03.6 | QS | ||||
| 3 | 28:32.4 |
Quarterfinal 4
| Place | width=220 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23:58.0 | QS | ||||
| 2 | 25:19.8 | QS | ||||
| 3 | 27:38.0 | |||||
| — | DNF |
Quarterfinal 5
| Place | width=220 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23:23.2 | QS | ||||
| 2 | 23:52.2 | QS | ||||
| 3 | 25:45.6 | |||||
| 4 | 27:05.2 | |||||
| — | DNF |
The top two from each heat and the faster of the two third place swimmers advanced.
Semifinal 1
| Place | width=220 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22:26.0 | QF | ||||
| 2 | 22:33.4 | QF | ||||
| 3 | 23:14.0 | qf | ||||
| 4 | 23:14.4 | |||||
| — | DNF | |||||
| DNS |
Semifinal 2
| Place | width=220 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23:09.8 | QF | ||||
| 2 | 23:24.2 | QF | ||||
| 3 | 23:32.2 | |||||
| 4 | ||||||
| — | DNS |
| Place | width=220 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22:00.0 WR | |||
| 2 | 22:39.0 | |||
| 3 | 23:15.4 | |||
| - | DNF | |||
| - | DNF |