The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between 19 and 20 October.[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.
Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:43.9 | ||||
| 2 | 4:49.8 | ||||
| 3 | 4:53.3 | ||||
| 4 | 4:59.9 | ||||
| 5 | 5:41.8 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:35.0 | ||||
| 2 | 5:00.5 | ||||
| 3 | 5:00.5 | ||||
| 4 | 5:08.0 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:45.2 | ||||
| 2 | 4:53.0 | ||||
| 3 | 5:08.6 | ||||
| 4 | 5:11.2 | ||||
| 5 | 5:30.2 | ||||
| 6 | Lorna Blake | 5:54.7 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:41.4 | ||||
| 2 | 4:57.3 | ||||
| 3 | 4:57.7 | ||||
| 4 | 5:02.7 | ||||
| 5 | 5:21.0 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:39.6 | ||||
| 2 | 4:51.6 | ||||
| 3 | 4:59.4 | ||||
| 4 | 5:02.9 | ||||
| 5 | 5:25.6 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:47.4 | ||||
| 2 | 4:52.2 | ||||
| 3 | 4:58.5 | ||||
| 4 | 5:01.5 | ||||
| 5 | 5:01.8 |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:31.8 | OR | ||||
| 4:35.5 | |||||
| 4:37.0 | |||||
| 4 | 4:37.2 | ||||
| 5 | 4:40.2 | ||||
| 6 | 4:42.2 | ||||
| 7 | 4:51.9 | ||||
| 8 | 4:53.8 |
Key: OR = Olympic record