| Event: | Men's 400 metre freestyle |
| Games: | 1988 Summer |
| Venue: | Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool |
| Date: | 23 September 1988 (heats & finals) |
| Competitors: | 49 |
| Nations: | 33 |
| Gold: | Uwe Daßler |
| Goldnoc: | GDR |
| Silver: | Duncan Armstrong |
| Silvernoc: | AUS |
| Bronze: | Artur Wojdat |
| Bronzenoc: | POL |
| Win Value: | 3:46.95 |
| Prev: | 1984 |
| Next: | 1992 |
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 23 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.[1]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 September | Heat 5 | 3:49.51 | ||||
| 23 September | Final A | 3:46.95 |
Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q).[2]
Note: All eight swimmers who qualified for the Olympic final swam faster than the Olympic record time.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 3:49.51 | Q, | |||
| 2 | 5 | 3:49.52 | Q | |||
| 3 | 7 | 3:49.68 | Q | |||
| 4 | 7 | 3:49.90 | Q | |||
| 5 | 6 | 3:50.01 | Q | |||
| 6 | 6 | 3:50.06 | Q | |||
| 7 | 7 | 3:50.64 | Q | |||
| 8 | 6 | 3:50.82 | Q | |||
| 9 | 6 | 3:51.09 | q | |||
| 10 | 5 | 3:51.50 | q, | |||
| 11 | 7 | 3:52.64 | q | |||
| 12 | 6 | 3:53.29 | q, | |||
| 13 | 5 | 3:53.44 | q | |||
| 14 | 5 | 3:53.78 | q | |||
| 15 | 6 | 3:54.86 | q | |||
| 16 | 4 | 3:55.30 | q | |||
| 17 | 7 | 3:55.35 | q | |||
| 18 | 6 | 3:56.29 | q | |||
| 19 | 7 | 3:56.33 | ||||
| 20 | 5 | 3:56.94 | ||||
| 21 | 4 | 3:57.41 | ||||
| 22 | 4 | 3:57.46 | ||||
| 23 | 5 | 3:57.79 | ||||
| 24 | 4 | 3:57.91 | ||||
| 25 | 4 | 3:57.92 | ||||
| 26 | 5 | 3:57.99 | ||||
| 27 | 7 | 3:58.74 | ||||
| 28 | 3 | 3:58.90 | ||||
| 29 | 7 | 3:59.91 | ||||
| 30 | 6 | 4:00.04 | ||||
| 31 | 4 | 4:00.46 | ||||
| 32 | 4 | 4:02.02 | ||||
| 33 | 3 | 4:02.48 | ||||
| 34 | 3 | 4:03.16 | ||||
| 35 | 3 | 4:04.02 | ||||
| 36 | 3 | 4:04.57 | ||||
| 37 | 3 | 4:05.12 | ||||
| 38 | 4 | 4:05.68 | ||||
| 39 | 3 | 4:05.81 | ||||
| 40 | 2 | 4:06.66 | ||||
| 41 | 2 | 4:06.89 | ||||
| 42 | 3 | 4:08.02 | ||||
| 43 | 2 | 4:08.70 | ||||
| 44 | 2 | 4:15.54 | ||||
| 45 | 2 | 4:18.50 | ||||
| 46 | 2 | 4:18.88 | ||||
| 47 | 1 | 4:39.36 | ||||
| 48 | 1 | 4:47.09 | ||||
| 49 | 1 | 4:47.28 |
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 6 | 3:52.13 | ||||
| 10 | 3 | 3:53.24 | ||||
| 11 | 1 | 3:54.33 | ||||
| 12 | 2 | 3:54.36 | ||||
| 13 | 4 | 3:54.63 | ||||
| 14 | 5 | 3:55.34 | ||||
| 15 | 7 | 3:55.39 | ||||
| 16 | 8 | 3:56.00 |
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 3:46.95 | |||||
| 1 | 3:47.15 | OC | ||||
| 3 | 3:47.34 | NR | ||||
| 4 | 8 | 3:48.09 | ||||
| 5 | 4 | 3:48.59 | ||||
| 6 | 5 | 3:49.96 | ||||
| 7 | 2 | 3:50.16 | ||||
| 8 | 7 | 3:51.04 |