| Event: | Women's 400 metre individual medley |
| Games: | 2011 |
| Venue: | Scotiabank Aquatics Center |
| Dates: | October 15 (preliminaries and finals) |
| Competitors: | 25 |
| Nations: | 16 |
| Win Value: | 4:46.15 |
| Win Label: | Winning score |
| Gold: | Julia Smit |
| Goldnoc: | USA |
| Silver: | Joanna Maranhão |
| Silvernoc: | BRA |
| Bronze: | Allysa Vavra |
| Bronzenoc: | USA |
| Prev: | 2007 |
| Next: | 2015 |
The women's 400 metre individual medley competition of the swimming events at the 2011 Pan American Games took place on the 15 of October at the Scotiabank Aquatics Center.[1] The defending Pan American Games champion is Kathleen Hersey of the United States.
This race consisted of eight lengths of the pool. The first two lengths were swum using the butterfly stroke, the second pair with the backstroke, the third pair of lengths in breaststroke, and the final two were freestyle.[2]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Pan American Games records were as follows:
| World record | 4:29.45 | Beijing, China | August 10, 2008 | ||
| Pan American Games record | 4:38.46 | Winnipeg, Canada | August 2, 1999 |
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was able to enter up to two entrants providing they had met the A standard (5:19.0) in the qualifying period (January 1, 2010 to September 4, 2011). NOCs were also permitted to enter one athlete providing they had met the B standard (5:28.6) in the same qualifying period.[2]
All times shown are in minutes.
| KEY: | bgcolor=ccffcc align=center | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | bgcolor=ccffcc align=center | Q | Qualified | align=center | NR | National record | align=center | PB | Personal best | align=center | SB | Seasonal best |
The first round was held on October 15.[3]
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 4 | align=left | align=left | 4:51.78 | QA | |||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | align=left | align=left | 4:53.76 | QA | |||
| 3 | 2 | 4 | align=left | align=left | 4:54.51 | QA | |||
| 4 | 3 | 5 | align=left | align=left | 4:57.58 | QA | |||
| 5 | 4 | 5 | align=left | align=left | 4:57.81 | QA | |||
| 6 | 4 | 3 | align=left | align=left | 4:58.57 | QA | |||
| 7 | 2 | 5 | align=left | align=left | 4:59.76 | QA | |||
| 8 | 3 | 3 | align=left | align=left | 5:02.29 | QA | |||
| 9 | 3 | 6 | align=left | align=left | 5:06.78 | QB | |||
| 10 | 3 | 2 | align=left | align=left | 5:07.70 | QB | |||
| 11 | 2 | 3 | align=left | align=left | 5:08.47 | QB | |||
| 12 | 4 | 6 | align=left | align=left | 5:09.86 | QB | |||
| 13 | 4 | 7 | align=left | align=left | 5:13.30 | QB | |||
| 14 | 4 | 2 | align=left | align=left | 5:17.07 | QB | |||
| 15 | 2 | 2 | align=left | align=left | 5:19.46 | QB | |||
| 16 | 2 | 1 | align=left | align=left | 5:19.66 | QB | |||
| 17 | 1 | 5 | align=left | align=left | 5:20.05 | ||||
| 18 | 1 | 3 | align=left | align=left | 5:22.28 | ||||
| 19 | 4 | 8 | align=left | align=left | 5:24.75 | ||||
| 20 | 3 | 7 | align=left | align=left | 5:26.80 | ||||
| 21 | 2 | 7 | align=left | align=left | 5:27.30 | ||||
| 22 | 4 | 1 | align=left | align=left | 5:30.42 | ||||
| 23 | 3 | 1 | align=left | align=left | 5:35.96 | ||||
| 24 | 1 | 4 | align=left | align=left | 5:38.27 | ||||
| 2 | 6 | align=left | align=left |
The B final was also held on October 15.[4]
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 4 | align=left | align=left | 5:01.20 | ||||
| 10 | 3 | align=left | align=left | 5:04.07 | ||||
| 11 | 5 | align=left | align=left | 5:04.10 | ||||
| 12 | 6 | align=left | align=left | 5:12.83 | ||||
| 13 | 7 | align=left | align=left | 5:17.61 | ||||
| 14 | 1 | align=left | align=left | 5:17.72 | ||||
| 15 | 2 | align=left | align=left | 5:20.50 | ||||
| 16 | 8 | align=left | align=left | 5:22.06 |
The A final was held on October 15.[5]
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 4:46.15 | |||||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 4:46.33 | |||||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 4:48.05 | |||||
| 4 | 1 | align=left | align=left | 4:52.95 | ||||
| 5 | 6 | align=left | align=left | 4:53.81 | ||||
| 6 | 7 | align=left | align=left | 4:54.49 | ||||
| 7 | 2 | align=left | align=left | 4:57.65 | ||||
| 8 | 8 | align=left | align=left | 4:58.27 |