| Event: | Men's 400 metre freestyle |
| Competition: | 2011 World Aquatics Championships |
| Dates: | July 24, 2011 (heats and final) |
| Competitors: | 49 |
| Nations: | 42 |
| Win Value: | 3:42.04 |
| Gold: | Park Tae-Hwan |
| Goldnoc: | KOR |
| Silver: | Sun Yang |
| Silvernoc: | CHN |
| Bronze: | Paul Biedermann |
| Bronzenoc: | GER |
| Prev: | 2009 |
| Next: | 2013 |
The men's 400 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships took place July 24. The heats and final took place on July 24.
Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.
49 swimmers participated in 7 heats, qualified swimmers are listed:[1]
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 4 | 3:44.87 | Q | |||
| 2 | 5 | 3 | 3:45.02 | Q | |||
| 3 | 5 | 5 | 3:45.18 | Q | |||
| 4 | 6 | 5 | 3:45.90 | Q | |||
| 5 | 6 | 6 | 3:46.20 | Q | |||
| 6 | 5 | 4 | 3:46.72 | Q | |||
| 7 | 6 | 4 | 3:46.74 | Q | |||
| 8 | 6 | 3 | 3:46.88 | Q | |||
| 9 | 7 | 6 | 3:47.12 | ||||
| 10 | 6 | 2 | 3:47.26 | ||||
| 11 | 6 | 1 | 3:47.58 | ||||
| 12 | 7 | 1 | 3:48.41 | ||||
| 13 | 7 | 5 | 3:48.54 | ||||
| 14 | 5 | 6 | 3:48.80 | ||||
| 15 | 5 | 1 | 3:48.89 | ||||
| 16 | 5 | 8 | 3:49.55 | ||||
| 17 | 7 | 8 | 3:49.70 | ||||
| 18 | 7 | 7 | 3:49.91 | ||||
| 19 | 7 | 3 | 3:50.71 | ||||
| 20 | 4 | 2 | 3:51.03 | NR | |||
| 21 | 7 | 2 | 3:51.07 | ||||
| 22 | 5 | 7 | 3:51.32 | ||||
| 23 | 4 | 1 | 3:52.73 | ||||
| 24 | 5 | 2 | 3:53.52 | ||||
| 25 | 4 | 5 | 3:54.73 | ||||
| 26 | 4 | 3 | 3:54.87 | ||||
| 27 | 6 | 8 | 3:55.01 | ||||
| 28 | 3 | 3 | Mohamed Farhoud | 3:55.32 | |||
| 29 | 4 | 7 | 3:55.92 | ||||
| 30 | 4 | 4 | 3:56.04 | ||||
| 31 | 4 | 6 | 3:56.22 | ||||
| 32 | 4 | 8 | 3:58.35 | ||||
| 33 | 3 | 2 | Sobitjon Amilov | 3:59.01 | |||
| 34 | 3 | 6 | 4:00.88 | ||||
| 35 | 3 | 5 | 4:00.93 | ||||
| 36 | 3 | 4 | 4:02.97 | ||||
| 37 | 3 | 7 | Pavol Jelenak | 4:03.82 | |||
| 38 | 3 | 8 | 4:04.38 | ||||
| 39 | 2 | 4 | 4:06.56 | ||||
| 40 | 3 | 1 | 4:08.40 | ||||
| 40 | 6 | 7 | 4:08.40 | ||||
| 42 | 2 | 3 | Mattew Abeysinghe | 4:09.45 | |||
| 43 | 2 | 5 | Iacovos Hadjiconstantinou | 4:13.53 | |||
| 44 | 2 | 6 | Gebrel Ahmed | 4:18.40 | |||
| 45 | 2 | 7 | 4:20.74 | ||||
| 46 | 2 | 2 | Heimanu Sichan | 4:21.24 | |||
| 47 | 1 | 4 | 4:34.95 | ||||
| 48 | 1 | 5 | Ryan Govinden | 4:55.10 | |||
| 49 | 1 | 3 | Chamraen Youri Maximov | 4:55.35 |
The final was held at 18:13.[2]
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:42.04 | |||||
| 4 | 3:43.24 | |||||
| 3 | 3:44.14 | |||||
| 4 | 5 | 3:44.83 | ||||
| 5 | 8 | 3:45.17 | ||||
| 6 | 7 | 3:45.24 | ||||
| 7 | 6 | 3:45.31 | ||||
| 8 | 2 | 3:47.66 |