Swimming at the 1979 Pan American Games – Men's 1500 metre freestyle
# Swimming at the 1979 Pan American Games – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

The Men's 1500m Freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1979 Pan American Games took place on 7 July at the Piscina Olimpica Del Escambron in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The last Pan American Games champion was Bobby Hackett of US.

This race consisted of thirty lengths of the pool, all lengths being in freestyle.

## Results

All times are in minutes and seconds.

| KEY: | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | Q | Qualified | GR | Games record | NR | National record | PB | Personal best | SB | Seasonal best |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |

### Heats

The first round was held on July 7.

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Peter Szmidt | Canada | 15:56.05 | Q |
| 2 | Djan Madruga | Brazil | 15:56.06 | Q |
| 3 | Diego Quiroga | Ecuador | 16:03.73 | Q |
| 4 | Alex Baumann | Canada | 16:10.92 | Q |
| 5 | Brian Goodell | United States | 16:11.34 | Q |
| 6 | Bobby Hackett | United States | 16:11.50 | Q |
| 7 | Alejandro Lecot | Argentina | 16:13.26 | Q |
| 8 | Scott Newkirk | U.S. Virgin Islands | 16:21.45 | Q |
| 9 | Tizoc Guemez | Mexico | 16:24.01 | |
| 10 | Filiberto Colon | Puerto Rico | 16:24.22 | NR |
| 11 | César Sánchez | Mexico | 16:26.68 | |
| 12 | Rafael Vidal | Venezuela | 16:34.85 | |
| 13 | Carlos Scanavino | Uruguay | 16:53.42 | NR |
| 14 | Jorge Martinez | Puerto Rico | 16:58.49 | |
| 15 | Oscar Moreno | El Salvador | 17:00.75 | NR |
| 16 | Roger Madruga | Brazil | 17:23.53 | |
| 17 | Jorge Sanchez | Panama | 17:40.76 | NR |
| 18 | Victor Masalles | Dominican Republic | 18:32.65 | NR |

### Final

The final was held on July 7.

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Brian Goodell | United States | 15:24.36 | NR, GR |
| | Djan Madruga | Brazil | 15:41.74 | |
| | Bobby Hackett | United States | 15:46.83 | |
| 4 | Peter Szmidt | Canada | 15:56.91 | |
| 5 | Diego Quiroga | Ecuador | 16:02.34 | NR |
| 6 | Alejandro Lecot | Argentina | 16:04.63 | NR |
| 7 | Scott Newkirk | U.S. Virgin Islands | 16:08.36 | NR |
| 8 | Alex Baumann | Canada | 16:08.85 | |
