Swimming at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle
# Swimming at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle

The women's 400 metre freestyle event for the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal. The event took place on 20 July.

## Results

### Heats

Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Rebecca Perrott | New Zealand | 4:15.71 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Regina Jäger | East Germany | 4:20.05 | |
| 3 | Tracey Wickham | Australia | 4:24.44 | |
| 4 | Carine Verbauwen | Belgium | 4:26.27 | |
| 5 | María Pérez | Venezuela | 4:38.93 | |
| 6 | María París | Costa Rica | 4:40.35 | |
| 7 | Vilborg Sverrisdóttir | Iceland | 4:48.28 | |

Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Brenda Borgh | United States | 4:17.20 | Q |
| 2 | Wendy Quirk | Canada | 4:19.69 | |
| 3 | Wendy Lee | Canada | 4:20.16 | |
| 4 | Laura Bortolotti | Italy | 4:29.71 | |
| 5 | Antonia Real | Spain | 4:30.37 | |
| 6 | Fernanda Pérez | Colombia | 4:45.73 | |
| 7 | Karen Robertson | Hong Kong | 5:03.90 | |

Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Annelies Maas | Netherlands | 4:17.16 | Q |
| 2 | Kathy Heddy | United States | 4:19.34 | Q |
| 3 | Susan Barnard | Great Britain | 4:30.05 | |
| 4 | Maria Guimarães | Brazil | 4:32.63 | |
| 5 | Linda Faber | Netherlands | 4:36.98 | |
| 6 | Susana Coppo | Argentina | 4:57.41 | |

Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Shirley Babashoff | United States | 4:16.07 | Q |
| 2 | Shannon Smith | Canada | 4:16.70 | Q |
| 3 | Sabine Kahle | East Germany | 4:19.34 | Q |
| 4 | Irina Vlasova | Soviet Union | 4:21.19 | |
| 5 | Ratchaneewan Bulakul | Thailand | 4:32.98 | |
| 6 | Susan Edmondson | Great Britain | 4:33.33 | |
| 7 | Diana Hatler | Puerto Rico | 4:49.73 | |

Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Petra Thümer | East Germany | 4:17.20 | Q |
| 2 | Rosemary Milgate | Australia | 4:21.20 | |
| 3 | Jenny Turrall | Australia | 4:21.33 | |
| 4 | Allison Calder | New Zealand | 4:23.64 | |
| 5 | Eleonora Pandini | Italy | 4:34.69 | |
| 6 | Myriam Mizouni | Tunisia | 4:43.11 | |
| 7 | Georgina Osorio | Panama | 4:49.80 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Petra Thümer | East Germany | 4:09.89 | WR |
| | Shirley Babashoff | United States | 4:10.46 | |
| | Shannon Smith | Canada | 4:14.60 | |
| 4 | Rebecca Perrott | New Zealand | 4:14.76 | |
| 5 | Kathy Heddy | United States | 4:15.50 | |
| 6 | Brenda Borgh | United States | 4:17.43 | |
| 7 | Annelies Maas | Netherlands | 4:17.44 | |
| 8 | Sabine Kahle | East Germany | 4:20.42 | |
