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1980 Summer Olympics
Swimming
400 metres Freestyle, Women

400 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	22 July 1980
Status	Olympic
Location	Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva
Participants	19 from 12 countries

Australian Tracey Wickham had won the 1978 World Championships, setting a world record of 4:06.28, breaking the mark of 4:07.66 set by American Kim Linehan in qualifying for the US world’s team. Neither was in Moscow, Linehan ousted by the Jimmy Carter-led boycott. Wickham qualified for the 1980 Australian Olympic team, but elected not to compete because of financial problems (she came back in 1981). This was never a problem for East Germany’s state-supported swimmers and without Wickham and Linehan, they swept the medals in this event, as they had done in the 100 and 200 freestyles. The final was paced by Petra Schneider through 300 metres but Ines Diers came on in the final 100 for the gold medal in a time of 4:08.76, Carmela Schmidt winning bronze, which she would later repeat in the 200 free. Nine days later at the US Nationals, Linehan won in 4:07.77, followed by Sippy Woodhead in 4:08.17.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	Ines Diers	👁 Image GDR	4:13.98 (1 h2)	4:08.76 (1)	Gold
2	82	Petra Schneider	👁 Image GDR	4:14.49 (2 h3)	4:09.16 (2)	Silver
3	81	Carmela Schmidt	👁 Image GDR	4:13.01 (1 h1)	4:10.86 (3)	Bronze
4	–	Michelle Ford	👁 Image AUS	4:13.90 (1 h3)	4:11.65 (4)
5	–	Irina Aksyonova	👁 Image URS	4:14.39 (2 h2)	4:14.40 (5)
6	93	Annelies Maas	👁 Image NED	4:13.12 (2 h1)	4:15.79 (6)
7	90	Reggie de Jong	👁 Image NED	4:15.07 (3 h2)	4:15.95 (7)
8	160	Olga Klevakina	👁 Image URS	4:18.13 (4 h2)	4:19.18 (8)
9	–	Oksana Komissarova	👁 Image URS	4:18.61 (3 h3)	–
10	18	Pascale Verbauwen	👁 Image BEL	4:18.98 (3 h1)	–
11	49	Sharron Davies	👁 Image GBR	4:19.99 (4 h1)	–
12	88	Sofia Dara	👁 Image GRE	4:20.32 (5 h1)	–
13	–	Rosemary Brown	👁 Image AUS	4:21.36 (6 h1)	–
14	105	Roberta Felotti	👁 Image ITA	4:21.94 (4 h3)	–
15	61	Jackie Willmott	👁 Image GBR	4:22.32 (5 h3)	–
16	–	Nikole Schrepfer	👁 Image SUI	4:28.40 (5 h2)	–
17	36	Natalia Mas	👁 Image ESP	4:29.81 (6 h2)	–
18	121	María Pia Ayora	👁 Image PER	4:46.90 (6 h3)	–
19	111	Soad Fezzani	👁 Image LBA	5:16.17 (7 h2)	–
97	Klára Gulyás	👁 Image HUN	– (DNS h3)	–

Round One

Date	22 July 1980 — 10:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	3	Carmela Schmidt	👁 Image GDR	4:13.01
2	4	Annelies Maas	👁 Image NED	4:13.12
3	5	Michelle Ford	👁 Image AUS	4:13.90
4	4	Ines Diers	👁 Image GDR	4:13.98
5	5	Irina Aksyonova	👁 Image URS	4:14.39
6	4	Petra Schneider	👁 Image GDR	4:14.49
7	3	Reggie de Jong	👁 Image NED	4:15.07
8	6	Olga Klevakina	👁 Image URS	4:18.13
9	3	Oksana Komissarova	👁 Image URS	4:18.61
10	1	Pascale Verbauwen	👁 Image BEL	4:18.98
11	5	Sharron Davies	👁 Image GBR	4:19.99
12	6	Sofia Dara	👁 Image GRE	4:20.32
13	2	Rosemary Brown	👁 Image AUS	4:21.36
14	2	Roberta Felotti	👁 Image ITA	4:21.94
15	6	Jackie Willmott	👁 Image GBR	4:22.32
16	7	Nikole Schrepfer	👁 Image SUI	4:28.40
17	2	Natalia Mas	👁 Image ESP	4:29.81
18	1	María Pia Ayora	👁 Image PER	4:46.90
19	1	Soad Fezzani	👁 Image LBA	5:16.17
7	Klára Gulyás	👁 Image HUN	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m	200-300 m	300-400 m
1	3	Carmela Schmidt	👁 Image GDR	4:13.01	1:00.86 (1)	2:04.86 (1)	3:09.17 (1)	1:04.00 (2)	1:04.31 (2)	1:03.84 (2)
2	4	Annelies Maas	👁 Image NED	4:13.12	1:01.35 (2)	2:05.34 (2)	3:09.43 (2)	1:03.99 (1)	1:04.09 (1)	1:03.69 (1)
3	1	Pascale Verbauwen	👁 Image BEL	4:18.98	1:03.16 (6)	2:08.24 (5)	3:14.36 (4)	1:05.08 (3)	1:06.12 (3)	1:04.62 (3)
4	5	Sharron Davies	👁 Image GBR	4:19.99	1:02.12 (3)	2:07.86 (4)	3:14.35 (3)	1:05.74 (5)	1:06.49 (5)	1:05.64 (5)
5	6	Sofia Dara	👁 Image GRE	4:20.32	1:02.73 (5)	2:09.04 (6)	3:15.39 (6)	1:06.31 (6)	1:06.35 (4)	1:04.93 (4)
6	2	Rosemary Brown	👁 Image AUS	4:21.36	1:02.35 (4)	2:07.71 (3)	3:14.58 (5)	1:05.36 (4)	1:06.87 (6)	1:06.78 (6)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m	200-300 m	300-400 m
1	4	Ines Diers	👁 Image GDR	4:13.98	1:02.28 (2)	2:07.12 (2)	3:10.74 (1)	1:04.84 (3)	1:03.62 (1)	1:03.24 (2)
2	5	Irina Aksyonova	👁 Image URS	4:14.39	1:02.09 (1)	2:06.88 (1)	3:11.75 (3)	1:04.79 (2)	1:04.87 (3)	1:02.64 (1)
3	3	Reggie de Jong	👁 Image NED	4:15.07	1:02.46 (3)	2:07.21 (3)	3:11.15 (2)	1:04.75 (1)	1:03.94 (2)	1:03.92 (3)
4	6	Olga Klevakina	👁 Image URS	4:18.13	1:02.65 (4)	2:07.73 (4)	3:13.30 (4)	1:05.08 (4)	1:05.57 (4)	1:04.83 (4)
5	7	Nikole Schrepfer	👁 Image SUI	4:28.40	1:03.08 (5)	2:10.66 (5)	3:19.52 (5)	1:07.58 (6)	1:08.86 (5)	1:08.88 (5)
6	2	Natalia Mas	👁 Image ESP	4:29.81	1:03.79 (6)	2:11.31 (6)	3:20.43 (6)	1:07.52 (5)	1:09.12 (6)	1:09.38 (6)
7	1	Soad Fezzani	👁 Image LBA	5:16.17	1:12.89 (7)	2:34.06 (7)	3:56.01 (7)	1:21.17 (7)	1:21.95 (7)	1:20.16 (7)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m	200-300 m	300-400 m
1	5	Michelle Ford	👁 Image AUS	4:13.90	1:02.00 (2)	2:05.93 (2)	3:10.03 (2)	1:03.93 (2)	1:04.10 (1)	1:03.87 (1)
2	4	Petra Schneider	👁 Image GDR	4:14.49	1:00.47 (1)	2:04.17 (1)	3:09.50 (1)	1:03.70 (1)	1:05.33 (3)	1:04.99 (3)
3	3	Oksana Komissarova	👁 Image URS	4:18.61	1:02.82 (4)	2:08.35 (3)	3:13.64 (3)	1:05.53 (3)	1:05.29 (2)	1:04.97 (2)
4	2	Roberta Felotti	👁 Image ITA	4:21.94	1:03.14 (5)	2:08.92 (5)	3:15.32 (4)	1:05.78 (4)	1:06.40 (4)	1:06.62 (5)
5	6	Jackie Willmott	👁 Image GBR	4:22.32	1:02.30 (3)	2:08.67 (4)	3:16.07 (5)	1:06.37 (5)	1:07.40 (5)	1:06.25 (4)
6	1	María Pia Ayora	👁 Image PER	4:46.90	1:07.41 (6)	2:19.80 (6)	3:33.85 (6)	1:12.39 (6)	1:14.05 (6)	1:13.05 (6)
7	Klára Gulyás	👁 Image HUN	–	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	22 July 1980 — 20:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	200 m	300 m	100-200 m	200-300 m	300-400 m
1	6	Ines Diers	👁 Image GDR	4:08.76	1:01.12 (4)	2:03.77 (2)	3:06.54 (2)	1:02.65 (2)	1:02.77 (1)	1:02.22 (1)
2	7	Petra Schneider	👁 Image GDR	4:09.16	59.57 (1)	2:01.06 (1)	3:05.12 (1)	1:01.49 (1)	1:04.06 (4)	1:04.04 (6)
3	4	Carmela Schmidt	👁 Image GDR	4:10.86	1:00.97 (2)	2:04.23 (4)	3:07.96 (=3)	1:03.26 (4)	1:03.73 (2)	1:02.90 (3)
4	3	Michelle Ford	👁 Image AUS	4:11.65	1:01.31 (5)	2:04.07 (3)	3:07.96 (=3)	1:02.76 (3)	1:03.89 (3)	1:03.69 (4)
5	2	Irina Aksyonova	👁 Image URS	4:14.40	1:01.09 (3)	2:06.53 (6)	3:11.62 (6)	1:05.44 (7)	1:05.09 (5)	1:02.78 (2)
6	5	Annelies Maas	👁 Image NED	4:15.79	1:01.36 (6)	2:05.64 (5)	3:11.09 (5)	1:04.28 (5)	1:05.45 (7)	1:04.70 (8)
7	1	Reggie de Jong	👁 Image NED	4:15.95	1:01.75 (7)	2:06.63 (7)	3:11.90 (7)	1:04.88 (6)	1:05.27 (6)	1:04.05 (7)
8	8	Olga Klevakina	👁 Image URS	4:19.18	1:02.34 (8)	2:08.56 (8)	3:15.34 (8)	1:06.22 (8)	1:06.78 (8)	1:03.84 (5)