Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle
The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between 19 and 20 October. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of eight lengths of the pool.
Medalists
Results
Heats
Heat 1| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | María Teresa Ramírez | 4:43.9 | ||
| 2 | Gabriele Wetzko | 4:49.8 | ||
| 3 | Laura Vaca | 4:53.3 | ||
| 4 | Helen Elliott | 4:59.9 | ||
| 5 | Shen Bao-ni | 5:41.8 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Debbie Meyer | 4:35.0 | ||
| 2 | Norma Amezcua | 5:00.5 | ||
| 3 | Dominique Mollier | 5:00.5 | ||
| 4 | Sheila Clayton | 5:08.0 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Pam Kruse | 4:45.2 | ||
| 2 | Marjatta Hara | 4:53.0 | ||
| 3 | Olga de Angulo | 5:08.6 | ||
| 4 | Sally Davison | 5:11.2 | ||
| 5 | Lylian Castillo | 5:30.2 | ||
| 6 | Lorna Blake | 5:54.7 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Linda Gustavson | 4:41.4 | ||
| 2 | Marie-José Kersaudy | 4:57.3 | ||
| 3 | Kristina Moir | 4:57.7 | ||
| 4 | Susan Williams | 5:02.7 | ||
| 5 | Emilia Figueroa | 5:21.0 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Karen Moras | 4:39.6 | ||
| 2 | Elisabeth Ljunggren-Morris | 4:51.6 | ||
| 3 | Novella Calligaris | 4:59.4 | ||
| 4 | Consuelo Changanaqui | 5:02.9 | ||
| 5 | Silvana Asturias | 5:25.6 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Angela Coughlan | 4:47.4 | ||
| 2 | Denise Langford | 4:52.2 | ||
| 3 | Eva Sigg | 4:58.5 | ||
| 4 | Christine Deakes | 5:01.5 | ||
| 5 | Patricia Olano | 5:01.8 |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Debbie Meyer | 4:31.8 | OR | ||
| Linda Gustavson | 4:35.5 | |||
| Karen Moras | 4:37.0 | |||
| 4 | Pam Kruse | 4:37.2 | ||
| 5 | Gabriele Wetzko | 4:40.2 | ||
| 6 | María Teresa Ramírez | 4:42.2 | ||
| 7 | Angela Coughlan | 4:51.9 | ||
| 8 | Elisabeth Ljunggren-Morris | 4:53.8 |
Key: OR = Olympic record