Swimming at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 400 metre freestyle
The men's 400 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 6.Records
Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 6 September | Heat | Brad Cooper | | 4:02.38 | CR |
| 6 September | Final | Rick DeMont | | 3:58.18 | WR |
Results
Heats
27 swimmers participated in 4 heats.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | - | Brad Cooper | | 4:02.38 | Q, CR |
| 2 | 3 | - | Bengt Gingsjö | | 4:04.35 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | - | Rick DeMont | | 4:04.77 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | - | Anders Bellbring | | 4:05.77 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | - | Andreas Apel | | 4:06.13 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | - | Tim Shaw | | 4:06.57 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | - | Werner Lampe | | 4:07.01 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | - | John Kulasalu | | 4:09.32 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | - | Arnaldo Cinquetti | | 4:09.37 | |
| 10 | 4 | - | Wilfried Hartung | | 4:10.90 | |
| 11 | 3 | - | Deane Buckboro | | 4:11.72 | |
| 12 | 2 | - | Vladimir Mikheyev | | 4:13.79 | |
| 13 | 4 | - | José Namorado | | 4:14.37 | |
| 14 | 4 | - | G Castillo | | 4:15.22 | |
| 15 | 4 | - | Mark Treffers | | 4:15.81 | |
| 16 | 2 | - | Dusan Grozaj | | 4:16.23 | |
| 17 | 2 | - | Paul Jouanneau | | 4:18.19 | |
| 18 | 1 | - | Marc Lazzaro | | 4:18.43 | |
| 19 | 3 | - | Leonid Dragunov | | 4:18.79 | |
| 20 | 2 | - | Michael Ker | | 4:20.10 | |
| 21 | 2 | - | Ali Gharbi | | 4:20.18 | |
| 22 | 4 | - | Alberto Vivoni | | 4:22.02 | |
| 23 | 3 | - | Csaba Tóth | | 4:22.26 | |
| 24 | 1 | - | Krasimir Enchev | | 4:24.53 | |
| 25 | 2 | - | Francisco Canales | | 4:24.65 | |
| 26 | 3 | - | Ali Kinawi | | 4:25.71 | |
| 27 | 1 | - | Josy Wilwert | | 4:39.02 | |
Final
The results of the final are below.
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 3 | Rick DeMont | | 3:58.18 | WR |
| 4 | Brad Cooper | | 3:58.70 | CWR |
| 5 | Bengt Gingsjö | | 4:01.27 | |
| 7 | Tim Shaw | | 4:01.56 | |
| 6 | Anders Bellbring | | 4:04.36 | |
| 2 | Andreas Apel | | 4:04.92 | |
| 1 | Werner Lampe | | 4:09.83 | |
| 8 | John Kulasalu | | 4:14.62 | |
