Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place September 1. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). 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. Rick DeMont of the United States originally won the gold medal in 4:00.26. Following the race, the International Olympic
Dalby Olympic Swimming Pool pool of this size in order to practice effectively. The precise requirements to meet Olympic pool standards have since been refined and cover width, depth, and temperature and light densities. In Brisbane, the Fortitude Valley Baths were rebuilt in 1925-1926 to the Olympic standard, being in length and wide. This pool no longer survives. By the 1930s swimming was a glamorous sport internationally, with sport and medal winners such as Duke Kahanamoku, Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe becoming Hollywood celebrities. In Sydney, four Olympic-standard pools were constructed in the 1930s, municipal councils taking advantage of loans and other financial incentives