Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metre freestyle The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place between 28 and 30 July at the Swimming Stadium. 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. At the conclusion of the race, Boiteux's father jumped into the pool to
Dalby Olympic Swimming Pool a competitive and recreational sport gained rapidly in popularity in Queensland, and indeed, world-wide. In 1908 the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) was formed with the goals of standardising the rules for swimming, diving and water polo, obtaining control of world records, and ensuring the direction of Olympic Games competitions for swimming, diving and water polo. Swimming was given further impetus by the 1924 Olympic Games held in Paris. The Piscine des Tourelles, an 8-lane pool measuring in length by in width, was specially constructed for swimming events, setting the Olympic standards. Swimmers hoping to compete internationally now needed a