The women's 400 metre individual medley

Medley swimming

Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley or by four swimmers as a medley relay...

event at the 1972 Summer Olympics

1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....

 took place August 31. This swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 event used medley swimming

Medley swimming

Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley or by four swimmers as a medley relay...

. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of eight lengths of the pool. The first two lengths were swum using the butterfly stroke

Butterfly stroke

The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with both arms moving simultaneously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as the "dolphin kick"...

, the second pair with the backstroke

Backstroke

The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...

, the third pair of lengths in breaststroke

Breaststroke

The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...

, and the final two were freestyle

Freestyle swimming

Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...

. Unlike other events using freestyle, swimmers could not use butterfly, backstroke, or breaststroke for the freestyle leg; most swimmers use the front crawl

Front crawl

The front crawl, forward crawl, or freestyle is a swimming stroke usually regarded as the fastest of the four front primary strokes. As such, the front crawl stroke is nearly universally used during a freestyle swimming competition, hence the synonymously used term "freestyle". It is one of two...

 in freestyle events.

Medalists

Final

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
	Gail Neall Gail Neall Gail Neall is a former Australian medley swimmer who raced in the 1970s. She won a gold medal in the 400 m individual medley at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in world record time.- Early years :...		5:02.97	WR
	Leslie Cliff		5:03.57
	Novella Calligaris Novella Calligaris Novella Calligaris is an Italian retired swimmer, and the first Italian swimmer to win an Olympic medal in swimming....		5:03.99
4	Jenny Bartz		5:05.56
5	Evelyn Stolze		5:06.80
6	Mary Montgomery		5:09.98
7	Lynn Vidali Lynn Vidali Lynn Marie Vidali is a former American swimmer. She represented the United States at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where she received a silver medal in women's 400 m individual medley...		5:13.06
8	Nina Petrova		5:15.68

Key: WR = World record