The men's 400 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics programme.

[1] It was the fourth appearance of the event, which was established in 1908.

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

In the first heat Ralph Breyer set a new Olympic record with 5:22.4 minutes, only to be bettered in the third heat by Johnny Weissmuller who set a time of 5:22.2 minutes.

Weissmuller improved this record to 5:13.6 minutes in the semi-finals and finally to 5:04.2 minutes in the final.