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 1968 Summer Olympics

1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...

 took place on 24–25 October. 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
	Claudia Kolb Claudia Kolb Claudia Ann Kolb is a retired breaststroke and medley swimmer from the United States, who won her first Olympic medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics when she was fourteen years of age...		5:08.5	OR
	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...		5:22.2
	Sabine Steinbach		5:25.3
4	Sue Pedersen Sue Pedersen Susie Pedersen is a Canadian endocrinologist, best known for her work in obesity research. She published the first randomized controlled trial on a portion control toll for weight loss .- Education :...		5:25.8
5	Shelagh Ratcliffe		5:30.5
6	Marianne Seydel		5:32.0
7	Tui Shipston		5:34.6
8	Laura Vaca		5:35.7

Key: OR = Olympic record