The men'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 1988 Summer Olympics

1988 Summer Olympics

The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

 took place between September 20 & September 21. 34 swimmers swam in this event.

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

A Final

Place	Swimmer	Country	Time	Notes
	Tamás Darnyi Tamás Darnyi Tamás Darnyi is a Hungarian retired male swimmer. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest medley swimmers in history. He won four gold medals at two Olympic Games and was unbeaten in the individual medley events from 1985 until his retirement in 1993...		4:14.75	WR
	David Wharton David Wharton David Lee Wharton is a former butterfly and medley swimmer from the United States, who won the silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea....		4:17.36
	Stefano Battistelli Stefano Battistelli Stefano Battistelli is a former backstroke and medley swimmer from Italy, who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics , and won a bronze medal at each appearance....		4:18.01
4	József Szabó József Szabó József Szabó is a former breaststroker from Hungary, who won the gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.-References:**...		4:18.15
5	Patrick Kühl Patrick Kühl Patrick Kühl is a former medley swimmer from East Germany, who won the silver medal in the 200 m individual medley for the GDR at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea....		4:18.44
6	Jens-Peter Berndt		4:21.71
7	Luca Sacchi Luca Sacchi Luca Sacchi is a former medley swimmer from Italy, who won the bronze medal in the 400 m individual medley at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1988...		4:23.23
8	Peter Bermel		4:24.02

B Final

Place	Swimmer	Country	Time	Notes
9	Jeff Kostoff Jeff Kostoff Jeffrey James Kostoff is a former medley swimmer from the United States, who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984...		4:22.95
10	Christophe Bordeau Christophe Bordeau Christophe Bordeau is a retired butterfly and freestyle swimmer from France, who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988. He won two bronze medals in the early 1990s at the European Long Course Championships.-References:* *...		4:23.39
11	Robert Bruce		4:24.33
12	Jon Kelly Jon Kelly (swimmer) Jon Kelly is a former international butterfly swimmer from Canada, who competed for his native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There he finished in 7th position in the 200m Butterfly finals, and in twelfth place with the 400m Individual Medley...		4:25.02
13	Mikhail Zubkov		4:25.44
14	Rob Woodhouse Rob Woodhouse Robert "Rob" Woodhouse is a former Australian Olympic swimmer, specializing in medley swimming. He is now a prominent sports agent and company director...		4:26.14
15	Paul Brew		4:26.77
16	Charalambos Papanikolaou		4:27.95

Preliminary heats

Rank	Swimmer	Country	Time	Notes
1	Tamás Darnyi Tamás Darnyi Tamás Darnyi is a Hungarian retired male swimmer. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest medley swimmers in history. He won four gold medals at two Olympic Games and was unbeaten in the individual medley events from 1985 until his retirement in 1993...		4:26.55