Swimming at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 400 metre individual medley

The men's 400 metre individual medley competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 5.

Records
Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.

The following records were established during the competition:

Heats
29 swimmers participated in 4 heats, qualified swimmers are listed:
 * Christian Leitzmann, almost at the end at the butterfly leg, swallowed some water and abandoned the race.

Final
The results of the final are below.