Swimming at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle

The women's 400 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships took place on September 7.

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

The following records were established during the competition:

Heats
26 swimmers participated in 4 heats, qualified swimmers are listed:

Final
The results of the final are below.