| Final | team | time | +time | L |   |  | 1. Ryan Lochte |  USA | 4:05.18 | - | 03 |  Stats |  | 2. Thiago Pereira |  BRA | 4:08.86 | +3.68s | 06 |  Stats |  | 3. Kosuke Hagino |  JPN | 4:08.94 | +3.76s | 04 |  Stats |  | 4. Michael Phelps |  USA | 4:09.28 | +4.10s | 08 |  Stats |  | 5. Chad le Clos |  RSA | 4:12.42 | +7.24s | 05 |  Stats |  | 6. Yuya Horihata |  JPN | 4:13.30 | +8.12s | 01 |  Stats |  | 7. Thomas Fraser-Holmes |  AUS | 4:13.49 | +8.31s | 02 |  Stats |  | 8. Luca Marin |  ITA | 4:14.89 | +9.71s | 07 |  Stats |   
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   |  | Ryan Lochte |   
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| Heat 5 | time | +time | L | Rk. |   |  | 1. Chad le Clos |  RSA | 4:12.24 | - | 02 | 2. |  Times |  | 2. Ryan Lochte |  USA | 4:12.35 | 0.11s | 04 | 3. |  Times |  | 3. Thomas Fraser-Holmes |  AUS | 4:12.66 | 0.42s | 03 | 5. |  Times |  | 4. Luca Marin |  ITA | 4:13.02 | 0.78s | 06 | 6. |  Times |  | 5. Yuya Horihata |  JPN | 4:13.09 | 0.85s | 05 | 7. |  Times |  | 6. Riaan Schoeman |  RSA | 4:17.22 | 4.98s | 01 | 19. |  Times |  | 6. Federico Turrini |  ITA | 4:17.22 | 4.98s | 07 | 19. |  Times |  | 8. Daniel Tranter |  AUS | 4:25.76 | 13.52s | 08 | 32. |  Times |   
| Heat 4 | time | +time | L | Rk. |   |  | 1. Michael Phelps |  USA | 4:13.33 | - | 04 | 8. |  Times |  | 2. Laszlo Cseh |  HUN | 4:13.40 | 0.07s | 05 | 9. |  Times |  | 3. Yannick Lebherz |  GER | 4:15.41 | 2.08s | 02 | 11. |  Times |  | 4. Roberto Pavoni |  GBR | 4:15.56 | 2.23s | 06 | 13. |  Times |  | 5. Chengxiang Wang |  CHN | 4:15.57 | 2.24s | 03 | 14. |  Times |  | 6. Maksym Shemberev |  UKR | 4:16.63 | 3.30s | 01 | 15. |  Times |  | 7. Ioannis Drymonakos |  GRE | 4:17.04 | 3.71s | 07 | 17. |  Times |  | 8. Alec Page |  CAN | 4:19.17 | 5.84s | 08 | 23. |  Times |   
| Heat 3 | time | +time | L | Rk. |   |  | 1. Kosuke Hagino |  JPN | 4:10.01 | AS | 04 | 1. |  Times |  | 2. Thiago Pereira |  BRA | 4:12.39 | 2.38s | 06 | 4. |  Times |  | 3. Gal Nevo |  ISR | 4:14.77 | 4.76s | 01 | 10. |  Times |  | 4. Zhixian Yang |  CHN | 4:15.45 | 5.44s | 03 | 12. |  Times |  | 5. Alexander Tikhonov |  RUS | 4:18.12 | 8.11s | 07 | 21. |  Times |  | 6. David Verraszto |  HUN | 4:18.31 | 8.30s | 05 | 22. |  Times |  | 7. Joe Roebuck |  GBR | 4:20.24 | 10.23s | 02 | 24. |  Times |  | -. Taki Mrabet |  TUN | DQ |   | 08 |   |  Times |   
| Heat 2 | time | +time | L | Rk. |   |  | 1. Ward Bauwens |  BEL | 4:16.71 | - | 04 | 16. |  Times |  | 2. Raphael Stacchiotti |  LUX | 4:17.20 | 0.49s | 06 | 18. |  Times |  | 3. Yury Suvorau |  BLR | 4:23.06 | 6.35s | 02 | 26. |  Times |  | 3. Diogo Carvalho |  POR | 4:23.06 | 6.35s | 05 | 26. |  Times |  | 5. Wonyong Jung |  KOR | 4:23.12 | 6.41s | 03 | 28. |  Times |  | 6. Esteban Enderica Salgado |  ECU | 4:24.32 | 7.61s | 01 | 29. |  Times |  | 7. Pedro Pinotes |  ANG | 4:24.69 | 7.98s | 08 | 30. |  Times |  | 8. Zheng Wen Quah |  SIN | 4:26.81 | 10.10s | 07 | 33. |  Times |   
| Heat 1 | time | +time | L | Rk. |   |  | 1. Bradley Ally |  BAR | 4:21.32 | - | 05 | 25. |  Times |  | 2. Anton Sveinn Mckee |  ISL | 4:25.06 | 3.74s | 04 | 31. |  Times |  | 3. Marko Blazhevski |  MKD | 4:32.38 | 11.06s | 06 | 34. |  Times |  | 4. Rafael Alfaro |  ESA | 4:35.80 | 14.48s | 03 | 35. |  Times |  | 5. Ahmed Ghithe G Atari |  QAT | 5:21.30 | 59.98s | 02 | 36. |  Times |   
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|   | F |  | Heat 5 | 5 |  | Heat 4 | 1 |  | Heat 3 | 2 |  | Heat 2 |  | Heat 1  |   
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| Total eligible to participate 39 swimmers |   
|  Olympic Qualifying Time - 4:16.46 - 16+6 |  | Thomas Fraser-Holmes | AUS | 7. | Daniel Tranter | AUS | 32. |  | Wang Chengxiang | CHN | 14. | Yang Zhixian | CHN | 12. |  | Joseph Roebuck | GBR | 24. | Roberto Pavoni | GBR | 13. |  | László Cseh | HUN | 9. | Dávid Verrasztó | HUN | 22. |  | Luca Marin | ITA | 8. | Federico Turrini | ITA | DNS |  | Kosuke Hagino | JPN | 3. | Yuya Horihata | JPN | 6. |  | Chad le Clos | RSA | 5. | Riaan Schoeman | RSA | 19. |  | Ryan Lochte | USA | 1. | Michael Phelps | USA | 4. |  | Thiago Pereira | BRA | 2. |  | Yannick Lebherz | GER | 11. |  | Ioannis Drymonakos | GRE | 17. |  | Alexander Tikhonov | RUS | 21. |  | Gal Nevo | ISR | 10. |  | Maksym Shemberev | UKR | 15. |   
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|  Olympic Selection Time - 4:25.44 - 14 |  | Dinko Jukic | AUT | qoe | DNS  |  | Lukasz Wojt | POL | 4:17.36 | DNS |  | Alec Page | CAN | 4:17.78 | 23. |  | Taki Mrabet | TUN | 4:18.15 | DQ |  | Ward Bauwens | BEL | 4:18.24 | 16. |  | Diogo Carvalho | POR | qoe | 26. |  | Jung Won-Yong | KOR | 4:18.98 | 28. |  | Raphael Stacchiotti | LUX | 4:18.98 | 18. |  | Yury Suvorau | BLR | 4:21.35 | 26. |  | Quah Zheng Wen | SIN | 4:21.70 | 33. |  | Esteban Enderica Salgado | ECU | up | 29. |  | Pedro Pinotes | ANG | up | 30. |  | Anton Sveinn McKee | ISL | 4:23.64 | 31. |  | Bradley Ally | BAR | qoe | 25.  |   
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|  Wildcard Places - 3 |  | Rafael Alfaro Ferracuti | ESA | 35. |  | Marko Blazevski | MKD | 34. |  | Ahmed Atari | QAT | 36. |   
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| Olympic Qualification time | time | place | date | birth |  | 1. Ryan Lochte | USA | 4:07.13 | Shanghai(CHN) | 24.07.2011 | 03/08/1984 |  | 2. Michael Phelps | USA | 4:07.89 | Omaha(USA) | 25.06.2012 | 30/06/1985 |  | 3. Kosuke Hagino | JPN | 4:10.26 | Tokyo(JPN) | 02.04.2012 | 15/08/1994 |  | 4. Yuya Horihata | JPN | 4:10.52 | Tokyo(JPN) | 02.04.2012 | 01/01/1990 |  | 5. Laszlo Cseh | HUN | 4:11.22 | Barcelona(ESP) | 04.06.2011 | 03/12/1985 |  | 6. David Verraszto | HUN | 4:11.71 | Barcelona(ESP) | 04.06.2011 | 22/08/1988 |  | 7. Thomas Fraser-Holmes | AUS | 4:11.81 | Adelaide(AUS) | 15.03.2012 | 09/10/1991 |  | 8. Chengxiang Wang | CHN | 4:11.89 | Wuhan(CHN) | 02.04.2011 | 21/07/1992 |  | 9. Zhixian Yang | CHN | 4:11.92 | Shaoxing(CHN) | 01.04.2012 | 20/05/1992 |  | 10.Luca Marin | ITA | 4:12.04 | Rome(ITA) | 14.06.2012 | 09/04/1986 |  | 11.Roberto Pavoni | GBR | 4:12.43 | London(GBR) | 03.03.2012 | 22/03/1991 |  | 12.Thiago Pereira | BRA | 4:12.52 | Rio De Janeiro(BRA) | 03.05.2011 | 26/01/1986 |  | 13.Chad Le Clos | RSA | 4:13.86 | Durban(RSA) | 16.04.2012 | 12/04/1992 |  | 14.Joe Roebuck | GBR | 4:14.02 | Manchester(GBR) | 05.03.2011 | 05/06/1985 |  | 15.Yannick Lebherz | GER | 4:14.02 | Berlin(GER) | 01.06.2011 | 13/01/1989 |  | 16.Federico Turrini | ITA | 4:14.18 | Riccione(ITA) | 13.04.2011 | 21/07/1987 |  | 17.Ioannis Drymonakos | GRE | 4:14.41 | Debrecen(HUN) | 21.05.2012 | 18/01/1984 |  | 18.Alexander Tikhonov | RUS | 4:15.24 | Moscow(RUS) | 17.04.2012 | 04/05/1988 |  | 19.Riaan Schoeman | RSA | 4:15.60 | Durban(RSA) | 16.04.2012 | 18/09/1989 |  | 20.Maksym Shemberev | UKR | 4:15.64 | Lima(PER) | 16.08.2011 | 25/09/1993 |  | 21.Gal Nevo | ISR | 4:16.14 | Debrecen(HUN) | 21.05.2012 | 29/06/1987 |  | 22.Daniel Tranter | AUS | 4:16.38 | Adelaide(AUS) | 15.03.2012 | 11/01/1992 |   
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