| Men 1500m Freestyle Swimming III World Championship 1978 West Berlin - Monday, 28th August - Gold Medal: Vladimir Salnikov, Soviet Union | 
| Final |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | 400m | 800m | 1200m |  | 1. Vladimir Salnikov |   Soviet Union | 15:03.99 | CR |   | 4 | 18 | 4:03.74 | 8:06.47 | 12:06.98  |  | 2. Borut Petric |   Yugoslavia | 15:20.77 | NR | +16.78s | 3 | 17 | 4:05.99 | 8:13.22 | 12:18.76  |  | 3. Bobby Hackett |   United States | 15:23.38 |   | +19.39s | 6 | 19 | 4:02.59 | 8:08.60 | 12:16.75  |  | 4. Max Metzker |   Australia | 15:25.60 |   | +21.61s | 8 | 18 | 4:06.28 | 8:13.01 | 12:19.80  |  | 5. Zoltan Wladar |   Hungary | 15:35.87 | NR | +31.88s | 1 | 18 | 4:06.59 | 8:16.29 | 12:26.15  |  | 6. Daniel Machek |   Czechoslovakia | 15:38.57 |   | +34.58s | 5 | 18 | 4:06.10 | 8:15.37 | 12:28.45  |  | 7. Simon Gray |   Great Britain | 15:41.33 |   | +37.34s | 2 | 19 | 4:06.26 | 8:18.12 | 12:31.83 |  | 8. Djan Madruga |   Brazil | DNF |   | - | 7 | 19 | 4:06.95 | 8:16.29 | DNF |   
| Vladimir Salnikov time of 8:06.47 is New European Record for Men 800m Freestyle. |   
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| World Record: Brian Gododell, United Stated  (4:02.25, 8:05.66, 12:05.46) |  | Championship Record: Tim Shaw, United States 15:28.92 (4:06.12, 8:14.51, 12:22.37) 1975 |   
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 Heats - Monday, 28th | August |  | Best 8 times advanced to Final>.  |   
| Heat 5 |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | Rk |  | 1. Vladimir Salnikov |   Soviet Union | 15:18.90 | CR |   | - | 18 | 1. |  | 2. Daniel Machek |   Czechoslovakia | 15:28.19 | NR | +9.29 | - | 18 | 2. |  | 3. Borut Petric |   Yugoslavia | 15:29.49 |   | +10.59 | - | 17 | 3. |   
| Heat 3 |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | Rk |  | 5. Simon Gray |   Great Britain | 15:31.42 | NR | +12.52 | - | 19 | 1. |  | 10.Sandor Nagy |   Hungary | 15:42.58 |   | +23.68 | - | 17 | 2. |  | 11.Ed Ryder |   United States | 15:44.00 |   | +25.10 | - | _ | 3. |   
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| Heat 2 |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | Rk |  | 4. Bobby Hackett |   United States | 15:29.87 |   | +10.97 | - | 19 | 1. |  | 7. Zoltan Wladar |   Hungary | 15:36.32 |   | +17.42 | - | 18 | 2. |  | 15.Rafael Escalas |   Spain | 16:10.19 |   | +51.29 | - | 17 | 3. |   
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| Heat 1 |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | Rk |  | 6. Djan Madruga |   Brazil | 15:35.56 |   | +16.66 | - | 19 | 1. |  | 8. Max Metzker |   Australia | 15:36.46 |   | +17.56 | - | 18 | 2. |  | 9. Vladimir Lebedev |   Soviet Union | 15:38.01 |   | +19.11 | - | _ | 3. |   
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| Heat - |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | Rk  |  | 12.Stefan Andersson |   Sweden | 15:56.99 |   | +38.09 | - | _ |   |  | 13.Shuji Tsukasaki |   Japan | 15:58.09 | NR | +39.19 | - | _ |   |  | 14.Rob Baylls |   Canada | 16:05.05 |   | +46.15 | - | 5 |   |  | 16.Gerald Schlupp |   West Germany | 16:12.10 |   | +53.20 | - | _ |   |  | 17.Rolando Neiger |   Switzerland | 16:21.82 |   | +1:02.92 | - | _ |   |  | 18.Dariusz Broda |   Poland | 16:23.42 |   | +1:04.52 | - | _ |   |  | 19.Diego Quiroga |   Ecuador | 16:25.65 |   | +1:06.75 | - | 17 |   |  | 20.Jose Leite |   Portugal | 16:26.96 | NR | +1:08.06 | - | _ |   |  | 21.Amir Ganiel |   Israel | 16:27.16 |   | +1:08.26 | - | _ |   |  | 22.Karl-Heinz Pfitzer |   West Germany | 16:27.96 |   | +1:09.06 | - | _ |   |  | 23.Dariusz Gil |   Poland | 16:36.18 |   | +1:17.28 | - | _ |   |  | 24.Scott Newkirk |   US Virgin Islands | 17:01.88 | NR | +1:42.98 | - | 17 |   |  | 25.Mohamed Al-Saleh |   Kuwait | 18:38.67 | NR | +3:19.77 | - | 19 |   |  | -. Ilkka Lahtl |   Finland | DNS |   | - | - | _ |   |  | -. Stephen Lewington |   Great Britain | DNS |   | - | - | _ |   |  | -. Dennis Corcoran |   Canada | DNS |   | - | - | _ |   |  | -. Brett Naylor |   New Zealand | DNS |   | - | - | 21 |   |  | -. Murat Ozuak |   Turkey | DNS |   | - | - | _ |   |   
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