The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
Olena Pavlivna Lapunova is a Ukrainian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and individual medley events. She is a three-time Olympian, an eighth-place finalist at the European Championships (1997), and a former Ukrainian record holder in the 200 m freestyle and individual medley.
Vesna Stojanovska is a Macedonian former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events. She is a two-time Olympian, and holds multiple age-group records in 200 and 400 m freestyle, and in 50, 100, and 200 m butterfly. Regarded as one of Macedonia's top swimmers, Stojanovska has earned All-American honors and numerous Atlantic Coast Conference titles in her own discipline while studying in the United States.
Pilin Tachakittiranan is a Thai former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events. She is a two-time Olympian and a multiple-time age-group record holder in all freestyle distances. Regarded as Thailand's top female swimmer, she has won a total of five gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games.
Ha Eun-ju is a South Korean swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. She won a bronze medal, as a member of the South Korean team, in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay (8:19.62), when her nation hosted the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.
Rebecca Jane Linton is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialised in long-distance freestyle events. She held New Zealand records in the 400 and 800 m freestyle, until they were all broken by Lauren Boyle in 2012. Linton is also a member of Howick Pakuranga Swim Club in Auckland.
Ivanka Moralieva is a Bulgarian former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events and open water marathon. Since 2001, she holds a Bulgarian record in the 1500 m freestyle from the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan (16:55.53). She also won a bronze medal in the 25 km, as an open water swimmer, at the 2004 European Aquatics Championships in Madrid, Spain (4:41:21.2).
Kathryn Evans is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games. Evans specialised in freestyle and individual medley events. She is a two-time Olympian, and a double British champion in the 200 m individual medley. Evans also played for Nova Centurion Swim Club in Nottingham, under head coach Bill Furniss. Evans is the cousin of late rower Acer Nethercott, who competed in the men's eight at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Leah Simone Martindale-Stancil is a Barbadian former competition swimmer who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. Martindale represented Barbados in two editions of the Olympic Games, where she became the first black female in history to reach an Olympic swimming final in the 50 m freestyle. She also holds three Barbadian records in a sprint freestyle double and in the 50 m butterfly, and twelve All-American honors, while attending the University of Florida.
Chantal Zita Gibney is an Irish former competitive swimmer who specialised in sprint and middle-distance freestyle events. Gibney became a semi-finalist in the 200-metre freestyle at the European Championships, and later represented Ireland, as a 19-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She also holds numerous Irish records, long or short course, in a middle-distance freestyle double, and fifteen All-American honours, while attending the University of Florida.
Antonia "Tonia" Machaira is a retired Greek swimmer, who specialized in sprint and middle-distance freestyle events. She represented Greece in two editions of the Olympic Games, and later helped the Greeks capture the silver medal in the freestyle relay (3:48.74) at the 2001 Mediterranean Games in Tunis, Tunisia.
Monique Rachelle Robins is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialised in sprint freestyle and backstroke events. She represented New Zealand, as the youngest swimmer of the team, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and also formerly played for Takapuna Swim Club under her personal coach and mentor Brett Naylor.
Roh Joo-hee is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in middle-distance freestyle and breaststroke events. As a teenager, she represented South Korea in two editions of the Olympic Games, and also held numerous career bests and national records in both 200 and 400 m freestyle.
Artemis Dafni is a Greek-American former competition swimmer who specialized in middle-distance freestyle and individual medley events. She represented Greece, as a 16-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and also competed for the University of Arizona's Arizona Wildcats swimming and diving team.
Lin Chi-chan is a Taiwanese former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle but also competed in backstroke. She represented Chinese Taipei in two editions of the Olympic Games, and later earned two medals each in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay (3:51.42), and 4 × 200 m freestyle relay (8:18.92) at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
Patricia Villarreal Vargas is a Mexican former swimmer, who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. She represented Mexico, as a 17-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and also became a member of Sharks Swim Club at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida under her personal coach Larry Shofe.
Nataliya Korabelnikova is a Kyrgyz former swimmer, who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events. Korabelnikova competed in two swimming events at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She achieved a FINA B-cut of 4:24.63 from the Russian Open Championships in Saint Petersburg. On the second day of the Games, Korabelnikova placed thirty-fifth in the 400 m freestyle. Swimming in heat one, she edged out Singapore's Christel Bouvron on the final lap to pick up a fifth seed by almost a full second, in a lifetime best of 4:24.29. Three days later, Korabelnikova, along with Yekaterina Tochenaya, Anna Korshikova, and Anjelika Solovieva, placed fourteenth in the 4×200 m freestyle relay (8:41.21).
Sia Wai Yen is a Malaysian swimmer who specialised in long-distance freestyle and individual medley events. At the age of 16 she represented Malaysia at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She won four medals in two editions of the Southeast Asian Games, and later became a top 8 finalist at the 2002 Asian Games.
Lee Ji-hyun is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in individual medley events. She represented her nation South Korea in two editions of the Olympic Games, and also a top eight finalist in the 400 m individual medley at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
Melanie Dodd is an Australian former swimmer who specialized in sprint freestyle events. She represented the host nation Australia, as a 27-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and also trained for the Australian Institute of Sport, under Russian-based swim coach Gennadi Touretski. She won two medals, a silver and bronze, in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1995 FINA Short Course World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, and 1999 FINA Short Course World Championships in Hong Kong.
Australia 
