Published Saturday, 27 November 2010
Nocher led at half-way but she was passed by other competitors, including her Irish team-mate Grainne Murphy.
The Belfast swimmer though did set a personal best time of 4:03:97.
The race was notable for the absence of long-course world champion Federica Pellegrini who failed to finish her heat onSaturday morning.
The Italian stopped at the 150m mark and left the water, telling Italian TV channel RAI: "I was nervous and suddenly became scared. That's why I stopped."
Pellegrini has experienced problems in the pool before, pulling up after suffering from panic attacks during races.
Gianfranco Saini, head of the Italy squad, said:
"It's probably a mental problem. She must have recalled another race."
Pellegrini then returned as the Italian quartet won bronze in the 4x50m freestyle relay in a race which witnessed the fastest 50m split in history, Ranomi Kromowidjojo's anchor leg of 22.70 equalling her own time from December 2009 when she was wearing a performance-enhancing suit, now banned.
For Murphy, though, her effort in the 400m saw her visit the podium for the second time, 24 hours after she won bronze behind Pellegrini in the 800m freestyle.
Rachel Lefley finished eighth in the 50m backstroke in 28.08, a day after coming sixth in the 100m event.