Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

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Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the I Olympiad
Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics
VenueBay of Zea
DateApril 11
Competitors6 from 4 nations
Winning time1:22.2 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Alfréd Hajós
 Hungary
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Otto Herschmann
 Austria
1904 (100 yd) →

The men's 100 metre freestyle was one of the four swimming events on the Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme.[1] The 100 metre freestyle race was the first of the swimming events. Six swimmers entered the race: the two competitors from Austria-Hungary finished first and second, though there is no record of the places of the other four competitors.

Alfréd Hajós of Hungary beat Otto Herschmann of Austria by half a metre in a close contest, with the other swimmers far behind. While the Hungarian flag was hoisted, the band began to play the Austrian anthem (Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser) until the Hungarian sang the Hungarian anthem (Himnusz).[2]

Background[edit]

This was the first appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres.[2]

Alfréd Hajós was the 1895 European champion.[2]

Competition format[edit]

The competition involved a single race, with all swimmers competing at the same time. The swimmers were taken out by ship into the bay, where they would swim toward shore. Buoys marked the starting line, hollow pumpkins (which tended to move) marked the course, and a red flag marked the finish line.[2][3][4]

Records[edit]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1896 Summer Olympics.

World record Unknown* Unknown Unknown Unknown
Olympic record N/A N/A N/A N/A

* unofficial

The following record was established during the competition:

Date Event Athlete Nation Distance (m) Record
April 11 Final Alfréd Hajós  Hungary 1:22.2 OR

Schedule[edit]

The 100 metres freestyle was the first of the swimming events.[3]

Date Time Round
Gregorian Julian
Saturday, 11 April 1896 Saturday, 30 March 1896 11:00 Final

Results[edit]

Rank Swimmer Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Alfréd Hajós  Hungary 1:22.2
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Otto Herschmann  Austria 1:22.8
3–6 Georgios Anninos  Greece Unknown
Efstathios Chorafas  Greece Unknown
Alexandros Chrysafos  Greece Unknown
Gardner Williams  United States Unknown

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b Official Report, part 2, p. 96.
  4. ^ "Athens 1896 Swimming 100m Freestyle Men Result". Olympics.com. Retrieved 3 September 2021.