Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

Men's 100 metre freestyle at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue	White City Stadium
Dates	July 17 July 20
Competitors	34 from 12 nations
Medalists
Charles Daniels  United States Zoltán Halmay  Hungary Harald Julin  Sweden

The men's 100 metre freestyle was one of six swimming events on the swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. It was the shortest of the three individual freestyle events, as the 50 yard freestyle had been dropped after its one appearance on the 1904 Summer Olympics programme. The 100 metre event was contested for the third time after it had been held at the 1896 and 1906 Olympics. The 1904 Olympics saw a 100-yard event. The competition was held on Friday July 17, 1908 and Monday July 20, 1908.

Thirty-four swimmers from twelve nations competed. Each nation was limited to 12 swimmers.

These were the first Olympic Games in which a 100-metre pool had been especially constructed (inside the main stadium's track and field oval). Previous Olympic events were swum in open water (1896: The Mediterranean Sea, 1900: The Seine River, 1904: an artificial lake).

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.

World Record	1:05.8	Zoltán Halmay	Vienna (AUT)	December 3, 1905
Olympic Record	1:22.2	Alfréd Hajós	Athens (GRE)	April 11, 1896 (NS)
	1:13.0(*)	Charles Daniels	Athens (GRE)	April 26, 1906 (NS)
	1:02.8(**)	Zoltán Halmay	St. Louis (USA)	September 5, 1904

(*) Intercalated Games

(**) 100 yards (91.44 m)

In the first heat Zoltán Halmay set a new Olympic record with 1:08.2. In the fifth heat Charles Daniels and in the seventh heat Wilfred Edwards equalized the standing world record of 1:05.8. Finally Charles Daniels set a new world record with 1:05.6 in the final.

Competition format

With a much larger field than in 1904, the 1908 competition expanded to three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The 1908 Games also restored the wild-card system from 1900, allowing the fastest swimmers who did not win their heat to advance. The nine heats consisted of between 1 and 6 swimmers, with the winner of the heat advancing along with the fastest loser from across the heats (all tied swimmers advanced in the case of equal times). There were two semifinals, intended to be of 5 swimmers each but one of which actually had 6 due to a tie in the heats; the top 2 finishers in each semifinal (regardless of overall time) advanced to the 4-person final.

Each race involved a single length of the 100 metre pool, with no turns. Any stroke could be used.

Results

Heats

The fastest swimmer in each heat and the fastest loser advanced. Because there was a tie for fastest loser, both men advanced. Thus, 11 swimmers qualified for the semifinals.

Heat 1

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Zoltán Halmay	Hungary	1:08.2	Q, OR
2	Theodore Tartakover	Australasia	Unknown
3–6	Davide Baiardo	Italy	Unknown
	Bouke Benenga	Netherlands	Unknown
	Harald Klem	Denmark	Unknown
	Herman Meyboom	Belgium	Unknown

Heat 2

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Otto Scheff	Austria	1:11.8	Q
2	Addin Tyldesley	Great Britain	1:12.0	q
3–5	Gérard Meister	France	Unknown
	József Munk	Hungary	Unknown
	Conrad Trubenbach	United States	Unknown

Heat 3

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Frank Beaurepaire	Australasia	1:11.6	Q
2	Lamme Benenga	Netherlands	1:13.2
3–5	Robert Andersson	Sweden	Unknown
	Henrik Hajós	Hungary	Unknown
	Poul Holm	Denmark	Unknown

Heat 4

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Harald Julin	Sweden	1:12.0	Q
2	John Derbyshire	Great Britain	1:12.6
3–4	Victor Boin	Belgium	Unknown
	Robert Foster	United States	Unknown

Heat 5

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Charles Daniels	United States	1:05.8	Q. =WR
2	József Ónody	Hungary	1:13.2
3	George Innocent	Great Britain	Unknown
4–5	René André	France	Unknown
	Hjalmar Saxtorph	Denmark	Unknown

Heat 6

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Harry Hebner	United States	1:11.0	Q
2	Paul Radmilovic	Great Britain	1:12.0	q
3–4	Edward Cooke	Australasia	Unknown
	Fernand Feyaerts	Belgium	Unknown

Heat 7

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Wilfred Edwards	Great Britain	1:05.8	Q, =WR
2	Robert Zimmerman	Canada	1:35.0

Heat 8

Dockrell had no competition in the eighth heat.

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	George Dockrell	Great Britain	1:13.2	Q

Heat 9

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Leslie Rich	United States	1:14.6	Q
2	André Duprez	Belgium	1:18.0

Semifinals

The fastest two swimmers from each semifinal advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Zoltán Halmay	Hungary	1:09.4	Q
2	Harald Julin	Sweden	1:10.2	Q
3	Harry Hebner	United States	1:11.8
4	Frank Beaurepaire	Australasia	Unknown
5–6	Wilfred Edwards	Great Britain	Unknown
	Paul Radmilovic	Great Britain	Unknown

Semifinal 2

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Charles Daniels	United States	1:10.2	Q
2	Leslie Rich	United States	1:10.8	Q
3	George Dockrell	Great Britain	1:11.4
4	Otto Scheff	Austria	Unknown
5	Addin Tyldesley	Great Britain	Unknown

Final

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
	Charles Daniels	United States	1:05.6	WR
	Zoltán Halmay	Hungary	1:06.2
	Harald Julin	Sweden	1:08.0
4	Leslie Rich	United States	Unknown

Sources

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
• De Wael, Herman (2001). "Swimming 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 12 May 2006.