Swimming at the 1904 Summer Olympics

At the 1904 Summer Olympics, nine swimming events were contested, all for men. The 1904 swimming competition was the only time in Olympic history that racing distances were measured in yards. The competition was held September 4–6, 1904. There was a total of 32 participants from 5 countries competing.

The short sprint, at 50 yards (46 m), made its first Olympic appearance in 1904. The 100 returned after not being contested in 1900. The 1000 metres and 4000 metres were replaced with the much shorter 440 yards (400 m) and 1-mile (1,600 m) events, making the 200 the only freestyle event to be held for the second time in a row.

The 200 metre backstroke was shortened to 100 yards (91 m) and the team swimming event was replaced with a 4×50 yard freestyle relay. The obstacle course and underwater swimming events were eliminated, while breaststroke made its Olympic debut.

Medal table

1	Germany (GER)	4	2	2	8
2	United States (USA)	3	6	5	14
3	Hungary (HUN)	2	1	1	4
4	Austria (AUT)	0	0	1	1

Medal summary

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
50 yard freestyle details	Zoltán Halmay Hungary	Scott Leary United States	Charles Daniels United States
100 yard freestyle details	Zoltán Halmay Hungary	Charles Daniels United States	Scott Leary United States
220 yard freestyle details	Charles Daniels United States	Francis Gailey United States^[1]	Emil Rausch Germany
440 yard freestyle details	Charles Daniels United States	Francis Gailey United States^[1]	Otto Wahle Austria
880 yard freestyle details	Emil Rausch Germany	Francis Gailey United States^[1]	Géza Kiss Hungary
1 mile freestyle details	Emil Rausch Germany	Géza Kiss Hungary	Francis Gailey United States^[1]
100 yard backstroke details	Walter Brack Germany	Georg Hoffmann Germany	Georg Zacharias Germany
440 yard breaststroke details	Georg Zacharias Germany	Walter Brack Germany	Jam Handy United States
4×50 yard freestyle relay details	United States (USA) The New York Athletic Club Joe Ruddy Leo Goodwin Louis Handley Charles Daniels	United States (USA) Chicago Athletic Association David Hammond Bill Tuttle Hugo Goetz Raymond Thorne	United States (USA) Missouri Athletic Club Amedee Reyburn Gwynne Evans Marquard Schwarz Bill Orthwein

Participating nations

32 swimmers from 4 nations competed.

Austria (1)
Germany (4)
Hungary (2)
United States (25)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Francis Gailey was originally assumed to be American, before it was discovered that his nationality was Australian. The International Olympic Committee still credits this medal for the United States, however.

"Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
Mallon, Bill (1999). The 1904 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, With Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0550-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
(ed.) James E. Sullivan. Spalding's Athletic Almanac for 1905 (PDF). New York: American Sports Publishing. pp. 229–231. Retrieved 2008-03-19. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
De Wael, Herman (2002-01-11). "Swimming 1904". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 2008-03-19.

[Gailey-1] Francis Gailey was originally assumed to be American, before it was discovered that his nationality was Australian. The International Olympic Committee still credits this medal for the United States, however.

[WW1-2] Cancelled due to World War I

[WW2-3] Cancelled due to World War II

[COVID2021-4] Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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