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Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

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Men's 200 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
The start of the final
VenueWhite City Stadium
DatesJuly 15–18
Competitors27 from 10 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Frederick Holman  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) William Robinson  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pontus Hanson  Sweden
1912 →

The men's 200 metre breaststroke was one of 6 swimming events on the Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the only breaststroke event on the schedule. 1908 was the first appearance of the 200 metre breaststroke, as 1904 had seen the introduction of the stroke to Olympic competition with the 440 yard event. Each nation could enter up to 12 swimmers.[2]

Competition format

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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 seven heats consisted of between 3 and 5 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.[3]

Each race involved two lengths of the 100 metre pool. The rules required that "both hands of the competitor must be pushed forward and brought backwards simultaneously, the shoulders must be kept perfectly in line with the surface of the water, and when touching at the turn . . . the touch shall be made with both hands" and that "the touch at the finish shall be made with both hands."[4]

Results

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First round

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The fastest swimmer in each heat and the fastest loser advanced, qualifying 8 swimmers for the semifinals.

Heat 1

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Frederick Holman  Great Britain 3:10.6
2 Richard Rösler  Germany 3:18.0
3 Max Gumpel  Sweden Unknown

Heat 2

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Wilhelm Persson  Sweden 3:17.6
2 András Baronyi  Hungary 3:18.0
3 Augustus Goessling  United States Unknown
4-5 Herman Cederberg  Finland Unknown
Frederick Naylor  Great Britain Unknown

Heat 3

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Erich Seidel  Germany 3:17.2
2 Hjalmar Johansson  Sweden 3:21.2
3 Alf Davies  Great Britain Unknown
4 Pierre Strauwen  Belgium Unknown

Heat 4

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Ödön Toldi  Hungary 3:14.4
2 Pontus Hanson  Sweden 3:15.0
3 Sydney Gooday  Great Britain Unknown
4 Amilcare Beretta  Italy Unknown

Heat 5

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 William Robinson  Great Britain 3:13.0
2 Per Fjästad  Sweden 3:31.4
3 John Henriksson  Finland Unknown
Edward Cooke  Australasia Did not finish

Heat 6

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 József Fabinyi  Hungary 3:23.4
2 Torsten Kumfeldt  Sweden 3:24.6
3 Harald Klem  Denmark Unknown
Hugo Jonsson  Finland Did not finish

Heat 7

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Félicien Courbet  Belgium 3:16.4
2 Percy Courtman  Great Britain 3:18.4
3 Adolf Andersson  Sweden Unknown

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Frederick Holman  Great Britain 3:10.0
2 Ödön Toldi  Hungary 3:16.4
3 Erich Seidel  Germany Unknown
4 József Fabinyi  Hungary Unknown

Semifinal 2

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 William Robinson  Great Britain 3:11.8
2 Pontus Hanson  Sweden 3:13.0
3 Wilhelm Persson  Sweden Unknown
4 Félicien Courbet  Belgium Unknown

Final

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Frederick Holman  Great Britain 3:09.2
2 William Robinson  Great Britain 3:12.8
3 Pontus Hanson  Sweden 3:14.6
4 Ödön Toldi  Hungary 3:15.2

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Breaststroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. ^ Official Report, p. 40.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 571.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 574.

Sources

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  • 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 13 May 2006.