The men's 200 metre obstacle event was an obstacle swimming event in the 1900 Summer Olympics held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. It was held on 11 August and 12 August 1900. Twelve swimmers from five nations competed. The event was won by

Frederick Lane Frederick Claude Vivian Lane (2 February 1880 – 14 May 1969) was an Australian swimming (sport), swimmer who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Lane, from Manly, New South Wales, was four years old when his brother saved him from drownin ...

of Australia, with Otto Wahle of Austria second and Peter Kemp of Great Britain third. Lane had already won the 200 metre freestyle (with no obstacles).

Background

This was the only appearance of obstacle swimming at the Olympics.

Competition format

There were three obstacles throughout the 200 metre course. Swimmers had to climb over the first two (a pole and a row of boats), and swim under the third (another row of boats). This

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

event used

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of Swimming (sport), swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races ar ...

, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). The event consisted of two rounds: semifinals and a final. There were three semifinals, with 4 swimmers in each; the top 2 swimmers in each semifinal advanced to the final along with the 4 with the best times from the remaining swimmers. This made a 10-person final.

Schedule

Results

Semifinals

The two fastest swimmers in each heat as well as the four fastest losers from across the three heats advanced. This meant that 10 of the 12 swimmers moved on to the final.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 3

Final

The final was held on 12 August.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Men's 200 Metre Obstacle Event Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics