The men's

100 metre freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

was a

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 held as part of the

swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, eleven swimming events were contested, six for men and five for women. The competitions were held from Sunday July 13, 1924, to Sunday July 20, 1924. There were 169 participants from 23 countries competing. ...

programme. It was the sixth appearance of the event, which had not been featured at the 1900 Games. The competition was held on Saturday July 19, 1924 and on Sunday July 20, 1924. There were 30 competitors from 15 nations. Nations were limited to three swimmers each, down from four in 1920. The United States swept the medals for the second consecutive Games, winning its fourth consecutive gold medal.

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

beat two-time defending champion

Duke Kahanamoku Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku (August 24, 1890 – January 22, 1968) was a Hawaiian competition swimmer who popularized the sport of surfing. A Native Hawaiian, he was born to a minor noble family less than three years before th ...

in the final. Kahanamoku was the first man to win three medals in the event. His brother

Samuel Kahanamoku Samuel Alapai Kahanamoku (November 4, 1902 – April 26, 1966) was an American competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where he won a bronze medal in the men's 100-meter freestyle event. He wa ...

earned the bronze medal.

Background

This was the sixth 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. One of the five finalists from 1920 returned: two-time gold medalist

of the United States. American

, the world record holder in the event, was a heavy favorite in the event. His teammates, Duke and

, were also strong contenders. Argentina, Spain, and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the event. The United States made its sixth appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.

Competition format

The competition used a three-round (quarterfinals, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule was the one used since 1912; for each round before the final, the top two in each heat plus the fastest third-place swimmer would advance. There were 6 quarterfinals of between 4 and 6 swimmers, allowing 13 swimmers to advance to the semifinals. The 2 semifinals had 6 or 7 swimmers; 5 advanced to the final. Each race involved two lengths of the 50-metre pool.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics. In the second semifinal

set a new Olympic record with 1:00.8 minutes. In the final he bettered his record with a time of 59.0 seconds.

Schedule

Results

Heats

The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced.

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Semifinals

The fastest two in each semi-final and the faster of the two third-placed swimmer advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

Johnny Weismuller and Duke Kahanamoku shaking hands

Results summary

References

External links

Olympic Report
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming At The 1924 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 Metre Freestyle Swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics Men's events at the 1924 Summer Olympics