The men's 100 metre freestyle 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 1932 Summer Olympics programme. It was the eighth appearance of the event, which had not been featured only at the 1900 Games. The competition was held from Saturday August 6, 1932 to Sunday August 7, 1932. Twenty-two swimmers from ten nations competed. Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games. The event was won by

Yasuji Miyazaki (October 15, 1916 – December 30, 1989) was a Japanese swimmer who competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Miyazaki was born in Kosai, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. He was selected for the Japanese Olympic team for the 1932 Los ...

of Japan, snapping a five-Games American win streak. Japan was only the third nation to win a gold medal in the event (Hungary had won the first two, the United States the next five). The final was entirely made up of Japanese and American swimmers, three each; Japan took the top two places as Tatsugo Kawaishi earned silver. The top American, Albert Schwartz, earned bronze. While the American win streak had ended at five, the nation's podium streak ran to seven Games.

Background

This was the eighth 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. Two of the seven finalists from 1928 returned: silver medalist

István Bárány István Bárány (20 December 1907 – 21 February 1995) was a Hungarian swimmer who competed at the 1924, 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics. In 1924 he was twelfth in the 100 m freestyle. Four years later he won a silver medal in 100& ...

of Hungary and sixth-place finisher

Walter Spence Walter Percy Spence (March 3, 1901 – October 16, 1958) was a swimmer from British Guiana (present-day Guyana) who competed for Canada in the 1928 Summer Olympics and 1932 Summer Olympics. He immigrated to the United States and held seve ...

of Canada. Two-time gold medalist

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 ...

of the United States had retired to focus on his acting career;

Tarzan the Ape Man Tarzan, the Ape Man may refer to * Tarzan, a fictional character * ''Tarzan the Ape Man'' (1932 film), with Johnny Weissmuller * ''Tarzan, the Ape Man'' (1959 film) with Denny Miller * ''Tarzan, the Ape Man'' (1981 film) with Richard Harris and ...

was released earlier in 1932. The American swimming team remained strong. Japan, however, also had an impressive team, led by 15-year-old

. The Philippines made its debut in the event. The United States made its eighth appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.

Competition format

This

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 ...

competition used a three-round (quarterfinals, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule was a modification of the one used since 1912, allowing the top swimmers in each race plus one or more wild cards to advance. For this event, the top two in each preliminary heat plus the fastest third-place swimmer would advance to the semifinals; the top three in each semifinal would move on to the final. There were 4 heats of between 5 and 6 swimmers, allowing 9 swimmers to advance to the semifinals. The 2 semifinals had 4 or 5 swimmers each; 6 advanced to the final. Each race involved two lengths of the 50-metre pool.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1932 Summer Olympics. Saturday August 6, 1932: In the first semifinal

set a new Olympic record with 58.0 seconds.

Schedule

Results

Heats

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

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Semifinals

The fastest three in each semi-final advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

Sunday August 7, 1932:

Results summary

References

External links

Olympic Report
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming At The 1932 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 Metre Freestyle Swimming at the 1932 Summer Olympics Men's events at the 1932 Summer Olympics