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 1912 Summer Olympics At the 1912 Summer Olympics, nine swimming events were contested. Swimming events were held in a 100 m course built in Stockholm harbor. For the first time, women's events were part of the Olympic swimming program. The competitions were held ...

programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which had not been featured at the 1900 Games. The competition was held from Saturday July 6, 1912, to Wednesday July 10, 1912. Thirty-four swimmers from twelve nations competed. The event was won by

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 ...

of the United States, the nation's second consecutive victory in the event (tying Hungary for most all-time). Cecil Healy took silver, the only medal in the event for Australasia, the short-lived joint team of Australia and New Zealand. Another American, Ken Huszagh, took bronze.

Background

This was the fourth appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle (including the 100 yard event in 1904 but excluding the Intercalated Games in 1906). 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 four finalists from 1908 returned: bronze medalist

Harald Julin Harald Sigfrid Alexander Julin (27 March 1890 – 31 July 1967) was a Swedish swimmer and water polo player who competed at the 1906, 1908, 1912 and 1920 Olympics. In 100 m freestyle swimming he won a bronze medal in 1908, and failed to reach t ...

of Sweden. Charles Daniels, the defending gold medalist who had also won at the 1906 Intercalated Games and taken silver at the 1904 Olympics, had retired. The favorite was

Kurt Bretting Kurt Bretting (6 June 1892 – 30 May 1918) was a German freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was born in Magdeburg and was killed in action in Merville, Nord, France during World War I. In 1912 he finished fourth in ...

of Germany, who had broken Daniels' world record earlier in 1912. An intriguing entrant was the Hawaiian

, rumored to have posted phenomenal times which were unverified because of the distance from the American mainland. Germany, Norway, and Russia each made their debut in the event. Hungary and the United States each made their fourth appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.

Competition format

The rules for the swimming events provided that each event would consist of heats, a final, and "a sufficient number of intermediate heats in proportion to the number of competitors."Official Report, p. 1069. This resulted in confusion when the organizers deemed that there should be 2 such intermediate rounds (for a total of 4 rounds) while the American team thought that there would be only 1 intermediate round before the final and did not appear for the semifinals. Ultimately a four-round competition was held, with a special heat in the third round held for competitors who had missed races due to confusion. For each round, the top two swimmers in each heat advanced to the next round along with the fastest third-place swimmer. In the case of a tie, all tied swimmers would advance (swim-offs would only be used in the final). Each race consisted of a single length of the 100 metre course. Any stroke could be used.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics. ''(*)'' 100 yards (= 91.44 m) In the fourth heat Perry McGillivray set a new Olympic record with 1:04.8 minutes. In the fifth heat

bettered the Olympic record of 1:02.6 minutes. Finally

improved the Olympic record with a time of 1:02.4 minutes in the third semifinal heat.

Schedule

Results

Heats

The fastest two in each heat advanced. A tie for second in the seventh heat resulted in both swimmers advancing. In addition, the fastest third-place swimmer from across the heats also qualified for the quarterfinals.

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

Heat 8

Quarterfinals

Again, the top two in each heat advanced along with the fastest loser overall. Four of the qualified swimmers did not take part in their quarterfinal heats, and a fifth (

Massa Massa may refer to: Places *Massa, Tuscany, the administrative seat of the Italian province of Massa-Carrara. *Massa (river), river in Switzerland * Massa (Tanzanian ward), administrative ward in the Mpwapwa district of the Dodoma Region of Ta ...

) did not appear due to a misunderstanding.

was later allowed to take part in the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

Quarterfinal 2

Quarterfinal 3

Semifinals

Further confusion struck the semifinals. Under the belief that the second round of the competition had been the semifinals, the American swimmers did not appear for the third round. This led to both semifinals being essentially walkovers, as the first had three swimmers and the second only one. Since the top two swimmers of each and the fastest third-place swimmer would advance, all four competitors had secured a place in the final before entering the water.

Longworth Longworth is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, England. The 1974 boundary changes transferred it from Berkshire to Oxfordshire. The village lies between Faringdon, to its west, and Oxford, to the north-east. The 2011 Cen ...

swam in the first heat, despite suffering from what the official report referred to as "

suppuration Pus is an exudate, typically white-yellow, yellow, or yellow-brown, formed at the site of inflammation during bacterial or fungal infection. An accumulation of pus in an enclosed tissue space is known as an abscess, whereas a visible collection ...

in the head". The jury for the swimming events met and determined that a third heat should be held under special rules. If the winner of the extra heat were to beat the time set by the third-place swimmer of the first heat (1:06.2, a stiff pace but one which all three Americans had beat during the quarterfinals), he and the second-place finisher would advance. If the mark were not bettered, none of the swimmers from the third heat would advance.

, who had missed the quarterfinals due to a misunderstanding, was also allowed to start in the extra semifinal. In the third heat, Kahanamoku not only beat

's time, thus qualifying himself and Huszagh for the final, but bettered his own Olympic record which he had set in the first round. Huszagh out-touched McGillivray by a "hand's breadth" to take second place and the final qualification spot, though both finished well behind Kahanamoku and their own previous times.

did not finish the race.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 3

Final

was unable to continue competing due to illness and did not start in the final. Kahanamoku was clearly in control by the halfway point, with a tight race between Huszagh, Ramme, and Bretting for the next three spots with Healy close behind them. It was Healy who took the silver medal, though, as he swam by the other three near the finish. Ramme fell back to fifth while Huszagh and Bretting finished separated by " ly a decimetre".

Results summary

References

Notes

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming At The 1912 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 Metre Freestyle Swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics Men's events at the 1912 Summer Olympics