# Swimming at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1928 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventh appearance of the event, which had not been featured only at the 1900 Games. The competition was held on Friday and Saturday, 10 and 11 August 1928. Thirty swimmers from 17 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games. Johnny Weissmuller of the United States repeated as gold medalist in the event, the second man to do so (after Duke Kahanamoku, who Weissmuller had beaten in 1924 for his first gold). It was the fifth consecutive victory for an American swimmer in the men's 100 metre freestyle. István Bárány earned Hungary's first medal in the event since 1908 with his silver. Katsuo Takaishi's bronze was Japan's first men's 100 metre freestyle medal. Bárány and Takaishi prevented the Americans from sweeping the medals a third consecutive time (1920 and 1924), as the United States swimmers finished first, fourth, and fifth.

## Background

This was the seventh 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 five finalists from 1924 returned: gold medalist Johnny Weissmuller of the United States and fifth-place finisher Katsuo Takaishi of Japan. Weissmuller, as in 1924, was a heavy favorite in the event. He held the world record and had not been beaten in seven years.
Chile, Panama, and Poland each made their debut in the event. The United States made its seventh appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.

## Competition format

This freestyle swimming 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 7 heats of between 3 and 5 swimmers, allowing 15 swimmers to advance to the semifinals. The 3 semifinals had 5 swimmers each; 7 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 1928 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Johnny Weissmuller (USA) | 57.4 | Miami, United States | 17 February 1924 |
| Olympic record | Johnny Weissmuller (USA) | 59.0 | Paris, France | 20 July 1924 |
Johnny Weissmuller improved his own Olympic record in the semifinals with 58.6 seconds and equalized this time again in the final.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 10 August 1928 | 10:00 16:00 | Heats Semifinals |
| Saturday, 11 August 1928 | 16:35 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

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

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Walter Laufer | United States | 1:00.8 | Q |
| 2 | Katsuo Takaishi | Japan | 1:01.2 | Q |
| 3 | August Heitmann | Germany | 1:02.2 | q |
| 4 | Eskil Lundahl | Sweden | 1:03.0 | |
| 5 | Hernán Schüler | Chile | Unknown | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Rezső Wanié | Hungary | 1:03.4 | Q |
| 2 | Francisco Uranga | Argentina | 1:05.6 | Q |
| 3 | Gustave Klein | France | 1:05.8 | |
| 4 | Mario Astaburuaga | Chile | Unknown | |
| 5 | Martial van Schelle | Belgium | Unknown | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller | United States | 1:00.0 | Q |
| 2 | Walter Spence | Canada | 1:00.6 | Q |
| 3 | Norman Brooks | Great Britain | 1:03.4 | |
| 4 | Herbert Heinrich | Germany | Unknown | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Antal Gáborfi | Hungary | 1:04.0 | Q |
| 2 | Antonio Conelli | Italy | 1:07.0 | Q |
| 3 | Adán Gordón | Panama | 1:10.8 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Alberto Zorrilla | Argentina | 1:01.8 | Q |
| 2 | Knut Olsen | Norway | 1:05.0 | Q |
| 3 | Sven-Pelle Pettersson | Sweden | 1:06.4 | |
| 4 | Faelo Zúñiga | Chile | Unknown | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | George Kojac | United States | 1:01.6 | Q |
| 2 | Karl Schubert | Germany | 1:03.8 | Q |
| 3 | Reginald Sutton | Great Britain | 1:04.0 | |
| 4 | Munroe Bourne | Canada | Unknown | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | István Bárány | Hungary | 1:01.2 | Q |
| 2 | Emilio Polli | Italy | 1:04.0 | Q |
| 3 | Henk van Essen | Netherlands | 1:07.4 | |
| 4 | José González | Spain | Unknown | |
| 5 | Władysław Kuncewicz | Poland | 1:10.8 | |

### Semifinals

The fastest two in each semi-final and the fastest third-placed from across the semi-finals advanced.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Katsuo Takaishi | Japan | 1:00.0 | Q |
| 2 | Walter Laufer | United States | 1:00.6 | Q |
| 3 | Walter Spence | Canada | 1:01.4 | q |
| 4 | Antal Gáborfi | Hungary | 1:04.8 | |
| 5 | Antonio Conelli | Italy | Unknown | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | George Kojac | United States | 1:01.0 | Q |
| 2 | Alberto Zorrilla | Argentina | 1:01.6 | Q |
| 3 | Rezső Wanié | Hungary | 1:03.8 | |
| 4 | Francisco Uranga | Argentina | Unknown | |
| 5 | Karl Schubert | Germany | Unknown | |

#### Semifinal 3

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Johnny Weissmuller | United States | 58.6 | Q, OR |
| 2 | István Bárány | Hungary | 1:00.8 | Q |
| 3 | August Heitmann | Germany | 1:03.6 | |
| 4 | Knut Olsen | Norway | Unknown | |
| 5 | Emilio Polli | Italy | Unknown | |

### Final

Saturday 11 August 1928:
| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | Johnny Weissmuller | United States | 58.6 | =OR |
| | István Bárány | Hungary | 59.8 | |
| | Katsuo Takaishi | Japan | 1:00.0 | |
| 4 | George Kojac | United States | 1:00.8 | |
| 5 | Walter Laufer | United States | 1:01.0 | |
| 6 | Walter Spence | Canada | 1:01.4 | |
| 7 | Alberto Zorrilla | Argentina | 1:01.6 | |

## Results summary

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Heats | Semifinals | Final | Notes |
| | Johnny Weissmuller | United States | 1:00.0 | 58.6 | 58.6 | OR |
| | István Bárány | Hungary | 1:01.2 | 1:00.8 | 59.8 | |
| | Katsuo Takaishi | Japan | 1:01.2 | 1:00.0 | 1:00.0 | |
| 4 | George Kojac | United States | 1:01.6 | 1:01.0 | 1:00.8 | |
| 5 | Walter Laufer | United States | 1:00.8 | 1:00.6 | 1:01.0 | |
| 6 | Walter Spence | Canada | 1:00.6 | 1:01.4 | 1:01.4 | |
| 7 | Alberto Zorrilla | Argentina | 1:01.8 | 1:01.6 | 1:01.6 | |
| 8 | August Heitmann | Germany | 1:02.2 | 1:03.6 | Did not advance | |
| 9 | Rezső Wanié | Hungary | 1:03.4 | 1:03.8 | Did not advance | |
| 10 | Antal Gáborfi | Hungary | 1:04.0 | 1:04.8 | Did not advance | |
| 11 | Knut Olsen | Norway | 1:05.0 | Unknown | Did not advance | 4th in semifinal |
| 11 | Francisco Uranga | Argentina | 1:05.6 | Unknown | Did not advance | 4th in semifinal |
| 13 | Antonio Conelli | Italy | 1:07.0 | Unknown | Did not advance | 5th in semifinal |
| 13 | Emillio Polli | Italy | 1:04.0 | Unknown | Did not advance | 5th in semifinal |
| 13 | Karl Schubert | Germany | 1:03.8 | Unknown | Did not advance | 5th in semifinal |
| 16 | Eskil Lundahl | Sweden | 1:03.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 17 | Norman Brooks | Great Britain | 1:03.4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 18 | Reginald Sutton | Great Britain | 1:04.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 19 | Gustave Klein | France | 1:05.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 20 | Sven-Pelle Pettersson | Sweden | 1:06.4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 21 | Henk van Essen | Netherlands | 1:07.4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 22 | José González | Spain | Unknown | Did not advance | Did not advance | Between 1:07.4 and 1:10.8 |
| 23 | Adán Gordón | Panama | 1:10.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 23 | Władysław Kuncewicz | Poland | 1:10.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | 5th in heat |
| 25 | Mario Astaburuaga | Chile | Unknown | Did not advance | Did not advance | 4th in heat |
| 25 | Munroe Bourne | Canada | Unknown | Did not advance | Did not advance | 4th in heat |
| 25 | Herbert Heinrich | Germany | Unknown | Did not advance | Did not advance | 4th in heat |
| 25 | Faelo Zúñiga | Chile | Unknown | Did not advance | Did not advance | 4th in heat |
| 29 | Hernán Schüler | Chile | Unknown | Did not advance | Did not advance | 5th in heat |
| 29 | Martial van Schelle | Belgium | Unknown | Did not advance | Did not advance | 5th in heat |