# Swimming at the 1936 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 1936 Summer Olympics programme. It was the ninth appearance of the event, which had not been featured only at the 1900 Games. The competition was held on Saturday and Sunday, 8 and 9 August 1936. Forty-five swimmers from 23 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games. The event was won by Ferenc Csik of Hungary, the nation's first victory in the event since 1904 and third overall (second all-time behind the United States with 5). For the second consecutive Games, Japan took two medals in the 100 metre freestyle, this time silver (Masanori Yusa) and bronze (Shigeo Arai). The United States' seven-Games medal streak in the event ended as the nation's best result was sixth place by Peter Fick.

## Background

This was the ninth 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.
None of the six finalists from 1932 returned. American Peter Fick, the world record holder, was a slight favorite. The Japanese team was strong once again. European champion Ferenc Csik of Hungary was considered a tier below the Americans and Japanese.
Bermuda, Bolivia, the Republic of China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, and Peru each made their debut in the event. The United States made its ninth 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 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 next two fastest swimmers would advance to the semifinals; the top three in each semifinal plus the fastest fourth-place swimmer would move on to the final. There were 7 heats of between 6 and 8 swimmers, allowing 16 swimmers to advance to the semifinals. The 2 semifinals had 8 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 1936 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Peter Fick (USA) | 56.4 | New Haven, United States | 11 February 1936 |
| Olympic record | Yasuji Miyazaki (JPN) | 58.0 | Los Angeles, United States | 6 August 1932 |
Peter Fick set a new Olympic record in the first heat with 57.6 seconds. In the fifth heat Masaharu Taguchi bettered the Olympic record with 57.5 seconds. Masanori Yusa equalized this record in the second semifinal with 57.5 seconds.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Saturday, 8 August 1936 | 9:00 15:00 | Heats Semifinals |
| Sunday, 9 August 1936 | 15:20 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

Saturday 8 August 1936: The fastest two in each heat and the next two fastest from across the heats advanced to the semi-finals.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Peter Fick | United States | 57.6 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Ferenc Csik | Hungary | 58.3 | Q |
| 3 | Romund Gabrielsen | Great Britain | 1:01.2 | |
| 4 | Bob Hamerton | Canada | 1:02.1 | |
| 5 | Paulo Tarrto | Brazil | 1:02.6 | |
| 6 | Mahmoud Kadri | Egypt | 1:03.8 | |
| 7 | Arturo Álvarez | Peru | 1:04.9 | |
| 8 | Charlie Chan | Republic of China | 1:06.5 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Masanori Yusa | Japan | 57.8 | Q |
| 2 | Arthur Highland | United States | 59.9 | Q |
| 3 | William Kendall | Australia | 1:01.0 | q |
| 4 | Egon Roolaid | Estonia | 1:01.5 | |
| 5 | René Cavalero | France | 1:02.2 | |
| 6 | Sjoerd Mooi Wilten | Netherlands | 1:03.4 | |
| 7 | Alberto Conrad | Bolivia | 1:17.5 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mostyn Ffrench-Williams | Great Britain | 1:00.7 | Q |
| 2 | Jikirum Adjaluddin | Philippines | 1:01.0 | Q |
| 3 | Heiko Schwartz | Germany | 1:01.8 | |
| 4 | Munroe Bourne | Canada | 1:02.4 | |
| 5 | Isaac Moraes | Brazil | 1:03.5 | |
| 6 | Günther Zobernig | Austria | 1:03.9 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Shigeo Arai | Japan | 57.7 | Q |
| 2 | Helmuth Fischer | Germany | 57.9 | Q |
| 3 | Ödön Gróf | Hungary | 1:01.3 | |
| 4 | Leonard Spence | Bermuda | 1:01.9 | |
| 5 | Claude Desusclade | France | 1:07.2 | |
| 6 | Rikhardos Brousalis | Greece | 1:07.5 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Masaharu Taguchi | Japan | 57.5 | Q, OR |
| 2 | John Christensen | Denmark | 1:01.1 | Q |
| 3 | George Larson | Canada | 1:01.5 | |
| 4 | Zaki Saad al-Dine | Egypt | 1:03.7 | |
| 5 | Juan Paz | Peru | 1:05.6 | |
| 6 | Spyridon Mavrogiorgos | Greece | 1:08.2 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Draško Vilfan | Yugoslavia | 1:00.5 | Q |
| 2 | Hermann Heibel | Germany | 1:01.4 | Q |
| 3 | Frederick Dove | Great Britain | 1:01.6 | |
| 4 | José Obial | Philippines | 1:01.7 | |
| 5 | Leônidas da Silva | Brazil | 1:03.3 | |
| 6 | John Young | Bermuda | 1:07.8 | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Arthur Lindegren | United States | 58.3 | Q |
| 2 | Oszkár Abay-Nemes | Hungary | 1:00.2 | Q |
| 3 | Heikki Hietanen | Finland | 1:01.0 | q |
| 4 | Piet Stam | Netherlands | 1:01.3 | |
| 5 | Poul Petersen | Denmark | 1:01.6 | |
| 6 | Roger Zirilli | Switzerland | 1:04.1 | |

### Semifinals

Saturday 8 August 1936: The fastest three in each semi-final and the fastest fourth-placed from across the heats advanced to the final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Masaharu Taguchi | Japan | 57.9 | Q |
| 2 | Ferenc Csik | Hungary | 58.1 | Q |
| 3 | Peter Fick | United States | 58.2 | Q |
| 4 | Helmuth Fischer | Germany | 58.7 | q |
| 5 | Heikki Hietanen | Finland | 1:00.5 | |
| 5 | Draško Vilfan | Yugoslavia | 1:00.5 | |
| 5 | Jikirum Adjaluddin | Philippines | 1:00.5 | |
| 8 | Mostyn Ffrench-Williams | Great Britain | 1:01.0 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Masanori Yusa | Japan | 57.5 | Q, =OR |
| 2 | Shigeo Arai | Japan | 57.9 | Q |
| 3 | Arthur Lindegren | United States | 58.7 | Q |
| 4 | Arthur Highland | United States | 59.4 | |
| 5 | William Kendall | Australia | 59.9 | |
| 6 | Hermann Heibel | Germany | 1:00.3 | |
| 7 | Oszkár Abay-Nemes | Hungary | 1:01.1 | |
| 8 | John Christensen | Denmark | 1:01.6 | |

### Final

Sunday 9 August 1936:
| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time |
| | Ferenc Csik | Hungary | 57.6 |
| | Masanori Yusa | Japan | 57.9 |
| | Shigeo Arai | Japan | 58.0 |
| 4 | Masaharu Taguchi | Japan | 58.1 |
| 5 | Helmuth Fischer | Germany | 59.3 |
| 6 | Peter Fick | United States | 59.7 |
| 7 | Arthur Lindegren | United States | 59.9 |

## Results summary

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Heats | Semifinals | Final | Notes |
| | Ferenc Csik | Hungary | 58.3 | 58.1 | 57.6 | |
| | Masanori Yusa | Japan | 57.8 | 57.5 | 57.9 | =OR |
| | Shigeo Arai | Japan | 57.7 | 57.9 | 58.0 | |
| 4 | Masaharu Taguchi | Japan | 57.5 | 57.9 | 58.1 | OR |
| 5 | Helmuth Fischer | Germany | 57.9 | 58.7 | 59.3 | |
| 6 | Peter Fick | United States | 57.6 | 58.2 | 59.7 | |
| 7 | Arthur Lindegren | United States | 58.3 | 58.7 | 59.9 | |
| 8 | Arthur Highland | United States | 59.9 | 59.4 | Did not advance | |
| 9 | William Kendall | Australia | 1:01.0 | 59.9 | Did not advance | |
| 10 | Hermann Heibel | Germany | 1:01.4 | 1:00.3 | Did not advance | |
| 11 | Heikki Hietanen | Finland | 1:01.0 | 1:00.5 | Did not advance | |
| 11 | Draško Vilfan | Yugoslavia | 1:00.5 | 1:00.5 | Did not advance | |
| 11 | Jikirum Adjaluddin | Philippines | 1:01.0 | 1:00.5 | Did not advance | |
| 14 | Mostyn Ffrench-Williams | Great Britain | 1:00.7 | 1:01.0 | Did not advance | |
| 15 | Oszkár Abay-Nemes | Hungary | 1:00.2 | 1:01.1 | Did not advance | |
| 16 | John Christensen | Denmark | 1:01.1 | 1:01.6 | Did not advance | |
| 17 | Romund Gabrielsen | Great Britain | 1:01.2 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 18 | Ödön Gróf | Hungary | 1:01.3 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 18 | Piet Stam | Netherlands | 1:01.3 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 20 | George Larson | Canada | 1:01.5 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 20 | Egon Roolaid | Estonia | 1:01.5 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 22 | Frederick Dove | Great Britain | 1:01.6 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 22 | Poul Petersen | Denmark | 1:01.6 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 24 | José Obial | Philippines | 1:01.7 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 25 | Heiko Schwartz | Germany | 1:01.8 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 26 | Leonard Spence | Bermuda | 1:01.9 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 27 | Bob Hamerton | Canada | 1:02.1 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 28 | René Cavalero | France | 1:02.2 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 29 | Munroe Bourne | Canada | 1:02.4 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 30 | Paulo Tarrto | Brazil | 1:02.6 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 31 | Leônidas da Silva | Brazil | 1:03.3 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 32 | Sjoerd Mooi Wilten | Netherlands | 1:03.4 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 33 | Isaac Moraes | Brazil | 1:03.5 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 34 | Zaki Saad al-Dine | Egypt | 1:03.7 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 35 | Mahmoud Kadri | Egypt | 1:03.8 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 36 | Günther Zobernig | Austria | 1:03.9 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 37 | Roger Zirilli | Switzerland | 1:04.1 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 38 | Arturo Álvarez | Peru | 1:04.9 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 39 | Juan Paz | Peru | 1:05.6 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 40 | Charlie Chan | Republic of China | 1:06.5 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 41 | Claude Desusclade | France | 1:07.2 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 42 | Rikhardos Brousalis | Greece | 1:07.5 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 43 | John Young | Bermuda | 1:07.8 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 44 | Spyridon Mavrogiorgos | Greece | 1:08.2 | did not advance | did not advance | |
| 45 | Alberto Conrad | Bolivia | 1:17.5 | did not advance | did not advance | |