# Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place between 30 and 31 July at the Empire Pool. There were 41 competitors from 19 nations. Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games. The event was won by Wally Ris, returning the United States to the podium in the event after a one-Games absence broke a seven-Games streak. It was the sixth victory for an American in the 100 metre freestyle, most of any nation. Another American, Alan Ford, took silver. Géza Kádas of Hungary earned bronze, the nation's third medal in four Games. Japan's three-Games medal streak in the event ended with no Japanese swimmers competing due to the nation not being invited after World War II.

## Background

This was the 10th 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 seven finalists from the pre-World War II 1936 Games returned. Alex Jany, a teenager from France, was the favorite in the event. The American team, including world record holder Alan Ford, was also strong. Ford had beaten Jany's record a month before the Games.
Cuba, Iceland, India, and Mexico each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 10th 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 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 four fastest swimmers would advance to the semifinals; the top three in each semifinal plus the next two fastest swimmers would move on to the final. There were 6 heats of between 6 and 8 swimmers, allowing 16 swimmers to advance to the semifinals. The 2 semifinals had 8 swimmers each; 8 advanced to the final.
This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Alan Ford (USA) | 55.4 | New Haven, United States | 29 June 1948 |
| Olympic record | Masaharu Taguchi (JPN) | 57.5 | Berlin, Germany | 8 August 1936 |
Wally Ris equaled the Olympic record in the second semifinal with 57.5 seconds, then beat it with 57.3 seconds in the final.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 30 July 1948 | 14:00 20:30 | Heats Semifinals |
| Saturday, 31 July 1948 | 15:30 | Final |

## Results
### Heats
#### Heat 1

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Alex Jany | France | 58.1 | Q |
| 2 | Bruce Bourke | Australia | 59.1 | Q |
| 3 | Elemér Szathmáry | Hungary | 59.7 | q |
| 4 | Olle Johansson | Sweden | 1:01.0 | |
| 5 | Plauto Guimarães | Brazil | 1:03.7 | |
| 6 | Isidoro Pérez | Spain | 1:04.0 | |
| 7 | Isaac Mansoor | India | 1:06.4 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Keith Carter | United States | 58.7 | Q |
| 2 | Per-Olof Olsson | Sweden | 59.0 | Q |
| 3 | Zoltán Szilárd | Hungary | 59.8 | q |
| 4 | Manuel Guerra | Spain | 1:00.7 | |
| 5 | Augusto Cantón | Argentina | 1:01.8 | |
| 6 | Nicasio Silverio | Cuba | 1:02.0 | |
| 7 | Pat Kendall | Great Britain | 1:02.1 | |
| 8 | Dilip Mitra | India | 1:06.9 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Géza Kádas | Hungary | 58.2 | Q |
| 2 | Alberto Isaac | Mexico | 1:00.1 | Q |
| 3 | Warren Boyd | Australia | 1:00.4 | q |
| 4 | Ali Ahmed Bagdadi | Egypt | 1:02.4 | |
| 5 | Eric Jubb | Canada | 1:02.8 | |
| 6 | Sachin Nag | India | 1:03.8 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Horacio White | Argentina | 1:00.2 | Q |
| 2 | Aram Boghossian | Brazil | 1:00.9 | Q |
| 3 | Jesús Domínguez | Spain | 1:01.3 | |
| 4 | Dorri El-Said | Egypt | 1:02.5 | |
| 5 | Fernand Martinaux | France | 1:04.2 | |
| 6 | Panagiotis Khatzikyriakakis | Greece | 1:07.4 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wally Ris | United States | 58.1 | Q |
| 2 | Ronald Stedman | Great Britain | 1:01.3 | Q |
| 3 | Henri Padou, Jr. | France | 1:01.5 | |
| 4 | Sérgio Rodrigues | Brazil | 1:01.6 | |
| 5 | Wu Chuanyu | Republic of China | 1:03.5 | |
| 6 | Derek Oatway | Bermuda | 1:08.6 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Alan Ford | United States | 59.2 | Q |
| 2 | Taha Youssef El-Gamal | Egypt | 59.7 | Q |
| 3 | Martin Lundén | Sweden | 1:00.2 | q |
| 4 | Peter Salmon | Canada | 1:01.0 | |
| 5 | Ari Guðmundsson | Iceland | 1:01.6 | |
| 6 | Trevor Harrop | Great Britain | 1:02.3 | |
| 7 | Raúl García | Cuba | 1:02.5 | |
| 8 | Walter Schneider | Switzerland | 1:05.1 | |

### Semifinals
#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Keith Carter | United States | 57.6 | Q |
| 2 | Alex Jany | France | 57.9 | Q |
| 3 | Zoltán Szilárd | Hungary | 59.6 | Q |
| 4 | Taha Youssef El-Gamal | Egypt | 59.9 | q |
| 5 | Bruce Bourke | Australia | 1:00.0 | |
| 6 | Martin Lundén | Sweden | 1:00.2 | |
| 7 | Alberto Isaac | Mexico | 1:00.4 | |
| 8 | Aram Boghossian | Brazil | 1:01.0 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wally Ris | United States | 57.5 | Q, =OR |
| 2 | Alan Ford | United States | 57.8 | Q |
| 3 | Géza Kádas | Hungary | 58.0 | Q |
| 4 | Per-Olof Olsson | Sweden | 59.1 | q |
| 5 | Horacio White | Argentina | 1:00.4 | |
| 6 | Elemér Szathmáry | Hungary | 1:00.5 | |
| 7 | Ronald Stedman | Great Britain | 1:01.0 | |
| 8 | Warren Boyd | Australia | 1:01.1 | |

### Final

Jany led at halfway but fell back into the pack after the turn. Ford led until the 80 metre point, when Ris passed him. Kádas, in a tight race with Ford for second place, crashed into the lane divider just before the end of the race.
| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | Wally Ris | United States | 57.3 | OR |
| | Alan Ford | United States | 57.8 | |
| | Géza Kádas | Hungary | 58.1 | |
| 4 | Keith Carter | United States | 58.3 | |
| 5 | Alex Jany | France | 58.3 | |
| 6 | Per-Olof Olsson | Sweden | 59.3 | |
| 7 | Zoltán Szilárd | Hungary | 59.6 | |
| 8 | Taha Youssef El-Gamal | Egypt | 1:00.5 | |

## Results summary

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Heats | Semifinals | Final | Notes |
| | Wally Ris | United States | 58.1 | 57.5 | 57.3 | OR |
| | Alan Ford | United States | 59.2 | 57.8 | 57.8 | |
| | Géza Kádas | Hungary | 58.2 | 58.0 | 58.1 | |
| 4 | Keith Carter | United States | 58.7 | 57.6 | 58.3 | |
| 5 | Alex Jany | France | 58.1 | 57.9 | 58.3 | |
| 6 | Per-Olof Olsson | Sweden | 59.0 | 59.1 | 59.3 | |
| 7 | Zoltán Szilárd | Hungary | 59.8 | 59.6 | 59.6 | |
| 8 | Taha Youssef El-Gamal | Egypt | 59.7 | 59.9 | 1:00.5 | |
| 9 | Bruce Bourke | Australia | 59.1 | 1:00.0 | Did not advance | |
| 10 | Martin Lundén | Sweden | 1:00.2 | 1:00.2 | Did not advance | |
| 11 | Alberto Isaac | Mexico | 1:00.1 | 1:00.4 | Did not advance | |
| 11 | Horacio White | Argentina | 1:00.2 | 1:00.4 | Did not advance | |
| 13 | Elemér Szathmáry | Hungary | 59.7 | 1:00.5 | Did not advance | |
| 14 | Aram Boghossian | Brazil | 1:00.9 | 1:01.0 | Did not advance | |
| 14 | Ronald Stedman | Great Britain | 1:01.3 | 1:01.0 | Did not advance | |
| 16 | Warren Boyd | Australia | 1:00.4 | 1:01.1 | Did not advance | |
| 17 | Manuel Guerra | Spain | 1:00.7 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 18 | Olle Johansson | Sweden | 1:01.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 18 | Peter Salmon | Canada | 1:01.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 20 | Jesús Domínguez | Spain | 1:01.3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 21 | Henri Padou, Jr. | France | 1:01.5 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 22 | Ari Guðmundsson | Iceland | 1:01.6 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 22 | Sérgio Rodrigues | Brazil | 1:01.6 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 24 | Augusto Cantón | Argentina | 1:01.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 25 | Nicasio Silverio | Cuba | 1:02.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 26 | Pat Kendall | Great Britain | 1:02.1 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 27 | Trevor Harrop | Great Britain | 1:02.3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 28 | Ali Ahmed Bagdadi | Egypt | 1:02.4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 29 | Dorri El-Said | Egypt | 1:02.5 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 29 | Raúl García | Cuba | 1:02.5 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 31 | Eric Jubb | Canada | 1:02.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 32 | Wu Chuanyu | Republic of China | 1:03.5 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 33 | Plauto Guimarães | Brazil | 1:03.7 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 34 | Sachin Nag | India | 1:03.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 35 | Isidoro Pérez | Spain | 1:04.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 36 | Fernand Martinaux | France | 1:04.2 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 37 | Walter Schneider | Switzerland | 1:05.1 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 38 | Isaac Mansoor | India | 1:06.4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 39 | Dilip Mitra | India | 1:06.9 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 40 | Panagiotis Khatzikyriakakis | Greece | 1:07.4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 41 | Derek Oatway | Bermuda | 1:08.6 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |