Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle was a swimming event in the 1896 Summer Olympics. 6 swimmers were in the race. The 2 swimmers from Austria-Hungary finished first and second. The time and place of the other swimmers was not recorded. 

The race was very close. Alfréd Hajós of Hungary beat Otto Herschmann of Austria by half a metre. The other swimmers were very far behind. In the awards ceremony, the Hungarian flag was shown. However, the band played the Austrian anthem (Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser) until Hajós started to sing the Hungarian anthem (Himnusz).

Background

This was 100 metre freestyle race. This event has been at every Summer Olympics except for 1900 and 1904. In 1900, the shortest freestyle race was 200 metres. In 1904, the race was in yards rather than metres.

Competition

The competition had a single race. All swimmers swam at the same time. The swimmers would be taken into the Bay by a ship. From the boat, they would race towards the shore. There were Buoys that marked the starting line. Pumpkins marked the course. A red flag showed where the finish line of the race was.Official Report, part 2, p. 96.

Schedule

The 100 metres freestyle was the first swimming events.

 Date Time Round Gregorian Julian Saturday, 11 April 1896  Saturday, 30 March 1896  11:00  Final

Results

 Rank  Swimmer  Nation  Time     1:22.2     1:22.8 3–6    Unknown    Unknown    Unknown     Unknown

Records

These were the world records and olympic records before the 1896 Summer Olympics.

* unofficial

The record was created after the competition:

 Date  Event  Athlete  Nation  Distance (m)  Record April 11  Final Alfréd Hajós  1:22.2  OR

References

  (Digitally available at  )
  (Excerpt available at  )


Men's freestyle 0100