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Swimming at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

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Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the VII Olympiad
Swimming at the 1920 Olympics
VenueStade Nautique d'Antwerp
DatesAugust 22–29
Competitors31 from 15 nations
Winning time1:01.4
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Duke Kahanamoku
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Pua Kealoha
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bill Harris
 United States
← 1912
1924 →

The men's 100 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the fourth appearance of the event. A total of 31 swimmers from 15 nations competed in the event, which was held from August 22 to August 29, 1920. Nations were limited to four swimmers each. The United States swept the medals, and Duke Kahanamoku broke his own Olympic record in the semifinals and bettered his time again in the final to successfully defend his championship from 1912. Kahanamoku was the first man to successfully defend an Olympic 100 metres freestyle title (excluding Charles Daniels's win in the 1906 Intercalated Games) and third man to win multiple medals of any color in the event (including Daniels's silver and Zoltán Halmay's gold in the 1904 yards-based event).

Background

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This was the fifth 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.[2]

One of the six finalists from 1912 returned: gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku of the United States. The favorites were Kahanamoku and fellow American Norman Ross, the 1919 Inter-Allied Games winner. Kahanamoku had broken the world record in 1918.

Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Japan, Luxembourg, and Switzerland each made their debut in the event; Australia made its first appearance separate from New Zealand (the two had previously competed together as Australasia). The United States made its fifth appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date. Hungary missed the event for the first time, with the nation not invited to the Games after World War I.

Competition format

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The competition used a three-round (quarterfinals, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule was the same used in 1912; for each round before the final, the top two in each heat plus the fastest third-place swimmer would advance. There were 6 quarterfinals of between 4 and 7 swimmers, allowing 13 swimmers to advance to the semifinals. The 2 semifinals had 6 or 7 swimmers; 5 advanced to the final.

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.

World record  Duke Kahanamoku (USA) 1:01.4 New York City, United States 9 August 1918
Olympic record  Duke Kahanamoku (USA) 1:02.4 Stockholm, Sweden 7 July 1912

In the first heat Duke Kahanamoku set a new Olympic record with 1:01.8 minutes. In the semi-final he equalled the standing world record with 1:01.4 minutes. In the final which was later re-swum Kahanamoku set a new world record with 1:00.4 minutes, in the second final he equalled his record of 1:01.4 minutes again.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Sunday, 22 August 1920 18:30 Heats
Monday, 23 August 1920 15:15 Semifinals
Tuesday, 24 August 1920 17:10 Final
Sunday, 29 August 1920 16:45 Final re-run

Results

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Heats

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

Heat 1

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Duke Kahanamoku  United States 1:01.8 Q, OR
2 Keith Kirkland  Australia 1:08.0 Q
3 Jean van Silfhout  Netherlands 1:09.0
4 Georges Pouilley  France Unknown
5 Albert Dickin  Great Britain Unknown

Heat 2

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Agostino Frassinetti  Italy 1:11.8 Q
2 Václav Bucháček  Czechoslovakia 1:19.2 Q
3 Ângelo Gammaro  Brazil 1:22.0
4 Harold Annison  Great Britain Unknown

Heat 3

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Pua Kealoha  United States 1:02.0 Q
2 Ivan Stedman  Australia 1:04.2 Q
3 Henri Padou  France 1:08.4
4 Martial van Schelle  Belgium Unknown
5 Jean Jenni  Switzerland Unknown
6 Kenkichi Saito  Japan Unknown

Heat 4

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 George Vernot  Canada 1:05.2 Q
2 Harry Hay  Australia 1:06.8 Q
3 Orvar Trolle  Sweden 1:07.8 q
4 Léon Pesch  Luxembourg Unknown
5 Leslie Savage  Great Britain Unknown
6 Orlando Amêndola  Brazil Unknown
7 Gérard Blitz  Belgium Unknown

Heat 5

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Norman Ross  United States 1:04.2 Q
2 William Herald  Australia 1:08.8 Q
3 Mario Massa  Italy 1:10.4
4 Rémy Weil  France Unknown
5 Masayoshi Uchida  Japan Unknown

Heat 6

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Bill Harris  United States 1:04.4 Q
2 Ko Korsten  Netherlands 1:05.6 Q
3 Jack Dickin  Great Britain 1:10.0
4 Alfred Steen  Norway Unknown

Semifinals

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The fastest two in each semi-final and the faster of the two third-placed swimmer advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Duke Kahanamoku  United States 1:01.4 Q, =WR
2 Bill Harris  United States 1:04.2 Q
3 George Vernot  Canada 1:05.8
4 Agostino Frassinetti  Italy Unknown
5 Václav Bucháček  Czechoslovakia Unknown
6 Harry Hay  Australia Unknown

Semifinal 2

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Pua Kealoha  United States 1:02.4 Q
2 Norman Ross  United States 1:04.8 Q
3 William Herald  Australia 1:05.8 q
4 Ivan Stedman  Australia Unknown
5 Orvar Trolle  Sweden Unknown
6 Keith Kirkland  Australia Unknown
7 Ko Korsten  Netherlands Unknown

Final

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In the first final Norman Ross finished fourth and William Herald finished fifth, but a second final was run after a protest by Herald, claiming that Ross had fouled him. For the second run Ross was disqualified. None of the medal ranks changed.

Rank Swimmer Nation Time (1st) Time (2nd) Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Duke Kahanamoku  United States 1:00.4 1:01.4 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Pua Kealoha  United States 1:02.2 1:02.6
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bill Harris  United States 1:03.2 1:03.0
4 William Herald  Australia Unknown 1:03.8
Norman Ross  United States DSQ (1:03.8)

Results summary

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Rank Swimmer Nation Heats Semifinals Final Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Duke Kahanamoku  United States 1:01.8 1:01.4 1:01.4 WR 1:00.4 in final before re-run
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Pua Kealoha  United States 1:02.0 1:02.4 1:02.6
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bill Harris  United States 1:04.4 1:04.2 1:03.0
4 William Herald  Australia 1:08.8 1:05.8 1:03.8
5 Norman Ross  United States 1:04.2 1:04.8 DSQ
6 George Vernot  Canada 1:05.2 1:05.8 Did not advance
7 Agostino Frassinetti  Italy 1:11.8 Unknown Did not advance 4th in semifinal
Ivan Stedman  Australia 1:04.2 Unknown Did not advance 4th in semifinal
9 Václav Bucháček  Czechoslovakia 1:19.2 Unknown Did not advance 5th in semifinal
Orvar Trolle  Sweden 1:07.8 Unknown Did not advance 5th in semifinal
11 Harry Hay  Australia 1:06.8 Unknown Did not advance 6th in semifinal
Keith Kirkland  Australia 1:08.0 Unknown Did not advance 6th in semifinal
13 Ko Korsten  Netherlands 1:05.6 Unknown Did not advance 7th in semifinal
14 Henri Padou  France 1:08.4 did not advance
15 Jean van Silfhout  Netherlands 1:09.0 did not advance
16 Jack Dickin  Great Britain 1:10.0 did not advance
17 Mario Massa  Italy 1:10.4 did not advance
18 Ângelo Gammaro  Brazil 1:22.0 did not advance
19 Harold Annison  Great Britain Unknown did not advance 4th in heat
Léon Pesch  Luxembourg Unknown did not advance 4th in heat
Georges Pouilley  France Unknown did not advance 4th in heat
Alfred Steen  Norway Unknown did not advance 4th in heat
Martial van Schelle  Belgium Unknown did not advance 4th in heat
Rémy Weil  France Unknown did not advance 4th in heat
25 Albert Dickin  Great Britain Unknown did not advance 5th in heat
Jean Jenni  Switzerland Unknown did not advance 5th in heat
Leslie Savage  Great Britain Unknown did not advance 5th in heat
Masaren Uchida  Japan Unknown did not advance 5th in heat
29 Orlando Amêndola  Brazil Unknown did not advance 6th in heat
Kenkichi Saito  Japan Unknown did not advance 6th in heat
31 Gérard Blitz  Belgium Unknown did not advance 7th in heat

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. ^ "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2020.

Notes

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  • Belgium Olympic Committee (1957). Olympic Games Antwerp 1920: Official Report (in French).
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 25 April 2008.