Swimming at the 1904 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 yard freestyle

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Men's 100 yard freestyle
at the Games of the III Olympiad
Start of 100 yards swimming during 1904 Summer Olympics.jpg
Start of 100 yards final
VenueForest Park
DateSeptember 5
Competitors9 from 2 nations
Winning time1:02.8 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Zoltán Halmay
 Hungary
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Charles Daniels
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Scott Leary
 United States
← 1896
(100 m)
1908
(100 m) →
Swimming at the
1904 Summer Olympics
Sample picture of the event (unofficial)
Freestyle
50 yardmen
100 yardmen
220 yardmen
440 yardmen
880 yardmen
1 milemen
Backstroke
100 yardmen
Breaststroke
440 yardmen
Freestyle relay
4×50 yardmen
  • v
  • t

The men's 100 yard freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the Swimming at the 1904 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the second time the event was held at the Olympics, though the only time yards were used instead of metres. 9 swimmers from 2 nations competed. The event was won by Zoltán Halmay of Hungary, the nation's second consecutive victory in the 100 yard/metre freestyle.

Background[]

This was the second appearance of the men's 100 freestyle, with the distance in yards for the only time. 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]

None of the swimmers from 1896 returned.

Both competing nations, Hungary and the United States, were making their second appearance in the event; no nations made their debut in 1904.

Competition format[]

The competition featured two rounds, heats and a final. The swimmers were grouped into two heats, with the top 3 in each heat (regardless of overall time) advancing to the final.

The swimming races were held in a man-made lake in the park, between a pier and some floating rafts. There was a slight current, which apparently did not greatly affect the swimmers.[2]

Records[]

Prior to this competition, there was no recognized world record (first recognized in 1905) and the Olympic record was in metres.

100 metres
World record
Olympic record  Alfréd Hajós (HUN) 1:22.2 Athens, Greece 11 April 1896

Zoltán Halmay broke the Olympic in the first semifinal and then bettered his new record in the final.

Schedule[]

Date Time Round
Monday, 5 September 1904 Semifinals
Final

Results[]

Semifinals[]

The top three finishers in each heat advanced to the final. The results of the non-advancing swimmers are unclear, but Raymond Thorne, Edwin Swatek and Bill Orthwein are named by de Wael as possible competitors.

Semifinal 1[]

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Zoltán Halmay  Hungary 1:06.2 Q, OR
2 Scott Leary  United States Unknown Q
3 David Hammond  United States Unknown Q
4 Unknown  United States Unknown
5 Unknown  United States Unknown

Semifinal 2[]

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Charles Daniels  United States 1:07.4 Q
2 David Gaul  United States Unknown Q
3 Leo Goodwin  United States Unknown Q
4 Unknown  United States Unknown

Final[]

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Zoltán Halmay  Hungary 1:02.8 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Charles Daniels  United States Unknown
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Scott Leary  United States Unknown
4 David Gaul  United States Unknown
5 David Hammond  United States Unknown
6 Leo Goodwin  United States Unknown

Sources[]

  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games: Men's 100 yard Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b "100 yard Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
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