Swimming at the 1920 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 1920 Summer Olympics programme. 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. 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.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.
World Record1:01.4 Duke KahanamokuNew York City August 9, 1918
Olympic Record1:02.4 Duke KahanamokuStockholm July 7, 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.

Competition format

The competition used a three-round 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.

Results

Quarterfinals

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

Heat 1

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:01.8,
21:08.0
31:09.0
4Unknown
5Unknown

Heat 2

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:11.8
21:19.2
31:22.0
4Unknown

Heat 3

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:02.0
21:04.2
31:08.4
4Unknown
5Unknown
6Unknown

Heat 4

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:05.2
21:06.8
31:07.8
4Unknown
5Unknown
6Unknown
7Unknown

Heat 5

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:04.2
21:08.8
31:10.4
4Unknown
5Unknown

Heat 6

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:04.4
21:05.6
31:10.0
4Unknown

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:01.4, =
21:04.2
31:05.8
4Unknown
5Unknown
6Unknown

Semifinal 2

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:02.4
21:04.8
31:05.8
4Unknown
5Unknown
6Unknown
7Unknown

Final

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.
RankSwimmerNationTime Time Notes
1:00.41:01.4=
1:02.21:02.6
1:03.21:03.0
4Unknown1:03.8
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