Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 200 metre breaststroke was one of 6 swimming events on the Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the only breaststroke event on the schedule. 1908 was the first appearance of the 200 metre breaststroke, as 1904 had seen the introduction of the stroke to Olympic competition with the 440 yard event. Each nation could enter up to 12 swimmers.[2]

Men's 200 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
The start of the final
VenueWhite City Stadium
DatesJuly 15–18
Competitors27 from 10 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Frederick Holman  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) William Robinson  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pontus Hanson  Sweden
1912 →

Competition format

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With a much larger field than in 1904, the 1908 competition expanded to three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The 1908 Games also restored the wild-card system from 1900, allowing the fastest swimmers who did not win their heat to advance. The seven heats consisted of between 3 and 5 swimmers, with the winner of the heat advancing along with the fastest loser from across the heats (all tied swimmers advanced in the case of equal times). There were two semifinals, intended to be of 5 swimmers each but one of which actually had 6 due to a tie in the heats; the top 2 finishers in each semifinal (regardless of overall time) advanced to the 4-person final.[3]

Each race involved two lengths of the 100 metre pool. The rules required that "both hands of the competitor must be pushed forward and brought backwards simultaneously, the shoulders must be kept perfectly in line with the surface of the water, and when touching at the turn . . . the touch shall be made with both hands" and that "the touch at the finish shall be made with both hands."[4]

Results

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First round

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The fastest swimmer in each heat and the fastest loser advanced, qualifying 8 swimmers for the semifinals.

Heat 1

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Frederick Holman   Great Britain 3:10.6
2 Richard Rösler   Germany 3:18.0
3 Max Gumpel   Sweden Unknown

Heat 2

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Wilhelm Persson   Sweden 3:17.6
2 András Baronyi   Hungary 3:18.0
3 Augustus Goessling   United States Unknown
4-5 Herman Cederberg   Finland Unknown
Frederick Naylor   Great Britain Unknown

Heat 3

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Erich Seidel   Germany 3:17.2
2 Hjalmar Johansson   Sweden 3:21.2
3 Alf Davies   Great Britain Unknown
4 Pierre Strauwen   Belgium Unknown

Heat 4

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Ödön Toldi   Hungary 3:14.4
2 Pontus Hanson   Sweden 3:15.0
3 Sydney Gooday   Great Britain Unknown
4 Amilcare Beretta   Italy Unknown

Heat 5

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 William Robinson   Great Britain 3:13.0
2 Per Fjästad   Sweden 3:31.4
3 John Henriksson   Finland Unknown
Edward Cooke   Australasia Did not finish

Heat 6

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 József Fabinyi   Hungary 3:23.4
2 Torsten Kumfeldt   Sweden 3:24.6
3 Harald Klem   Denmark Unknown
Hugo Jonsson   Finland Did not finish

Heat 7

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Félicien Courbet   Belgium 3:16.4
2 Percy Courtman   Great Britain 3:18.4
3 Adolf Andersson   Sweden Unknown

Semifinals

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The fastest two swimmers from each semifinal advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Frederick Holman   Great Britain 3:10.0
2 Ödön Toldi   Hungary 3:16.4
3 Erich Seidel   Germany Unknown
4 József Fabinyi   Hungary Unknown

Semifinal 2

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 William Robinson   Great Britain 3:11.8
2 Pontus Hanson   Sweden 3:13.0
3 Wilhelm Persson   Sweden Unknown
4 Félicien Courbet   Belgium Unknown

Final

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Place Swimmer Nation Time
1 Frederick Holman   Great Britain 3:09.2
2 William Robinson   Great Britain 3:12.8
3 Pontus Hanson   Sweden 3:14.6
4 Ödön Toldi   Hungary 3:15.2

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Breaststroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. ^ Official Report, p. 40.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 571.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 574.

Sources

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  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman (2001). "Swimming 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 13 May 2006.