Swimming at the 1936 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 1936 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the ninth appearance of the event, which had not been featured only at the 1900 Games. The competition was held on Saturday and Sunday, 8 and 9 August 1936. Forty-five swimmers from 23 nations competed. Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games. The event was won by Ferenc Csik of Hungary, the nation's first victory in the event since 1904 and third overall (second all-time behind the United States with 5). For the second consecutive Games, Japan took two medals in the 100 metre freestyle, this time silver (Masanori Yusa) and bronze (Shigeo Arai). The United States' seven-Games medal streak in the event ended as the nation's best result was sixth place by Peter Fick.

Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Swimming at the 1936 Olympics
VenueOlympiapark Schwimmstadion Berlin
Dates8–9 August
Competitors45 from 23 nations
Winning time57.6
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ferenc Csik
 Hungary
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Masanori Yusa
 Japan
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Shigeo Arai
 Japan
← 1932
1948 →

Background

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This was the ninth 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]

None of the six finalists from 1932 returned. American Peter Fick, the world record holder, was a slight favorite. The Japanese team was strong once again. European champion Ferenc Csik of Hungary was considered a tier below the Americans and Japanese.[2]

Bermuda, Bolivia, the Republic of China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, and Peru each made their debut in the event. The United States made its ninth appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.

Competition format

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This freestyle swimming competition used a three-round (quarterfinals, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule was a modification of the one used since 1912, allowing the top swimmers in each race plus one or more wild cards to advance. For this event, the top two in each preliminary heat plus the next two fastest swimmers would advance to the semifinals; the top three in each semifinal plus the fastest fourth-place swimmer would move on to the final. There were 7 heats of between 6 and 8 swimmers, allowing 16 swimmers to advance to the semifinals. The 2 semifinals had 8 swimmers each; 7 advanced to the final.

Each race involved two lengths of the 50-metre pool.

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics.

World record   Peter Fick (USA) 56.4 New Haven, United States 11 February 1936
Olympic record   Yasuji Miyazaki (JPN) 58.0 Los Angeles, United States 6 August 1932

Peter Fick set a new Olympic record in the first heat with 57.6 seconds. In the fifth heat Masaharu Taguchi bettered the Olympic record with 57.5 seconds. Masanori Yusa equalized this record in the second semifinal with 57.5 seconds.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Saturday, 8 August 1936 9:00
15:00
Heats
Semifinals
Sunday, 9 August 1936 15:20 Final

Results

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Heats

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Saturday 8 August 1936: The fastest two in each heat and the next two fastest from across the heats advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat 1

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Peter Fick   United States 57.6 Q, OR
2 Ferenc Csik   Hungary 58.3 Q
3 Romund Gabrielsen   Great Britain 1:01.2
4 Bob Hamerton   Canada 1:02.1
5 Paulo Tarrto   Brazil 1:02.6
6 Mahmoud Kadri   Egypt 1:03.8
7 Arturo Álvarez   Peru 1:04.9
8 Charlie Chan   Republic of China 1:06.5

Heat 2

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Masanori Yusa   Japan 57.8 Q
2 Arthur Highland   United States 59.9 Q
3 William Kendall   Australia 1:01.0 q
4 Egon Roolaid   Estonia 1:01.5
5 René Cavalero   France 1:02.2
6 Sjoerd Mooi Wilten   Netherlands 1:03.4
7 Alberto Conrad   Bolivia 1:17.5

Heat 3

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Mostyn Ffrench-Williams   Great Britain 1:00.7 Q
2 Jikirum Adjaluddin   Philippines 1:01.0 Q
3 Heiko Schwartz   Germany 1:01.8
4 Munroe Bourne   Canada 1:02.4
5 Isaac Moraes   Brazil 1:03.5
6 Günther Zobernig   Austria 1:03.9

Heat 4

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Shigeo Arai   Japan 57.7 Q
2 Helmuth Fischer   Germany 57.9 Q
3 Ödön Gróf   Hungary 1:01.3
4 Leonard Spence   Bermuda 1:01.9
5 Claude Desusclade   France 1:07.2
6 Rikhardos Brousalis   Greece 1:07.5

Heat 5

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Masaharu Taguchi   Japan 57.5 Q, OR
2 John Christensen   Denmark 1:01.1 Q
3 George Larson   Canada 1:01.5
4 Zaki Saad al-Dine   Egypt 1:03.7
5 Juan Paz   Peru 1:05.6
6 Spyridon Mavrogiorgos   Greece 1:08.2

Heat 6

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Draško Vilfan   Yugoslavia 1:00.5 Q
2 Hermann Heibel   Germany 1:01.4 Q
3 Frederick Dove   Great Britain 1:01.6
4 José Obial   Philippines 1:01.7
5 Leônidas da Silva   Brazil 1:03.3
6 John Young   Bermuda 1:07.8

Heat 7

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Lindegren   United States 58.3 Q
2 Oszkár Abay-Nemes   Hungary 1:00.2 Q
3 Heikki Hietanen   Finland 1:01.0 q
4 Piet Stam   Netherlands 1:01.3
5 Poul Petersen   Denmark 1:01.6
6 Roger Zirilli   Switzerland 1:04.1

Semifinals

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Saturday 8 August 1936: The fastest three in each semi-final and the fastest fourth-placed from across the heats advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Masaharu Taguchi   Japan 57.9 Q
2 Ferenc Csik   Hungary 58.1 Q
3 Peter Fick   United States 58.2 Q
4 Helmuth Fischer   Germany 58.7 q
5 Heikki Hietanen   Finland 1:00.5
Draško Vilfan   Yugoslavia 1:00.5
Jikirum Adjaluddin   Philippines 1:00.5
8 Mostyn Ffrench-Williams   Great Britain 1:01.0

Semifinal 2

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Masanori Yusa   Japan 57.5 Q, =OR
2 Shigeo Arai   Japan 57.9 Q
3 Arthur Lindegren   United States 58.7 Q
4 Arthur Highland   United States 59.4
5 William Kendall   Australia 59.9
6 Hermann Heibel   Germany 1:00.3
7 Oszkár Abay-Nemes   Hungary 1:01.1
8 John Christensen   Denmark 1:01.6

Final

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Sunday 9 August 1936:

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
  Ferenc Csik   Hungary 57.6
  Masanori Yusa   Japan 57.9
  Shigeo Arai   Japan 58.0
4 Masaharu Taguchi   Japan 58.1
5 Helmuth Fischer   Germany 59.3
6 Peter Fick   United States 59.7
7 Arthur Lindegren   United States 59.9

Results summary

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Rank Swimmer Nation Heats Semifinals Final Notes
  Ferenc Csik   Hungary 58.3 58.1 57.6
  Masanori Yusa   Japan 57.8 57.5 57.9 =OR
  Shigeo Arai   Japan 57.7 57.9 58.0
4 Masaharu Taguchi   Japan 57.5 57.9 58.1 OR
5 Helmuth Fischer   Germany 57.9 58.7 59.3
6 Peter Fick   United States 57.6 58.2 59.7
7 Arthur Lindegren   United States 58.3 58.7 59.9
8 Arthur Highland   United States 59.9 59.4 Did not advance
9 William Kendall   Australia 1:01.0 59.9 Did not advance
10 Hermann Heibel   Germany 1:01.4 1:00.3 Did not advance
11 Heikki Hietanen   Finland 1:01.0 1:00.5 Did not advance
Draško Vilfan   Yugoslavia 1:00.5 1:00.5 Did not advance
Jikirum Adjaluddin   Philippines 1:01.0 1:00.5 Did not advance
14 Mostyn Ffrench-Williams   Great Britain 1:00.7 1:01.0 Did not advance
15 Oszkár Abay-Nemes   Hungary 1:00.2 1:01.1 Did not advance
16 John Christensen   Denmark 1:01.1 1:01.6 Did not advance
17 Romund Gabrielsen   Great Britain 1:01.2 did not advance
18 Ödön Gróf   Hungary 1:01.3 did not advance
Piet Stam   Netherlands 1:01.3 did not advance
20 George Larson   Canada 1:01.5 did not advance
Egon Roolaid   Estonia 1:01.5 did not advance
22 Frederick Dove   Great Britain 1:01.6 did not advance
Poul Petersen   Denmark 1:01.6 did not advance
24 José Obial   Philippines 1:01.7 did not advance
25 Heiko Schwartz   Germany 1:01.8 did not advance
26 Leonard Spence   Bermuda 1:01.9 did not advance
27 Bob Hamerton   Canada 1:02.1 did not advance
28 René Cavalero   France 1:02.2 did not advance
29 Munroe Bourne   Canada 1:02.4 did not advance
30 Paulo Tarrto   Brazil 1:02.6 did not advance
31 Leônidas da Silva   Brazil 1:03.3 did not advance
32 Sjoerd Mooi Wilten   Netherlands 1:03.4 did not advance
33 Isaac Moraes   Brazil 1:03.5 did not advance
34 Zaki Saad al-Dine   Egypt 1:03.7 did not advance
35 Mahmoud Kadri   Egypt 1:03.8 did not advance
36 Günther Zobernig   Austria 1:03.9 did not advance
37 Roger Zirilli   Switzerland 1:04.1 did not advance
38 Arturo Álvarez   Peru 1:04.9 did not advance
39 Juan Paz   Peru 1:05.6 did not advance
40 Charlie Chan   Republic of China 1:06.5 did not advance
41 Claude Desusclade   France 1:07.2 did not advance
42 Rikhardos Brousalis   Greece 1:07.5 did not advance
43 John Young   Bermuda 1:07.8 did not advance
44 Spyridon Mavrogiorgos   Greece 1:08.2 did not advance
45 Alberto Conrad   Bolivia 1:17.5 did not advance

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
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