Swimming at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1964 Olympic Games took place between October 11 and 12.[1] There were 66 competitors from 33 nations.[2] Nations were again able to bring up to three swimmers each after a one-Games limit of two in 1960. The event was won by Don Schollander of the United States, the nation's first victory in the event since 1952 and eighth overall (most of any nation). Great Britain (Bobby McGregor's silver) and the United Team of Germany (Hans-Joachim Klein's bronze) both earned their first medal in the men's 100 metre freestyle.

Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Gold medalist Don Schollander and finalists Gary Ilman and Mike Austin with relay teammate Steve Clark
VenueYoyogi National Gymnasium
Dates11–12 October
Competitors66 from 33 nations
Winning time53.4 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Don Schollander
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Bobby McGregor
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Hans-Joachim Klein
 United Team of Germany
← 1960
1968 →

Background

edit

This was the 14th 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]

Two of the eight finalists from the 1960 Games returned: fifth-place finisher Gyula Dobay of Hungary and eighth-place finisher Per-Ola Lindberg of Sweden. John Devitt of Australia, the winner of a controversial finish in 1960, had retired, as had silver medalist Lance Larson of the United States. The American team in Tokyo was led by Don Schollander, who was expected to vie with Scotsman Bobby McGregor.[2]

Iran, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and Thailand each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 14th appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.

Competition format

edit

The competition used a three-round (heats, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 9 heats of 7 or 8 swimmers each. The top 24 swimmers advanced to the semifinals. There were 3 semifinals of 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

Records

edit

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1964 Summer Olympics.

World record   Alain Gottvallès (FRA) 52.9 Budapest, Hungary 13 September 1964
Olympic record   John Devitt (AUS)
  Lance Larson (USA)
55.2 Rome, Italy 27 August 1960

Gary Ilman dropped more than a second off the Olympic record in the very first heat, recording a time of 54.0 seconds. Seven swimmers beat the old record in the heats, with two more tying it. Ilman shaved off another tenth in the first semifinal, finishing in 53.9 seconds. Ten swimmers beat the old record in that round, with another matching it. The new record fell again in the final, with Don Schollander swimming 53.4 seconds and Bobby McGregor 53.5 seconds.

Schedule

edit
Date Time Round
Sunday, 11 October 1964 11:50
19:45
Heats
Semifinals
Monday, 12 October 1964 20:40 Final

Results

edit

Heats

edit

Nine heats were held; the fastest 24 swimmers advanced to the semifinals.

Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 1 Gary Ilman   United States 54.0 Q, OR
2 5 Don Schollander   United States 54.3 Q
3 5 Yukiaki Okabe   Japan 54.4 Q
4 9 Bobby McGregor   Great Britain 54.7 Q
5 2 Mike Austin   United States 54.9 Q
6 2 David Dickson   Australia 55.1 Q
3 Per-Ola Lindberg   Sweden 55.1 Q
8 6 Alain Gottvallès   France 55.2 Q
6 Daniel Sherry   Canada 55.2 Q
10 4 Hans-Joachim Klein   United Team of Germany 55.3 Q
11 8 Ron Kroon   Netherlands 55.5 Q
6 John Ryan   Australia 55.5 Q
8 Jindřich Vágner   Czechoslovakia 55.5 Q
14 5 Uwe Jacobsen   United Team of Germany 55.6 Q
6 Horst Löffler   United Team of Germany 55.6 Q
9 Bengt Nordwall   Sweden 55.6 Q
17 8 Bob Lord   Great Britain 55.7 Q
18 3 Pietro Boscaini   Italy 55.8 Q
7 Gyula Dobay   Hungary 55.8 Q
7 Tatsuo Fujimoto   Japan 55.8 Q
7 Sandy Gilchrist   Canada 55.8 Q
3 Tadaharu Goto   Japan 55.8 Q
1 Gérard Gropaiz   France 55.8 Q
24 6 Vladimir Shuvalov   Soviet Union 55.9 Q
25 1 Athos de Oliveira   Brazil 56.0
26 3 Luis Nicolao   Argentina 56.1
4 Peter Phelps   Australia 56.1
28 2 Jean-Pascal Curtillet   France 56.2
4 Lester Eriksson   Sweden 56.2
9 Viktor Semchenkov   Soviet Union 56.2
31 8 József Gulrich   Hungary 56.3
2 Matti Kasvio   Finland 56.3
4 Yury Sumtsov   Soviet Union 56.3
34 5 Petr Lohnický   Czechoslovakia 56.4
35 7 Gert Kölli   Austria 56.5
36 1 Bruno Bianchi   Italy 56.8
9 Sergio De Gregorio   Italy 56.8
2 Álvaro Pires   Brazil 56.8
4 François Simons   Belgium 56.8
9 Antal Száll   Hungary 56.8
1 Vinus van Baalen   Netherlands 56.8
5 Gerhard Wieland   Austria 56.8
43 2 Téodoro Capriles   Venezuela 57.2
44 3 José Miguel Espinosa   Spain 57.4
45 4 Carlos van der Maath   Argentina 57.5
46 8 Tuomo Hämäläinen   Finland 57.6
47 7 David Haller   Great Britain 57.7
1 Ralph Hutton   Canada 57.7
49 5 Antonio Pérez   Spain 57.8
50 7 Bert Sitters   Netherlands 58.1
51 7 Luis Paz   Peru 58.5
52 6 Georges Welbes   Luxembourg 58.6
53 2 Tan Thuan Heng   Malaysia 58.7
6 Hannu Vaahtoranta   Finland 58.7
55 8 Salvador Ruiz   Mexico 58.8
56 8 Pano Capéronis   Switzerland 58.9
57 6 Guðmundur Gíslason   Iceland 59.0
3 Herlander Ribeiro   Portugal 59.0
59 5 Mauri Fonseca   Brazil 59.6
60 3 Somchai Limpichat   Thailand 59.8
61 7 Robert Loh   Hong Kong 1:00.4
62 4 Nguyễn Ðình Lê   Vietnam 1:01.1
9 Phan Hữu Dong   Vietnam 1:01.1
64 1 Kim Bong-jo   South Korea 1:01.2
65 9 Celestino Pérez   Puerto Rico 1:01.3
66 9 Haydar Shonjani   Iran 1:02.1

Semifinals

edit

Three heats were held; the fastest eight swimmers advanced to the final.

Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 1 Gary Ilman   United States 53.9 Q, OR
2 2 Don Schollander   United States 54.0 Q
3 1 Mike Austin   United States 54.3 Q
2 Alain Gottvallès   France 54.3 Q
3 Bobby McGregor   Great Britain 54.3 Q
6 3 Hans-Joachim Klein   United Team of Germany 54.4 Q
7 3 Gyula Dobay   Hungary 54.8 Q
2 Uwe Jacobsen   United Team of Germany 54.8 Q
9 3 David Dickson   Australia 54.9
10 2 Per-Ola Lindberg   Sweden 55.1
11 1 Yukiaki Okabe   Japan 55.2
12 1 Daniel Sherry   Canada 55.5
2 Jindřich Vágner   Czechoslovakia 55.5
14 1 Tadaharu Goto   Japan 55.6
15 2 Gérard Gropaiz   France 55.7
1 Ron Kroon   Netherlands 55.7
17 3 Tatsuo Fujimoto   Japan 55.8
3 Vladimir Shuvalov   Soviet Union 55.8
19 1 Horst Löffler   United Team of Germany 56.0
20 1 Pietro Boscaini   Italy 56.1
21 2 Sandy Gilchrist   Canada 56.4
3 Bengt Nordwall   Sweden 56.4
23 2 Bob Lord   Great Britain 56.5
3 John Ryan   Australia 56.5

Final

edit

The officials used unofficial electronic scoring to determine which swimmer won the bronze medal - Klein had finished one one-thousandth of a second sooner than Ilman.[3]

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
  Don Schollander   United States 53.4 OR
  Bobby McGregor   Great Britain 53.5
  Hans-Joachim Klein   United Team of Germany 54.0
4 Gary Ilman   United States 54.0
5 Alain Gottvallès   France 54.2
6 Mike Austin   United States 54.5
7 Gyula Dobay   Hungary 54.9
8 Uwe Jacobsen   United Team of Germany 56.1

References

edit
  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 395. ISBN 0140066322.