Men's 1200 metre freestyle at the Games of the I Olympiad | |||||||
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Venue | Bay of Zea | ||||||
Date | April 11 | ||||||
Competitors | 9 from 4 nations | ||||||
Winning time | 18:22.2 | ||||||
Medalists | |||||||
|
Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics | |
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Freestyle | |
100 m | men |
500 m | men |
1200 m | men |
100 m sailors | men |
The men's 1200 metre freestyle was one of the four swimming events on the Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme.
The final swimming race was the longest. Despite having already won the 100 metre race, Hajós competed again in the 1,200 metres along with eight other swimmers. He won once again, finishing nearly 100 metres ahead of the rest of the field. Neumann, who had won the 500 metres, was unable to finish the 1,200. The places of Williams and the five Greeks who did not finish in the top two are unknown, as are the full names of four of those Greeks and any part of the names of three of them.
This was the only appearance of a 1200-metre event. The 1900 Games had a 1000-metre freestyle before the 1 mile/1500 metre length became standard in 1904. [1]
This freestyle swimming competition involved a single race, with all swimmers competing at the same time. The swimmers were taken out by ship into the bay, where they would swim toward shore. [1] [2] [3]
The 1,200 metre freestyle was the fourth and final swimming event. [2]
Date | Time | Round | |
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Gregorian | Julian | ||
Saturday, 11 April 1896 | Saturday, 30 March 1896 | 11:00 | Final |
Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time |
---|---|---|---|
Alfréd Hajós | Hungary | 18:22.2 | |
Ioannis Andreou | Greece | 21:03.4 | |
3–8 | Efstathios Chorafas | Greece | Unknown |
N. Katravas | Greece | Unknown | |
Gardner Williams | United States | Unknown | |
Three others, names unknown | Greece | Unknown | |
— | Paul Neumann | Austria | DNF |
At the 1896 Summer Olympics, four swimming events were contested, all for men. They were planned and organized by the Sub-Committee for Nautical Sports. All events took place on 11 April in the Bay of Zea. There was a total of 13 participants from 4 countries competing.
Alfréd Hajós was a Hungarian swimmer, football player and manager, and architect. He was the first modern Olympic swimming champion and the first Olympic champion of Hungary. No other swimmer ever won such a high fraction of all Olympic events at a single Games. He was also part of the first-ever team fielded by Hungary in 1902.
Laure Manaudou is a retired French Olympic, world and European champion swimmer. She has held the world record in freestyle events between 200 and 1500 meter. She is the daughter of a French father and a Dutch mother, and she is the older sister of Florent Manaudou who is also an Olympic gold medalist swimmer.
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Hungary competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Austrian and Hungarian results at early Olympic Games are generally kept separate despite the union of the two nations as Austria-Hungary at the time.
Paul Neumann was an Austrian swimmer and physician, who competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and became the first ever Austrian gold medalist.
Efstathios Chorafas or Khorafas was a Greek swimmer. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Greece has a long presence at the Olympic Games, as they have competed at every Summer Olympic Games, one of only five countries to have done so, and most of the Winter Olympic Games. Greece has hosted the Games twice, both in Athens. As the home of the Ancient Olympic Games it was a natural choice as host nation for the revival of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, while Greece has also hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics. During the parade of nations at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Greece always enters the stadium first and leads the parade to honor its status as the birthplace of the Olympics, with the notable exception of 2004 when Greece entered last as the host nation. Before the Games the Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia, the site of the Ancient Olympic Games, in a ceremony that reflects ancient Greek rituals and initiates the Olympic torch relay. The flag of Greece is always hoisted in the closing ceremony, along with the flags of the current and the next host country.
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