Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 500 metre freestyle

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Men's 500 metre freestyle
at the Games of the I Olympiad
Swimming 1896.jpg
Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Venue Bay of Zea
DateApril 11
Competitors3 from 2 nations
Winning time8:12.6
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Paul Neumann
Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg  Austria
Silver medal icon.svg Antonios Pepanos
Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece
Bronze medal icon.svg Efstathios Chorafas
Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece

The men's 500 metre freestyle was one of the four swimming events on the Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme.

Only three swimmers entered the 500 metre freestyle. Paul Neumann added Austria's first gold medal to Herschmann's silver. Alfréd Hajós, the winner of the 100m, had intended to sweep the three open swimming events, but did not compete in the 500m because it was begun immediately after the 100 metres. Chorophas was the only swimmer to compete in all three events.

Background

This was the only appearance of a 500-metre freestyle event, with 1900 having 200- and 1000-metre events and the now-standard 400 metre event debuting in 1904 (in yards, for that Games only). [1]

Competition format

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]

Schedule

The 500 metre freestyle was the third of the swimming events, held shortly after the 100 metre freestyle and the sailor-only 100 metre freestyle. [2]

DateTimeRound
GregorianJulian
Saturday, 11 April 1896Saturday, 30 March 189611:00Final

Results

RankSwimmerNationTime
Gold medal icon.svg Paul Neumann Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg  Austria 8:12.6
Silver medal icon.svg Antonios Pepanos Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece 9:57.6
Bronze medal icon.svg Efstathios Chorafas Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece Unknown

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References

  1. 1 2 "500 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 Official Report, part 2, p. 96.
  3. "Athens 1896 Swimming 400m Freestyle Men Result". Olympics.com. Retrieved 3 September 2021.