Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre obstacle event

Men's 200 metre obstacle course at the Games of the II Olympiad
Frederick Lane, after winning the gold medal
Venue	River Seine
Dates	August 11 (semifinals) August 12 (final)
Competitors	12 from 5 nations
Medalists
Frederick Lane   Australia Otto Wahle   Austria Peter Kemp   Great Britain

The men's 200 metre obstacle event was an obstacle swimming event in the 1900 Summer Olympics held in Paris. It was held on 11 August and 12 August 1900. Twelve swimmers from five nations competed. The event was won by Frederick Lane of Australia, with Otto Wahle of Austria second and Peter Kemp of Great Britain third. Lane had already won the 200 metre freestyle (with no obstacles).

Background

This was the only appearance of obstacle swimming at the Olympics. ^[1]

Competition format

There were three obstacles throughout the 200 metre course. Swimmers had to climb over the first two (a pole and a row of boats), and swim under the third (another row of boats). ^{[2] [3]}

This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). The event consisted of two rounds: semifinals and a final. There were three semifinals, with 4 swimmers in each; the top 2 swimmers in each semifinal advanced to the final along with the 4 with the best times from the remaining swimmers. This made a 10-person final.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Sunday, 11 August 1900	10:30	Semifinals
Monday, 12 August 1900	15:15	Final

Results

Semifinals

The two fastest swimmers in each heat as well as the four fastest losers from across the three heats advanced. This meant that 10 of the 12 swimmers moved on to the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Frederick Lane	Australia	3:04.0	Q
2	Karl Ruberl	Austria	3:06.0	Q
3	Frederick Stapleton	Great Britain	3:18.4	q
4	Louis Marc	France	3:29.2	q

Semifinal 2

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Otto Wahle	Austria	2:56.1	Q
2	William Henry	Great Britain	3:14.4	Q
3	Jules Verbecke	France	3:18.0	q
4	Victor Hochepied	France	3:37.2

Semifinal 3

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Peter Kemp	Great Britain	3:12.1	Q
2	Maurice Hochepied	France	3:16.2	Q
3	Joseph Bertrand	France	3:28.2	q
4	Fred Hendschel	United States	3:45.2

Final

The obstacle swimming event

The final was held on 12 August.

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time
	Frederick Lane	Australia	2:38.4
	Otto Wahle	Austria	2:40.0
	Peter Kemp	Great Britain	2:47.4
4	Karl Ruberl	Austria	2:51.2
5	Frederick Stapleton	Great Britain	2:55.0
6	William Henry	Great Britain	2:58.0
7	Maurice Hochepied	France	2:58.0
8	Jules Verbecke	France	3:08.4
9	Joseph Bertrand	France	3:17.0
10	Louis Marc	France	3:30.6

References

1. "200 metres Obstacle Course, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
2. Swimming at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Obstacle Course | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com Archived October 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
3. Hoblin, Paul (2013). Amazing Olympic Records. 1980 Lookout Dr., Mankato, MN 56003-1705: The Child's World. p. 28. ISBN   9781614734055.