Swimming at the 1904 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the Games of the III Olympiad
Venue	Forest Park
Dates	4–6 September 1904
No. of events	9
Competitors	32 from 5 nations
←  1900 1908  →

The start of 100 yards freestyle swimming during 1904 Summer Olympics

At the 1904 Summer Olympics, nine swimming events were contested. The 1904 swimming competition was the only time in Olympic history that racing distances were measured in yards. The competition was held September 4–6, 1904. There was a total of 32 participants from 5 countries competing. ^{[1] [2]} The 10 events at the swimming competitions were held at a man-made lake that was used for life-saving exhibitions by the coast guard. ^[3]

The short sprint, at 50 yards (46 m), made its first Olympic appearance in 1904. The 100 returned after not being contested in 1900. The 1000 metres and 4000 metres were replaced with the much shorter 440 yards (400 m) and 1-mile (1,600 m) events, making the 200 the only freestyle event to be held for the second time in a row.

The 200 metre backstroke was shortened to 100 yards (91 m) and the team swimming event was replaced with a 4 × 50 yard freestyle relay. The obstacle course and underwater swimming events were eliminated, while breaststroke made its Olympic debut.

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Germany  (GER)	4	2	2	8
2	United States  (USA)	3	3	4	10
3	Hungary  (HUN)	2	1	1	4
4	Australia  (AUS)	0	3	1	4
5	Austria  (AUT)	0	0	1	1
Totals (5 entries)		9	9	9	27

Medal summary

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
50 yard freestyle details	Zoltán Halmay  (HUN)	Scott Leary  (USA)	Charles Daniels  (USA)
100 yard freestyle details	Zoltán Halmay  (HUN)	Charles Daniels  (USA)	Scott Leary  (USA)
220 yard freestyle details	Charles Daniels  (USA)	Francis Gailey  (AUS) [note 1]	Emil Rausch  (GER)
440 yard freestyle details	Charles Daniels  (USA)	Francis Gailey  (AUS) [note 1]	Otto Wahle  (AUT)
880 yard freestyle details	Emil Rausch  (GER)	Francis Gailey  (AUS) [note 1]	Géza Kiss  (HUN)
1 mile freestyle details	Emil Rausch  (GER)	Géza Kiss  (HUN)	Francis Gailey  (AUS) [note 1]
100 yard backstroke details	Walter Brack  (GER)	Georg Hoffmann  (GER)	Georg Zacharias  (GER)
440 yard breaststroke details	Georg Zacharias  (GER)	Walter Brack  (GER)	Jam Handy  (USA)
4 × 50 yard freestyle relay details	United States  (USA) New York Athletic Club Joe Ruddy Leo Goodwin Louis Handley Charles Daniels	United States  (USA) Chicago Athletic Association David Hammond Bill Tuttle Hugo Goetz Raymond Thorne	United States  (USA) Missouri Athletic Club Amedee Reyburn Gwynne Evans Marquard Schwarz Bill Orthwein

1. Gailey was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, but later emigrated to the United States and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1906: at the 1904 Olympics, he was sponsored by the Olympic Club of San Francisco. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had previously counted Gailey's four medals for the United States, but these are now counted as medals for Australia.

Participating nations

32 swimmers from 5 nations competed.

•   Austria  (1)
•   Australia  (1)
•   Germany  (4)
•   Hungary  (2)
•   United States  (24)

References

1. "Swimming at the 1904 St. Louis Summer Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". 2020-04-17. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
2. "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1904 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
3. "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1904 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2024-03-09.

• "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee . Retrieved 2008-03-19.
• Mallon, Bill (February 1999). The 1904 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, With Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN   0-7864-0550-3.
• James E. Sullivan (ed.). Spalding's Athletic Almanac for 1905 (PDF). New York: American Sports Publishing. pp. 229–231. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
• De Wael, Herman (2002-01-11). "Swimming 1904". Herman's Full Olympians. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2008-03-19.