Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke

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Men's 100 metre backstroke
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue White City Stadium
DatesJuly 16
July 17
Competitors21 from 11 nations
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Arno Bieberstein Flag of the German Empire.svg  Germany
Silver medal icon.svg Ludvig Dam Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
Bronze medal icon.svg Herbert Haresnape Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
  1904
(100 yd)
1912  

The men's 100 metre backstroke was one of six swimming events on the swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. [1] It was the only backstroke event on the schedule. It was the first appearance of the event, after a 100-yard event was held in 1904. The competition was held on Thursday July 16, 1908 and on Friday July 17, 1908.

Each nation could enter up to 12 swimmers. [2] Twenty-one swimmers from eleven nations competed.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.

World Record ? ?
Olympic Record1:16.8(*) Flag of the German Empire.svg Walter Brack St. Louis (USA)September 6, 1904

(*) 100 yards (= 91.44 m)

In the first heat Arno Bieberstein set the first Olympic record with 1:25.6 minutes. In the first semi-final he equalized his time and in the final he bettered his own record with 1:24.6 minutes. The time set in the final was the first official world record for this distance.

Competition format

With a much larger field than in 1904, the 1908 competition expanded to three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The 1908 Games also restored the wild-card system from 1900, allowing the fastest swimmers who did not win their heat to advance. The nine heats consisted of between 1 and 6 swimmers, with the winner of the heat advancing along with the fastest loser from across the heats (all tied swimmers advanced in the case of equal times). There were two semifinals, intended to be of 5 swimmers each but one of which actually had 6 due to a tie in the heats; the top 2 finishers in each semifinal (regardless of overall time) advanced to the 4-person final. [3]

Each race involved a single length of the 100 metre pool, with no turns. There was little regulation of the stroke, other than that the swimmer had to remain on his back and turns had to be made with both hands touching the wall. [4]

Results

First round

Thursday July 16, 1908: The fastest swimmer in each heat and the fastest loser advanced, qualifying 8 swimmers for the semifinals.

Heat 1

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the German Empire.svg  Arno Bieberstein  (GER)1:25.6QQ OR
2Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Frederick Unwin  (GBR)1:30.0
3Flag of Russia.svg  Hugo Jonsson  (FIN)Unknown

Heat 2

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the German Empire.svg  Max Ritter  (GER)1:33.4QQ
2Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Sidney Willis  (GBR)1:34.4
3Flag of Russia.svg  John Henriksson  (FIN)Unknown

Heat 3

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Colin Lewis  (GBR)1:30.2QQ
2Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Bartholomeus Roodenburch  (NED)1:36.2
3Canadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg  Robert Zimmerman  (CAN)Unknown

Heat 4

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Herbert Haresnape  (GBR)1:26.2QQ
2Flag of Denmark.svg  Ludvig Dam  (DEN)1:26.4qq
3Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Amilcare Beretta  (ITA)Unknown

Heat 5

Parvin had no competition in the fifth heat.

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Sidney Parvin  (GBR)1:35.2QQ

Heat 6

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Jack Taylor  (GBR)1:25.8QQ
2US flag 45 stars.svg  Augustus Goessling  (USA)1:29.0
3Flag of Sweden.svg  Gustaf Wretman  (SWE)Unknown
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Oscar Grégoire  (BEL)Did not finish

Heat 7

Kugler started before the signal, causing him to be disqualified and his first-place finish nullified.

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the German Empire.svg  Gustav Aurisch  (GER)1:27.4QQ
2Flag of the Netherlands.svg  George Cortlever  (NED)Unknown
3Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Eric Seward  (GBR)Unknown
Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Sándor Kugler  (HUN)(1:27.0)DSQ

Semifinals

Thursday July 16, 1908: The fastest two swimmers from each semifinal advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the German Empire.svg  Arno Bieberstein  (GER)1:25.6QF =OR
2Flag of Denmark.svg  Ludvig Dam  (DEN)UnknownQF
3Flag of the German Empire.svg  Max Ritter  (GER)Unknown
4Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Sidney Parvin  (GBR)Unknown

Semifinal 2

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the German Empire.svg  Gustav Aurisch  (GER)1:28.2QF
2Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Herbert Haresnape  (GBR)1:28.8QF
3Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Jack Taylor  (GBR)Unknown
4Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Colin Lewis  (GBR)Unknown

Final

Friday July 17, 1908.

PlaceSwimmerTime
1Flag of the German Empire.svg  Arno Bieberstein  (GER)1:24.6 WR
2Flag of Denmark.svg  Ludvig Dam  (DEN)1:26.6
3Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Herbert Haresnape  (GBR)1:27.0
4Flag of the German Empire.svg  Gustav Aurisch  (GER)Unknown

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References

  1. "Swimming at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Backstroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. Official Report, p. 40.
  3. Official Report, p. 571.
  4. Official Report, pp. 573–74.

Sources