Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

Last updated

Contents

Men's 1500 metre freestyle
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue White City Stadium
DatesJuly 21–25
Competitors19 from 8 nations
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Henry Taylor Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Silver medal icon.svg Thomas Battersby Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Bronze medal icon.svg Frank Beaurepaire Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Australasia
  1904
(1 mi)
1912  

The men's 1500 metre freestyle was one of 6 swimming events on the swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. [1] Its distance was the longest of the 3 individual freestyle event distances. The competition was held from Tuesday July 21, 1908, to Saturday July 25, 1908.

Each nation could enter up to 12 swimmers. [2] Nineteen swimmers from eight nations competed.

Records

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

World Record ? ?
Olympic Record27:18.2(*) Flag of the German Empire.svg Emil Rausch St. Louis (USA)September 6, 1904

(*) one mile (1609.34 m)

In the final Henry Taylor set the first official world record for this distance in 22:48.4.

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 seven heats consisted of between 1 and 4 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 of 4 swimmers each; the top 2 finishers in each semifinal (regardless of overall time) advanced to the 4-person final. [3]

Each race involved 15 lengths of the 100 metre pool. Any stroke could be used.

Results

First round

Tuesday July 21, 1908: The fastest swimmer in each heat and the fastest loser advanced, qualifying eight swimmers for the semifinals.

Heat 1

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Paul Radmilovic  (GBR)25:02.4QS OR
2Flag of Sweden.svg  Gunnar Wennerström  (SWE)27:15.4
3Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Oreste Muzzi (ITA)28:52.6

Heat 2

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Frank Beaurepaire  (ANZ)23:45.8QS OR
2Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Sam Blatherwick (GBR)25:15.4
3Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Piet Ooms  (NED)27:24.4
4Flag of Sweden.svg  Vilhelm Andersson  (SWE)27:34.4

Heat 3

Moist had no competition in the third heat.

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Lewis Moist (GBR)26:52.0QS

Heat 4

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Thomas Battersby  (GBR)23:42.8QS OR
2Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Frank Springfield  (ANZ)24:52.4
3Flag of France.svg  André Theuriet  (FRA)32:37.0

Heat 5

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  John Jarvis  (GBR)25:51.6QS
2US flag 45 stars.svg James Greene (USA)28:09.0
3Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Robert Hassell (GBR)28:14.8

Heat 6

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Henry Taylor  (GBR)23:24.4QS OR
2Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg  Otto Scheff  (AUT)24:15.8qs
3Flag of Sweden.svg  Gustaf Wretman  (SWE)28:40.8
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Eduard Meijer  (NED)DNF

Heat 7

Foster had no competition in the seventh heat.

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  William Foster  (GBR)24:33.0QS

Semifinals

Thursday July 23, 1908: The fastest two swimmers from each semifinal advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Henry Taylor  (GBR)22:54.0QF OR
2Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Frank Beaurepaire  (ANZ)23:25.4QF
3Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  William Foster  (GBR)Unknown
4Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Lewis Moist (GBR)Unknown

Semifinal 2

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Thomas Battersby  (GBR)23:23.0QF
2Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg  Otto Scheff  (AUT)24:25.0QF
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  John Jarvis  (GBR)DNF
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Paul Radmilovic  (GBR)DNF

Final

The final was held on Saturday July 25, 1908.

While Taylor stopped after the finish, Battersby swam an extra 109.344 metres after the finish to complete the mile. His time for the mile was 24:33.0, breaking the standing record of 24:42.6 set by David Billington in 1905.

PlaceSwimmerTime
1Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Henry Taylor  (GBR)22:48.4 WR
2Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Thomas Battersby  (GBR)22:51.2
3Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg  Frank Beaurepaire  (ANZ)22:56.2
4Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg  Otto Scheff  (AUT)Unknown

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. Official Report, p. 40.
  3. Official Report, p. 571.

Sources