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

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.

Men's 100 metre backstroke
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
VenueWhite City Stadium
DatesJuly 16
July 17
Competitors21 from 11 nations
Medalists
Arno Bieberstein  Germany
Ludvig Dam  Denmark
Herbert Haresnape  Great Britain
Swimming at the
1908 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
100 mmen
400 mmen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmen
Breaststroke
200 mmen
Freestyle relay
4×200 mmen

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 Record 1:16.8(*) 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.

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.
1 Arno Bieberstein (GER)1:25.6QQ OR
2 Frederick Unwin (GBR)1:30.0
3 Hugo Jonsson (FIN)Unknown

Heat 2

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Max Ritter (GER)1:33.4QQ
2 Sidney Willis (GBR)1:34.4
3 John Henriksson (FIN)Unknown

Heat 3

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Colin Lewis (GBR)1:30.2QQ
2 Bartholomeus Roodenburch (NED)1:36.2
3 Robert Zimmerman (CAN)Unknown

Heat 4

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Herbert Haresnape (GBR)1:26.2QQ
2 Ludvig Dam (DEN)1:26.4qq
3 Amilcare Beretta (ITA)Unknown

Heat 5

Parvin had no competition in the fifth heat.

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Sidney Parvin (GBR)1:35.2QQ

Heat 6

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 John Taylor (GBR)1:25.8QQ
2 Augustus Goessling (USA)1:29.0
3 Gustaf Wretman (SWE)Unknown
— 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.
1 Gustav Aurisch (GER)1:27.4QQ
2 Johan Cortlever (NED)Unknown
3 Eric Seaward (GBR)Unknown
— 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.
1 Arno Bieberstein (GER)1:25.6QF =OR
2 Ludvig Dam (DEN)UnknownQF
3 Max Ritter (GER)Unknown
4 Sidney Parvin (GBR)Unknown

Semifinal 2

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Gustav Aurisch (GER)1:28.2QF
2 Herbert Haresnape (GBR)1:28.8QF
3 John Taylor (GBR)Unknown
4 Colin Lewis (GBR)Unknown

Final

Friday July 17, 1908.

PlaceSwimmerTime
1 Arno Bieberstein (GER)1:24.6 WR
2 Ludvig Dam (DEN)1:26.6
3 Herbert Haresnape (GBR)1:27.0
4 Gustav Aurisch (GER)Unknown

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.

Sources
  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman (2001). "Swimming 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 13 May 2006.
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