Swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, 15 swimming events were contested, eight for men and seven for women. There was a total of 380 participants from 45 countries competing.[1] For the first time, the 4×100 metres medley relay was contested. The United States topped the medal standings with a total of 15 medals (9 gold), while Australia finished close second with 13 medals (5 gold). 16-years-old phenom Chris von Saltza won four medals, three of them gold.

Swimming
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
VenueStadio Olimpico del Nuoto
Dates26 August – 3 September
No. of events15
Competitors380 from 45 nations

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States (USA)93315
2 Australia (AUS)55313
3 Great Britain (GBR)1113
4 Japan (JPN)0325
5 United Team of Germany (EUA)0134
6 Netherlands (NED)0123
7 Sweden (SWE)0101
8 Brazil (BRA)0011
Totals (8 nations)15151545

Medal summary

Men's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 m freestyle
John Devitt
 Australia
55.2 (OR) Lance Larson
 United States
55.2 (OR) Manuel dos Santos
 Brazil
55.4
400 m freestyle
Murray Rose
 Australia
4:18.3 (OR) Tsuyoshi Yamanaka
 Japan
4:21.4 John Konrads
 Australia
4:21.8
1500 m freestyle
John Konrads
 Australia
17:19.2 (OR) Murray Rose
 Australia
17:21.7 George Breen
 United States
17:30.6
100 m backstroke
David Theile
 Australia
1:01.9 (OR) Frank McKinney
 United States
1:02.1 Bob Bennett
 United States
1:02.3
200 m breaststroke
Bill Mulliken
 United States
2:37.4 Yoshihiko Osaki
 Japan
2:38.0 Wieger Mensonides
 Netherlands
2:39.7
200 m butterfly
Mike Troy
 United States
2:12.8 (WR) Neville Hayes
 Australia
2:14.6 Dave Gillanders
 United States
2:15.3
4 × 200 m freestyle relay
 United States (USA)
George Harrison
Dick Blick
Mike Troy
Jeff Farrell
8:10.2 (WR)  Japan (JPN)
Makoto Fukui
Hiroshi Ishii
Tsuyoshi Yamanaka
Tatsuo Fujimoto
8:13.3  Australia (AUS)
David Dickson
John Devitt
Murray Rose
John Konrads
8:13.8
4 × 100 m medley relay
 United States (USA)
Frank McKinney
Paul Hait
Lance Larson
Jeff Farrell
4:05.4 (WR)  Australia (AUS)
David Theile
Terry Gathercole
Neville Hayes
Geoff Shipton
4:12.0  Japan (JPN)
Kazuo Tomita
Koichi Hirakida
Yoshihiko Osaki
Keigo Shimuzu
4:12.2

Women's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 m freestyle
Dawn Fraser
 Australia
1:01.2 (OR) Chris von Saltza
 United States
1:02.8 Natalie Steward
 Great Britain
1:03.1
400 m freestyle
Chris von Saltza
 United States
4:50.6 (OR) Jane Cederqvist
 Sweden
4:53.9 Tineke Lagerberg
 Netherlands
4:56.9
100 m backstroke
Lynn Burke
 United States
1:09.3 (OR) Natalie Steward
 Great Britain
1:10.8 Satoko Tanaka
 Japan
1:11.4
200 m breaststroke
Anita Lonsbrough
 Great Britain
2:49.5 (WR) Wiltrud Urselmann
 United Team of Germany
2:50.0 Barbara Göbel
 United Team of Germany
2:53.6
100 m butterfly
Carolyn Schuler
 United States
1:09.5 (OR) Marianne Heemskerk
 Netherlands
1:10.4 Jan Andrew
 Australia
1:12.2
4 × 100 m freestyle relay
 United States (USA)
Joan Spillane
Shirley Stobs
Carolyn Wood
Chris von Saltza
4:08.9 (WR)  Australia (AUS)
Dawn Fraser
Ilsa Konrads
Lorraine Crapp
Alva Colquhoun
4:11.3  United Team of Germany (EUA)
Christel Steffin
Heidi Pechstein
Gisela Weiss
Ursel Brunner
4:19.7
4 × 100 m medley relay
 United States (USA)
Lynn Burke
Patty Kempner
Carolyn Schuler
Chris von Saltza
4:41.1 (WR)  Australia (AUS)
Marilyn Wilson
Rosemary Lassig
Jan Andrew
Dawn Fraser
4:45.9  United Team of Germany (EUA)
Ingrid Schmidt
Ursula Küper
Bärbel Fuhrmann
Ursel Brunner
4:47.6

100m men's freestyle controversy

Results were decided by finish judges who relied on their eyes and did not use replays. Three judges were assigned to each finishing position. There were three official timers in 1960 for each lane and swimmer, all timing by hand. All three timers for Devitt, in lane three, timed him in 55.2 seconds. The three timers for lane four timed Lance Larson in 55.0, 55.1, and 55.1 seconds.[2]

Former Olympic swimmer and FINA co-founder Max Ritter inspected the judge's scorecards. Two of the three first-place judges found that Devitt had finished first and the third found for Larson. Of the three-second-place judges, two found that Devitt finished second and one found that Larson was second. Ritter pointed out to chief judge Henry Runströmer of Sweden that the scorecards indicated a tie. Runstrümer cast the deciding vote and declared Devitt the winner. However, the rules at that time did not provide for the chief judge to have a vote or give him the right to break ties.[3] Ties were supposed to be broken by referring to the timing machine. The official results placed Devitt first and Larson second, both with the identical time of 55.2 seconds.[4] The United States team appealed, bolstered by videotaped footage of the finish that appeared to show Larson the winner.[5] The appeal jury, headed by Jan de Vries, also the President of FINA in 1960, rejected the appeal, keeping Devitt the winner.[6] This controversy would pave the way for electronic touchpads to be included in swimming events to determine finish and accurate timing.

Participating nations

380 swimmers from 45 nations competed.[1]

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1960 Rome Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  2. David Maraniss, Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World, Simon & Schuster, New York City, p. 130 (2008).
  3. Maraniss, Rome 1960 p. 132
  4. Maraniss, Rome 1960, p. 131
  5. Maraniss, Rome 1960, p. 137
  6. Maraniss, Rome 1960, p. 138
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