Swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle


The men's 100 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which had not been featured at the 1900 Games. The competition was held on Saturday July 19, 1924 and on Sunday July 20, 1924.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.
World Record57.4 Johnny WeissmullerMiami February 17, 1924
Olympic Record1:00.4' Duke KahanamokuAntwerp August 24, 1920
Olympic Record1:01.4' Duke KahanamokuAntwerp August 23, 1920
Olympic Record1:01.4' Duke KahanamokuAntwerp August 29, 1920

' Duke Kahanamoku swam 1:00.4 minutes in the first final, which was ordered to re-swim. In the second final he recorded 1:01.4, the same time as six days earlier in the semifinal.
In the second semifinal Johnny Weissmuller set a new Olympic record with 1:00.8 minutes. In the final he bettered his record with a time of 59.0 seconds.

Competition format

The competition used a three-round format. The advancement rule was the one used since 1912; for each round before the final, the top two in each heat plus the fastest third-place swimmer would advance. There were 6 quarterfinals of between 4 and 6 swimmers, allowing 13 swimmers to advance to the semifinals. The 2 semifinals had 6 or 7 swimmers; 5 advanced to the final.
Each race involved two lengths of the 50-metre pool.

Results

Heats

The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced.

Heat 1

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:04.2
21:04.2
31:05.4
41:08.2
51:11.6

Heat 2

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:03.2
21:03.8
31:04.2
41:05.0
51:06.0
61:10.2

Heat 3

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:06.2
21:08.2
31:13.2
41:15.0

Heat 4

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:04.0
21:06.0
31:07.0
41:08.0
51:11.8

Heat 5

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:03.8
21:05.2
31:06.8
41:07.2
51:14.2

Heat 6

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:05.4
21:08.4
31:11.8
41:12.0
51:12.2

Semifinals

The fastest two in each semi-final and the faster of the two third-placed swimmer advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:01.6
21:02.2
31:02.4
41:02.6
51:06.0
61:08.0

Semifinal 2

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
11:00.8,
21:02.6
31:03.0
41:05.0
51:06.0
61:07.6

Final

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
59.0
1:01.4
1:01.8
41:02.0
51:03.0