Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 1200 metre freestyle
The men's 1200 metre freestyle was one of the four swimming events on the Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme.
| Men's 1200 metre freestyle at the Games of the I Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics | ||||||||||
| Venue | Bay of Zea | |||||||||
| Date | April 11 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 9 from 4 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 18:22.2 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Freestyle | |
| 100 m | men |
| 500 m | men |
| 1200 m | men |
| 100 m sailors | men |
The final swimming race was the longest. Despite having already won the 100 metre race, Hajós competed again in the 1,200 metres along with eight other swimmers. He won once again, finishing nearly 100 metres ahead of the rest of the field. Neumann, who had won the 500 metres, was unable to finish the 1,200. The places of Williams and the four Greeks who did not finish in the top three are unknown, as are the full names of all four of those Greeks and any part of the names of three of them.
Background
This was the only appearance of a 1200 metre event. The 1900 Games had a 1000 metre freestyle before the 1 mile/1500 metre length became standard in 1904.[1]
Competition format
This freestyle swimming competition involved a single race, with all swimmers competing at the same time. The swimmers were taken out by ship into the bay, where they would swim toward shore.[1][2]
Schedule
The 1,200 metre freestyle was the fourth and final swimming event.[2]
| Date | Time | Round | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gregorian | Julian | ||
| Saturday, 11 April 1896 | Saturday, 30 March 1896 | 11:00 | Final |
Results
| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Alfréd Hajós | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Hungary |
18:22.2 |
 |
Ioannis Andreou | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Greece |
21:03.4 |
 |
Efstathios Chorafas | Greece |
Unknown |
| 4–8 | N. Kartavas | Greece |
Unknown |
| Gardner Williams | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} United States |
Unknown | |
| Three others, names unknown | Greece |
Unknown | |
| — | Paul Neumann |  Austria |
DNF |
References
- "1,200 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- Official Report, part 2, p. 97.
- Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J. & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at )
- Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at )
- Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.