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

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.

Men's 1500 metre freestyle
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
VenueWhite City Stadium
DatesJuly 21–25
Competitors19 from 8 nations
Medalists
Henry Taylor  Great Britain
Thomas Battersby  Great Britain
Frank Beaurepaire  Australasia
Swimming at the
1908 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
100 mmen
400 mmen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmen
Breaststroke
200 mmen
Freestyle relay
4×200 mmen

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 Record 27:18.2(*) 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.
1 Paul Radmilovic (GBR)25:02.4QS OR
2 Gunnar Wennerström (SWE)27:15.4
3 Oreste Muzzi (ITA)28:52.6

Heat 2

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Frank Beaurepaire (ANZ)23:45.8QS OR
2 Sam Blatherwick (GBR)25:15.4
3 Piet Ooms (NED)27:24.4
4 Vilhelm Andersson (SWE)27:34.4

Heat 3

Moist had no competition in the third heat.

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Lewis Moist (GBR)26:52.0QS

Heat 4

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Thomas Battersby (GBR)23:42.8QS OR
2 Frank Springfield (ANZ)24:52.4
3 André Theuriet (FRA)32:37.0

Heat 5

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 John Jarvis (GBR)25:51.6QS
2 James Greene (USA)28:09.0
3 Richard Hassell (GBR)28:14.8

Heat 6

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Henry Taylor (GBR)23:24.4QS OR
2 Otto Scheff (AUT)24:15.8qs
3 Gustaf Wretman (SWE)28:40.8
— Eduard Meijer (NED)DNF

Heat 7

Foster had no competition in the seventh heat.

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 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.
1 Henry Taylor (GBR)22:54.0QF OR
2 Frank Beaurepaire (ANZ)23:25.4QF
3 William Foster (GBR)Unknown
4 Lewis Moist (GBR)Unknown

Semifinal 2

PlaceSwimmerTimeQual.
1 Thomas Battersby (GBR)23:23.0QF
2 Otto Scheff (AUT)24:25.0QF
— John Jarvis (GBR)DNF
 Paul Radmilovic (GBR)DNF

Final

The final was held on Saturday July 25, 1908.

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

PlaceSwimmerTime
1 Henry Taylor (GBR)22:48.4 WR
2 Thomas Battersby (GBR)22:51.2
3 Frank Beaurepaire (ANZ)22:56.2
4 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
  • 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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