Men's 1200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the I Olympiad
Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics
VenueBay of Zea
DateApril 11
Competitors9 from 4 nations
Winning time18:22.2
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Alfréd Hajós
 Hungary
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ioannis Andreou
 Greece

The men's 1200 metre freestyle was one of the four swimming events on the Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme.

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 five Greeks who did not finish in the top two are unknown, as are the full names of 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][3]

Schedule

The 1,200 metre freestyle was the fourth and final swimming event.[2]

Date Time Round
Gregorian Julian
Saturday, 11 April 1896Saturday, 30 March 189611:00Final

Results

RankSwimmerNationTime
1st place, gold medalist(s) Alfréd Hajós Hungary 18:22.2
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ioannis Andreou Greece 21:03.4
3–8 Efstathios Chorafas Greece Unknown
N. Katravas Greece Unknown
Gardner Williams United States Unknown
Three others, names unknown Greece Unknown
— Paul Neumann Austria DNF

References

  1. 1 2 "1,200 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 Official Report, part 2, p. 97.
  3. ↑ "Athens 1896 Swimming 1200m Freestyle Men Result". Olympics.com. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  • 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.
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