Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle

Men's 200 metre freestyle at the Games of the II Olympiad
Fred Lane 1900.jpg Gold medalist Frederick Lane
Venue	River Seine
Dates	August 11 (semifinals) August 12 (final)
Competitors	26 from 10 nations
Winning time	2:25.2
Medalists
Frederick Lane  Australia   Zoltán Halmay  Hungary   Karl Ruberl  Austria
	1904 (220 yd)»

The men's 200 metre freestyle was a swimming event in the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It the shortest freestyle swimming event. It was on 11 August and 12 August 1900. There were 26 swimmers. These swimmers were from 10 different nations. Frederick Lane of Australia won. Zoltán Halmay of Hungary was in 2nd place. Karl Ruberl of Austria was in 3rd place.

Background

This was the first 200 metres event in the Olympics. This event would also be in the 1904 Olympics. However, in 1904, the distance would be 220 yards. The 200 metres was not in the Olympics until the 1968 Summer Olympics. It has been at every Olympics since 1968.

Frederick Lane of Australia was the favorite swimmer in this race. He had won the British 220 yards championships in 1899. Rob Derbyshire of Great Britain was also a favorite swimmer. He had won the 1898 British championships. Derbyshire and Lane tied the British championships in 1900. However, Derbyshire had a stomach virus. He did not compete in the 1900 games. This easily made Lane the favorite. Zoltán Halmay of Hungary was probably the 2nd famous swimmer.

There were no official records in the 200 metres before this race. There would not be official world records until 1902. Otto Wahle had the fastest time in the first semifinal. His time was 2:35.6. This was the first Olympic record for this event. In the 5th semifinal, Karl Ruberl's time was 2:22.6. This became the new Olympic record.

Competition

The competition was in 2 rounds. There was the semifinals and the final. There were 5 semifinal rounds. Each semifinal had about 12 swimmers. However, many swimmers quit before the race. This left 4-6 swimmers in each round. The fastest swimmer in each semifinal went to the final. The 5 fastest times also went to the finals. If you went to the finals because you won a round, that would not count as one of the fastest 5 times. This meant that there was 10 swimmers in the finals.

The races were in the Seine. This swimming event used freestyle swimming. This means that the stroke was not regulated.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Saturday, 10 August 1900	10:00	Semifinals
Sunday, 12 August 1900	14:30	Final

Results

Semifinals

In the first round, there were 5 semifinals. The winner of each semifinal went to the final The 5 fastest losers also went to the finals. The semifinals were on 11 August.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Otto Wahle	Austria	2:35.6	Q, OR
2	Robert Crawshaw	Great Britain	2:40.0	q
3	Julius Frey	Germany	2:50.4	q
4	Erik Eriksson	Sweden	3:05.8
5	Paolo Bussetti	Italy	3:35.0

Semifinal 2

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Zoltán Halmay	Hungary	2:38.0	Q
2	Peter Kemp	Great Britain	2:51.0
3	R. Féret	France	3:12.2
4	Victor Cadet	France	3:24.0

Semifinal 3

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Frederick Lane	Australia	2:59.0	Q
2	René Tartara	France	3:13.0
3	Victor Hochepied	France	3:46.6
4	Texier	France	3:47.0
5	Pierre Peyrusson	France	3:47.6
—	Pujol	France	DNF

Semifinal 4

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Jules Clévenot	France	3:05.0	Q
2	Herman Alexander de By	Netherlands	3:10.4
3	Fred Hendschel	United States	3:42.0
4	Richard von Foregger	Austria	4:32.0
5	Jacques Léauté	France	4:39.4

Semifinal 5

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Karl Ruberl	Austria	2:22.6	Q, OR
2	Frederick Stapleton	Great Britain	2:47.0	q
3	Louis Martin	France	2:47.4	q
4	Maurice Hochepied	France	2:48.0	q
5	A. Adam	France	4:28.0
6	Ronaux	France	4:36.4

Final

The final was on 12 August. Wahle did not start in the final. Lane won easily. He was 6 seconds ahead of Halmay and Ruberl.

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time
	Frederick Lane	Australia	2:25.2
	Zoltán Halmay	Hungary	2:31.4
	Karl Ruberl	Austria	2:32.0
4	Robert Crawshaw	Great Britain	2:45.6
5	Maurice Hochepied	France	2:53.0
6	Frederick Stapleton	Great Britain	2:55.0
7	Jules Clévenot	France	2:56.2
8	Julius Frey	Germany	2:58.2
9	Louis Martin	France	Unknown
—	Otto Wahle	Austria	DNS

Results summary

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Semifinals	Final	Notes
	Frederick Lane	Australia	2:59.0	2:25.2
	Zoltán Halmay	Hungary	2:38.0	2:31.4
	Karl Ruberl	Austria	2:22.6	2:32.0	OR
4	Robert Crawshaw	Great Britain	2:40.0	2:45.6
5	Maurice Hochepied	France	2:48.0	2:53.0
6	Frederick Stapleton	Great Britain	2:47.0	2:55.0
7	Jules Clévenot	France	3:05.0	2:56.2
8	Julius Frey	Germany	2:50.4	2:58.2
9	Louis Martin	France	2:47.4	Unknown
10	Otto Wahle	Austria	2:35.6	DNS
11	Peter Kemp	Great Britain	2:51.0	Did not advance
12	Erik Eriksson	Sweden	3:05.8
13	Herman Alexander de By	Netherlands	3:10.4
14	R. Féret	France	3:12.2
15	René Tartara	France	3:13.0
16	Victor Cadet	France	3:24.0
17	Paolo Bussetti	Italy	3:35.0
18	Fred Hendschel	United States	3:42.0
19	Victor Hochepied	France	3:46.6
20	Texier	France	3:47.0
21	Pierre Peyrusson	France	3:47.6
22	A. Adam	France	4:28.0
23	Richard von Foregger	Austria	4:32.0
24	Ronaux	France	4:36.4
25	Jacques Léauté	France	4:39.4
26	Pujol	France	DNF