Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle was one of the four swimming events on the Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The 100 metre freestyle race was the first of the swimming events. Six swimmers entered the race: the two competitors from Austria-Hungary finished first and second, though there is no record of the places of the other four competitors.

Alfréd Hajós of Hungary beat Otto Herschmann of Austria by half a metre in a close contest, with the other swimmers far behind. While the Hungarian flag was hoisted, the band began to play the Austrian anthem (Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser) until the Hungarian sang the Hungarian anthem (Himnusz).

Background
This was the first appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres.

Alfréd Hajós was the 1895 European champion.

Competition format
The 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. Buoys marked the starting line, hollow pumpkins (which tended to move) marked the course, and a red flag marked the finish line.

Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1896 Summer Olympics.


 * unofficial

The following record was established during the competition:

Schedule
The 100 metres freestyle was the first of the swimming events.