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Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

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Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Michael Wenden
VenueAlberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez
Date18–19 October
Competitors64 from 34 nations
Winning time52.2 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Michael Wenden
 Australia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ken Walsh
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mark Spitz
 United States
← 1964
1972 →

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between 18 and 19 October.[1] There were 64 competitors from 34 nations.[2] Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games (except in 1960, when the limit was two). The event was won by Michael Wenden of Australia, the nation's third victory in four Games (tied for second-most all-time with Hungary behind the United States' eight). Americans Ken Walsh and Mark Spitz took silver and bronze, respectively.

Background

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This was the 15th 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.[2]

One of the eight finalists from the 1964 Games returned: silver medalist Bobby McGregor of Great Britain. The favorite coming into the Games was Zac Zorn, who had matched the world record at the U.S. trials. However, Zorn had struggled the week before the competition with illness. His teammates, Ken Walsh (whose record it was that Zorn had tied) and young butterfly specialist Mark Spitz, were strong contenders, as was McGregor (who had won the European championship).[2]

Barbados, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ireland, Jamaica, Lebanon, and Trinidad and Tobago each made their debut in the event; West Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States made its 15th appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.

Competition format

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The competition used a three-round (heats, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 9 heats of between 6 and 8 swimmers each. The top 24 swimmers advanced to the semifinals. There were 3 semifinals of 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1968 Summer Olympics.

World record  Ken Walsh (USA) 52.6 Winnipeg, Canada 27 July 1967
Olympic record  Don Schollander (USA) 53.4 Tokyo, Japan 12 October 1964

Zac Zorn matched the Olympic record in the second semifinal; Michael Wenden beat it in the third with 52.9 seconds. Wenden dropped the record again, to 52.2 seconds, in the final; all three medalists beat the old record time.

Schedule

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All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

Date Time Round
Friday, 18 October 1968 10:00
17:00
Heats
Semifinals
Saturday, 19 October 1968 17:00 Final

Results

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Heats

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There were 9 heats in this category. The 24 fastest swimmers from the heats advanced to the semifinals.

Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 8 Mike Wenden  Australia 53.6 Q
2 4 Zac Zorn  United States 54.2 Q
3 7 Georgijs Kuļikovs  Soviet Union 54.3 Q
4 2 Luis Nicolao  Argentina 54.6 Q
5 Mark Spitz  United States 54.6 Q
6 6 Sergey Gusev  Soviet Union 54.8 Q
8 Bob Windle  Australia 54.8 Q
8 5 José Antonio Chicoy  Spain 54.9 Q
3 Leonid Ilyichov  Soviet Union 54.9 Q
1 Michel Rousseau  France 54.9 Q
11 4 Wolfgang Kremer  West Germany 55.0 Q
12 4 Gábor Kucsera  Hungary 55.1 Q
2 Bobby McGregor  Great Britain 55.1 Q
14 1 Lester Eriksson  Sweden 55.2 Q
15 6 John Gilchrist  Canada 55.4 Q
2 Greg Rogers  Australia 55.4 Q
17 3 Kunihiro Iwasaki  Japan 55.5 Q
5 François Simons  Belgium 55.5 Q
19 7 Pietro Boscaini  Italy 55.7 Q
3 Gary Goodner  Puerto Rico 55.7 Q
9 Ken Walsh  United States 55.7 Q
22 5 Roosevelt Abdulgafur  Philippines 55.8 Q
8 Michael Turner  Great Britain 55.8 Q
7 Olaf, Baron von Schilling  West Germany 55.8 Q
25 8 Glen Finch  Canada 56.0
26 8 José Ferraioli  Puerto Rico 56.1
27 7 Luis Ayesa  Philippines 56.2
1 Bernard Gruener  France 56.2
1 Pano Capéronis  Switzerland 56.2
30 1 Ørjan Madsen  Norway 56.3
31 7 Salvador Ruiz  Mexico 56.4
5 Carlos van der Maath  Argentina 56.4
33 3 Rafaél Cal  Mexico 56.5
9 Anthony Jarvis  Great Britain 56.5
9 Masayuki Osawa  Japan 56.5
36 4 Csaba Csatlós  Hungary 56.6
37 2 José Aranha  Brazil 56.8
38 9 Peter Schorning  West Germany 56.9
39 8 Ricardo González  Colombia 57.0
2 Mario Santibáñez  Mexico 57.0
41 3 Peter Schmid  Austria 57.1
42 9 Amnon Krauz  Israel 57.2
9 Gérard Letast  France 57.2
44 6 Michele D'Oppido  Italy 57.3
45 4 Herman Verbauwen  Belgium 57.5
46 3 Ronnie Wong  Hong Kong 58.0
47 5 Angus Edghill  Barbados 58.1
48 6 Gregorio Fiallo  Cuba 58.2
5 Michael Goodner  Puerto Rico 58.2
50 9 Guðmundur Gíslason  Iceland 58.6
3 Fernando González  Costa Rica 58.6
52 6 Geoffrey Ferreira  Trinidad and Tobago 58.9
53 7 Paul Nash  Jamaica 59.0
4 Federico Sicard  Colombia 59.0
55 1 Donnacha O'Dea  Ireland 59.5
56 5 Salvador Vilanova  El Salvador 59.6
57 7 José Martínez  Cuba 1:00.4
58 4 Yacoub Masboungi  Lebanon 1:00.5
59 2 Andrew Loh  Hong Kong 1:00.7
60 1 Lee Tong-shing  Taiwan 1:01.0
61 6 Robert Loh  Hong Kong 1:01.1
62 1 José Alvarado  El Salvador 1:02.0
63 9 Ernesto Durón  El Salvador 1:03.8
64 2 Luis Aguilar  Costa Rica 1:04.5

Semifinals

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The 8 fastest swimmers advanced to the final. Zorn matched the previous Olympic record of 53.4 seconds in semifinal 2 before Wenden broke that record with a 52.9 second time in semifinal 3.

Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 3 Mike Wenden  Australia 52.9 Q, OR
2 2 Zac Zorn  United States 53.4 Q, =OR
3 1 Leonid Ilyichov  Soviet Union 53.8 Q
1 Bobby McGregor  Great Britain 53.8 Q
2 Luis Nicolao  Argentina 53.8 Q
3 Mark Spitz  United States 53.8 Q
7 2 Ken Walsh  United States 53.9 Q
8 1 Georgijs Kuļikovs  Soviet Union 54.1 Q
9 2 Wolfgang Kremer  West Germany 54.3
10 3 Michel Rousseau  France 54.5
11 3 Bob Windle  Australia 54.6
12 3 John Gilchrist  Canada 54.8
1 Greg Rogers  Australia 54.8
14 2 José Antonio Chicoy  Spain 54.9
15 3 Gábor Kucsera  Hungary 55.0
16 2 Lester Eriksson  Sweden 55.2
1 Sergey Gusev  Soviet Union 55.2
18 2 François Simons  Belgium 55.3
19 3 Pietro Boscaini  Italy 55.6
3 Michael Turner  Great Britain 55.6
21 1 Gary Goodner  Puerto Rico 55.8
1 Kunihiro Iwasaki  Japan 55.8
23 2 Roosevelt Abdulgafur  Philippines 55.9
1 Olaf, Baron von Schilling  West Germany 55.9

Final

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Zorn lead the field at the 50 metre turn, but weakened by a week long illness, faded and finished last.[3]

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mike Wenden  Australia 52.2 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ken Walsh  United States 52.8
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mark Spitz  United States 53.0
4 Bobby McGregor  Great Britain 53.5
5 Leonid Ilyichov  Soviet Union 53.8
6 Georgijs Kuļikovs  Soviet Union 53.8
7 Luis Nicolao  Argentina 53.9
8 Zac Zorn  United States 53.9

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 396. ISBN 0140066322.
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