The men's 500 meter freestyle swimming competition at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens was held on April 11th. The competition took place in the Bay of Zea . The Hungarian Alfréd Hajós was the Olympic champion by a large margin . The Greek Ioannis Andreou took second place and won silver.
The swimmers were brought out to sea with a ship, where the start was between two buoys. The athletes swam to the bank, where the finish line was marked with a red flag.
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Hungary
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Greece
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United States
Austria