1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 100m Freestyle (Men)
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sport | swim | ||||||||
discipline | 100 meters freestyle | ||||||||
gender | Men | ||||||||
Attendees | 34 athletes from 19 nations | ||||||||
Competition location | Olympic Swimming Stadium | ||||||||
Competition phase | November 29-30, 1956 | ||||||||
Winning time | 55.4 s ![]() |
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![]() 1956 Olympic Games |
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100 m freestyle | Women | Men |
400 m freestyle | Women | Men |
1500 m freestyle | Men | |
200 m chest | Women | Men |
100 m back | Women | Men |
100 m butterfly | Women | |
200 m butterfly | Men | |
4 × 100 m freestyle | Women | |
4 × 200 m freestyle | Men |
The competition over 100m freestyle men at the 1956 Olympic Games in the Australian city of Melbourne on 29 and 30 November in the Stadium Swimming and Diving discharged.
Participating Nations
A total of 34 swimmers from 19 nations took part in the competition.
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Japan (3)
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Canada (1)
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Colombia (1)
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Philippines (1)
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Soviet Union (2)
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South African Union (3)
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Hungary (1)
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United States (3)
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Great Britain (2)
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Existing records
World record |
Dick Cleveland ( United States )
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54.8 s | Rome , Italy | April 1, 1954 * |
Olympic record |
Walter Ris ( United States )
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57.3 s | London , UK | July 31, 1948 * |
* before rule change
Prelims
There were five preliminary runs. The 16 fastest swimmers of all heats qualified for the two semi-finals.
Forward 1
rank | Surname | nation | time |
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1 | Jon Henricks |
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57.3 s |
2 | Dick Hanley |
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57.8 s |
3 | Billy Steuart |
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59.2 s |
4th | Lev Balandin |
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59.6 s |
5 | Hans Koehler |
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59.8 s |
5 | Karri Käyhkö |
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59.8 s |
7th | André Laurent |
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1: 00.7 min |
Forward 2
rank | Surname | nation | time |
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1 | Manabu Koga |
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57.7 s |
2 | Aldo Eminent |
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58.0 s |
3 | Vitaly Sorokin |
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58.6 s |
4th | Cheung Kin Man |
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59.8 s |
5 | Horst Bleeker |
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1: 00.1 min |
6th | Sergio Martínez |
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1: 00.2 min |
7th | Peter Duncan |
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1: 00.4 min |
Forward 3
rank | Surname | nation | time |
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1 | John Devitt |
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57.2 s |
2 | Paolo Pucci |
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58.3 s |
3 | Hiroshi Suzuki |
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58.4 s |
3 | Paul Voell |
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58.4 s |
5 | Kenneth Williams |
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59.4 s |
6th | Dennis Ford |
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59.5 s |
7th | Sri Chand Bajaj |
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1: 01.6 min |
Forward 4
Reid Patterson set a new Olympic record with 56.8 s .
Third place went to the then 26-year-old Italian Carlo Pedersoli , who a few years later started an extremely successful career as a film actor and became known to a wide audience under his stage name Bud Spencer .
rank | Surname | nation | time |
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1 | Reid Patterson |
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56.8 s |
2 | Atsushi Tani |
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57.1 s |
3 | Carlo Pedersoli |
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58.5 s |
4th | Haroldo Lara |
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59.9 s |
5 | Habib Nasution |
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1: 00.1 min |
6th | Alex Jany |
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1: 00.2 min |
Forward 5
rank | Surname | nation | time |
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1 | Gary Chapman |
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57.8 s |
2 | Bill Woolsey |
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58.2 s |
3 | Ronald Roberts |
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58.3 s |
4th | Gyula Dobay |
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58.5 s |
5 | George Park |
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58.8 s |
6th | Dakula Arabani |
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1: 00.2 min |
7th | Wan Shiu Ming |
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1: 00.7 min |
Semifinals
There were two semi-finals. The eight fastest swimmers qualified for the final.
John Devitt improved the Olympic record set by Reid Patterson in the fourth run in the second semi-final by two tenths of a second to 56.4 s.
Semi-final 1
rank | Surname | nation | time |
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1 | Jon Henricks |
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55.7 s |
2 | Dick Hanley |
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56.9 s |
3 | Atsushi Tani |
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57.4 s |
4th | Aldo Eminent |
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58.0 s |
5 | Hiroshi Suzuki |
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58.0 s |
6th | Vitaly Sorokin |
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58.2 s |
7th | Paolo Pucci |
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58.8 s |
8th | Carlo Pedersoli |
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59.0 s |
Semi-final 2
rank | Surname | nation | time |
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1 | John Devitt |
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56.4 s |
2 | Gary Chapman |
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56.9 s |
3 | Reid Patterson |
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57.1 s |
4th | Bill Woolsey |
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58.0 s |
5 | Gyula Dobay |
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58.1 s |
6th | Manabu Koga |
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58.1 s |
7th | Paul Voell |
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58.6 s |
8th | Ronald Roberts |
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58.9 s |
final
Jon Henricks set a new Olympic record and a new world record with a winning time of 55.4 seconds .
rank | Surname | nation | time |
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Jon Henricks |
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55.4 s ( WR ) |
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John Devitt |
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55.8 s |
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Gary Chapman |
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56.7 s |
4th | Reid Patterson |
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57.2 s |
5 | Dick Hanley |
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57.6 s |
6th | Bill Woolsey |
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57.6 s |
7th | Atsushi Tani |
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58.0 s |
8th | Aldo Eminent |
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58.1 s |
Web links
- 1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 100 m freestyle in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. Die Chronik II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 , p. 462 ff .: Due to the time advantages when turning, the majority of the previous records came from competitions in a 25-meter Pool. On the one under 1956 Olympics conducted FINA -Congress was finally determined that records from May 1, 1957 found only on the long course (50 meters or 55 yards) official recognition. Previously dated (long-course) top marks - primarily achieved in Melbourne's Olympic basin - were subsequently recognized as the first official 50-m-course world record if they were no longer undercut on the short course by the specified date.