Swimming at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1932 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the eighth appearance of the event, which had not been featured only at the 1900 Games. The competition was held from Saturday August 6, 1932 to Sunday August 7, 1932. Twenty-two swimmers from ten nations competed. Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games. The event was won by Yasuji Miyazaki of Japan, snapping a five-Games American win streak. Japan was only the third nation to win a gold medal in the event (Hungary had won the first two, the United States the next five). The final was entirely made up of Japanese and American swimmers, three each; Japan took the top two places as Tatsugo Kawaishi earned silver. The top American, Albert Schwartz, earned bronze. While the American win streak had ended at five, the nation's podium streak ran to seven Games.

Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the X Olympiad
Yasuji Miyazaki
VenueLA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium
Dates6–7 August
Competitors22 from 10 nations
Winning time58.2
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Yasuji Miyazaki
 Japan
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Tatsugo Kawaishi
 Japan
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Albert Schwartz
 United States
← 1928
1936 →

Background

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This was the eighth 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]

Two of the seven finalists from 1928 returned: silver medalist István Bárány of Hungary and sixth-place finisher Walter Spence of Canada. Two-time gold medalist Johnny Weissmuller of the United States had retired to focus on his acting career; Tarzan the Ape Man was released earlier in 1932. The American swimming team remained strong. Japan, however, also had an impressive team, led by 15-year-old Yasuji Miyazaki.[2]

The Philippines made its debut in the event. The United States made its eighth appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.

Competition format

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This freestyle swimming competition used a three-round (quarterfinals, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule was a modification of the one used since 1912, allowing the top swimmers in each race plus one or more wild cards to advance. For this event, the top two in each preliminary heat plus the fastest third-place swimmer would advance to the semifinals; the top three in each semifinal would move on to the final. There were 4 heats of between 5 and 6 swimmers, allowing 9 swimmers to advance to the semifinals. The 2 semifinals had 4 or 5 swimmers each; 6 advanced to the final.

Each race involved two lengths of the 50-metre pool.

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1932 Summer Olympics.

World record   Johnny Weissmuller (USA) 57.4 Miami, United States 17 February 1924
Olympic record   Johnny Weissmuller (USA) 58.6 Amsterdam, Netherlands 11 August 1928

Saturday August 6, 1932: In the first semifinal Yasuji Miyazaki set a new Olympic record with 58.0 seconds.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Saturday, 6 August 1932 9:00
15:30
Heats
Semifinals
Sunday, 7 August 1932 15:30 Final

Results

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Heats

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The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced to the final.

Heat 1

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Manuella Kalili   United States 59.6 Q
2 István Bárány   Hungary 1:00.4 Q
3 Munroe Bourne   Canada 1:01.1
4 Reginald Sutton   Great Britain 1:02.9
5 Leopoldo Tahier   Argentina 1:05.3
6 Manoel Villar   Brazil 1:08.4

Heat 2

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Walter Spence   Canada 59.3 Q
2 Albert Schwartz   United States 59.6 Q
3 Tatsugo Kawaishi   Japan 59.8 q
4 András Wanié   Hungary 1:02.8
5 Mostyn Ffrench-Williams   Great Britain 1:05.9

Heat 3

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Zenjiro Takahashi   Japan 59.5 Q
2 Raymond Thompson   United States 1:02.0 Q
3 Alfredo Rocca   Argentina 1:04.2
4 Joseph Whiteside   Great Britain 1:04.7
5 Eskil Lundahl   Sweden 1:06.2
6 João Pereira   Brazil 1:08.2

Heat 4

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Yasuji Miyazaki   Japan 58.7 Q
2 András Székely   Hungary 1:01.5 Q
3 Abdurahman Ali   Philippines 1:02.2
4 Noel Ryan   Australia 1:02.9
5 Robert Halloran   Canada 1:06.9

Semifinals

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The fastest three in each semi-final advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Yasuji Miyazaki   Japan 58.0 Q, OR
2 Raymond Thompson   United States 59.3 Q
3 Manuella Kalili   United States 59.3 Q
4 István Bárány   Hungary 59.4
5 András Székely   Hungary 1:01.4

Semifinal 2

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Tatsugo Kawaishi   Japan 59.0 Q
2 Albert Schwartz   United States 59.2 Q
3 Zenjiro Takahashi   Japan 59.5 Q
4 Walter Spence   Canada 59.6

Final

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Sunday August 7, 1932:

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
  Yasuji Miyazaki   Japan 58.2
  Tatsugo Kawaishi   Japan 58.6
  Albert Schwartz   United States 58.8
4 Manuella Kalili   United States 59.2
5 Zenjiro Takahashi   Japan 59.2
6 Raymond Thompson   United States 59.5

Results summary

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Rank Swimmer Nation Heats Semifinals Final Notes
  Yasuji Miyazaki   Japan 58.7 58.0 58.2 OR
  Tatsugo Kawaishi   Japan 59.8 59.0 58.6
  Albert Schwartz   United States 59.6 59.2 58.8
4 Manuella Kalili   United States 59.6 59.3 59.2
5 Zenjiro Takahashi   Japan 59.5 59.5 59.2
6 Raymond Thompson   United States 1:02.0 59.3 59.5
7 István Bárány   Hungary 1:00.4 59.4 Did not advance
8 Walter Spence   Canada 59.3 59.6 Did not advance
9 András Székely   Hungary 1:01.5 1:01.4 Did not advance
10 Munroe Bourne   Canada 1:01.1 Did not advance
11 Abdurahman Ali   Philippines 1:02.2 Did not advance
12 András Wanié   Hungary 1:02.8 Did not advance
13 Noel Ryan   Australia 1:02.9 Did not advance
Reginald Sutton   Great Britain 1:02.9 Did not advance
15 Alfredo Rocca   Argentina 1:04.2 Did not advance
16 Joseph Whiteside   Great Britain 1:04.7 Did not advance
17 Leopoldo Tahier   Argentina 1:05.3 Did not advance
18 Mostyn Ffrench-Williams   Great Britain 1:05.9 Did not advance
19 Eskil Lundahl   Sweden 1:06.2 Did not advance
20 Robert Halloran   Canada 1:06.9 Did not advance
21 João Pereira   Brazil 1:08.2 Did not advance
22 Manoel Villar   Brazil 1:08.4 Did not advance

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
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