100 metre freestyle explained

The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event)[1] of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics, symbolizing the pinnacle of speed and athleticism in swimming competitions. [2]

The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1922.[3] The current world records holders are Pan Zhanle who broke the record in Paris 2024 Olympics [4] and Sarah Sjöström (since 2017).

Australian Dawn Fraser won the event a record three times at the Olympics, and she is the only woman to win it more than once. Four men, American Duke Kahanamoku, Weissmuller, Russian Alexander Popov, and Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband won the event at the Olympics twice. Popov was also world champion (held since 1973) three times.

Men's champions

Olympic Games

EditionWinnerTimeNotes
Athens 18961:22.2
Paris 1900align=center colspan=3 bgcolor=lightgreynot held
St. Louis 1904align=center colspan=3 bgcolor=lightgreythe race was 100 yards, not 100 meters
London 19081:05.6
Stockholm 19121:03.4
Antwerp 19201:01.4
Paris 192459.0
Amsterdam 192858.6
58.2[5]
Berlin 193657.6
London 194857.3
Helsinki 195257.4
Melbourne 195655.4
Rome 196055.2
Tokyo 196453.4
Mexico City 196852.2
Munich 197251.22
Montreal 197649.99
Moscow 198050.40
Los Angeles 198449.80
Seoul 198848.63
Barcelona 199249.02
Atlanta 199648.74
Sydney 200048.30
Athens 200448.17
Beijing 200847.21
London 201247.52
Rio de Janeiro 201647.58
Tokyo 202047.02
Paris 202446.40

World Championships

EditionWinnerTimeNotes
Belgrade 197351.70[6]
Cali 197551.25
Berlin 197850.24
Guayaquil 198250.18
Madrid 198648.94
Perth 199149.18
Roma 199449.12
Perth 199848.93
Fukuoka 200148.33
Barcelona 200348.42
Montreal 200548.12
Melbourne 2007
48.43
Rome 200946.91
Shanghai 201147.63
Barcelona 201347.71
Kazan 201547.84
Budapest 201747.17
Gwanju 201946.96
Budapest 202247.58
Fukuoka 202347.15
Doha 202447.53

Women's champions

Olympic Games

EditionWinnerTimeNotes
Stockholm 19121:22.2
Antwerp 19201:13.6
Paris 19241:12.4
Amsterdam 19281:11.0
1:06.8
Berlin 19361:05.9
London 19481:06.3
Helsinki 19521:06.8
Melbourne 19561:02.0
Rome 19601:01.2
Tokyo 196459.5
Mexico City 19681:00.0
Munich 197258.59
Montreal 197655.65
Moscow 198054.79
Los Angeles 198455.92
Seoul 198854.93
Barcelona 199254.65
Atlanta 199654.50
Sydney 200053.83
Athens 200453.84
Beijing 200853.12
London 201253.00
Rio de Janeiro 201652.70
Tokyo 202051.96
Paris 202452.16

World Championships

EditionWinnerTimeNotes
Belgrade 197357.54
Cali 197556.50
Berlin 197855.68
Guayaquil 198255.79
Madrid 198655.05
Perth 199155.17
Roma 199454.01
Perth 199854.95
Fukuoka 200154.18
Barcelona 200354.37
Montreal 200554.18
Melbourne 200753.40
Rome 200952.07
Shanghai 201153.45
Barcelona 201352.34
Kazan 201552.52
Budapest 201752.27
Gwanju 201952.04
Budapest 202252.67
Fukuoka 202352.16
Doha 202452.26

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: James Magnussen fuming after finishing second to Cameron McEvoy in 100m freestyle event . Todd . Balym . April 7, 2015 . . August 2, 2016 .
  2. Petru . Banias . 2011 . Study on reduction of swimming speed in relation to age, in freestyle men events, in masters swimming . Procedia, social and behavioral science . 1 . 1 . 238.
  3. Web site: Swimming World Record progression – Men 100 m freestyle. 8 July 2004. International Olympic Committee. https://web.archive.org/web/20070926232546/http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_212.pdf. 26 September 2007.
  4. Web site: Ed . Mackey . 2024 . Swimming: New world record as Pan Zhanle wins gold! .
  5. The Olympic Record was broken in the previous round.
  6. The Championship's Record was broken in the previous round.