Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's sailors 100 metre freestyle

The men's sailors 100 metre freestyle was one of the four swimming events on the Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The second swimming race was open only to sailors of the Greek Royal Navy. Eleven entered but only three actually took part in the event.[1] The winning time was nearly a minute slower than that of the open 100 metre freestyle.[2]

Men's 100 metre freestyle for sailors
at the Games of the I Olympiad
Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics
VenueBay of Zea
DateApril 11
Competitors3 from 1 nation
Winning time2:20.4
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ioannis Malokinis
 Greece
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Spyridon Chazapis
 Greece
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Dimitrios Drivas
 Greece

Background

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This was the only appearance of an event limited to Greek Royal Navy sailors. The exclusionary nature of this race is a rare phenomenon in the Olympic Games, which in general include only events open to all competitors; Bill Mallon, in his book about the 1896 Games, says of the event that "its inclusion in the Olympic records is dubious at best",[3] a statement which is directly repeated on Olympedia.[1] However, the competition is included in the International Olympic Committee's database of Olympic medalists,[4] and there is no record of Pierre de Coubertin or any other major figure in the beginning of the modern Olympic movement objecting to the consideration of the race as Olympic.

Competition format

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This freestyle swimming competition involved a single race, with all swimmers competing at the same time. The swimmers were taken out by ship into the bay, where they would swim toward shore.[5][6]

Schedule

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The 100 metre freestyle for sailors was the second of the swimming events, held shortly after the open 100 metre freestyle.[5]

Date Time Round
Gregorian Julian
Saturday, 11 April 1896 Saturday, 30 March 1896 11:00 Final

Results

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time
  Ioannis Malokinis   Greece 2:20.4
  Spyridon Chazapis   Greece Unknown
  Dimitrios Drivas   Greece Unknown

References

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  1. ^ a b "Olympedia – 100 metres Freestyle For Sailors, Men". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Olympedia – 100 metres Freestyle, Men". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  3. ^ Mallon, Bill; Widlund, Ture (1997). The 1896 Olympic Games: results for all competitors in all events, with commentary (1st ed.). Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-7864-4065-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. ^ "Athens 1896 100m freestyle for sailors men Results - Olympic swimming". Olympics.com. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b Official Report, part 2, p. 96.
  6. ^ "Athens 1896 Swimming 100m Freestyle for Sailors Men Result". Olympics.com. Retrieved 3 September 2021.