Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 4000 metre freestyle

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Men's 4000 metre freestyle
at the Games of the II Olympiad
Gold medalist John Arthur Jarvis
VenueRiver Seine
DatesAugust 15 (semifinals)
August 19 (final)
Competitors29 from 7 nations
Winning time58:24.0 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) John Arthur Jarvis
 Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Zoltán Halmay
 Hungary
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Louis Martin
 France

The men's 4000 metre freestyle was an event on the Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics schedule in Paris. It was the longest of the three freestyle events. It was held on 15 August and 19 August 1900. 29 swimmers from 7 nations competed. The event was won by John Arthur Jarvis of Great Britain, completing a double with the 1000 metre freestyle. Zoltán Halmay of Hungary took silver, with Louis Martin of France earning bronze.

Jarvis swam using the front crawl; Halmay used the Trudgen stroke.

Background

The 4000 metre freestyle event was held only once, and was the longest Olympic swimming event until the 10 kilometre open water event was introduced in 2008.

John Arthur Jarvis was the dominant long distance swimmer of the time and a heavy favourite in this event. He was in the midst of a run of British titles in the 880 yard (1898-1901), mile (1897-1902) and long-distance (1898-1904).

Competition format

The competition used a two-round format, with semifinals and a final. The entrants were divided into three semifinals; each semifinal had between 9 and 11 swimmers. The fastest swimmer in each semifinal advanced to the final along with the next six fastest times overall. This resulted in a 9-swimmer final.

The races were swum downstream in the Seine.

Schedule

Date Time Round
Thursday, 15 August 1900 7:30 Semifinals
Monday, 19 August 1900 15:30 Final

Results

Semifinals

In the first round, there were three semifinals. The winner of each semifinal advanced to the final, as did the six fastest losers from across all the semifinals. The semifinals were held on 15 August.

Semifinal 1

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 John Arthur Jarvis  Great Britain 1:01:48.4 Q, OR
2 Bill Burgess  Great Britain 1:15:04.8 q
3 Louis Martin  France 1:22:29.6 q
4 Alois Anderlé  Austria 1:26:25.6 q
5 Lagarde  France 1:38:31.8
6 de Romand  France 1:50:36.4
7 Fumouze  France 2:02:27.0
Hermand  Belgium DNF
Georges Leuillieux  France DNF

Semifinal 2

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Zoltán Halmay  Hungary 1:11:33.4 Q
2 Eduard Meijer  Netherlands 1:17:55.4 q
3 William Henry  Great Britain 1:22:58.4 q
4 Texier  France 1:31:02.8
5 Kobierski  France 1:37:10.4
6 Lué  France 1:46:40.4
L. Baudoin  France DNF
Gallais  France DNF
Landrich  France DNF

Semifinal 3

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Fabio Maioni  Italy 1:25:16.6 Q
2 Ernest Martin  France 1:28:32.6 q
3 Louis Laufray  France 1:35:03.2
4 Mortier  France 1:40:16.8
Jules Clévenot  France DNF
Pierre Gellé  France DNF
Heyberger  France DNF
E. T. Jones  Great Britain DNF
Loppé  France DNF
Regnault  France DNF
Vallée  France DNF

Final

The final was held on 19 August. Jarvis won easily, more than ten minutes ahead of Halmay.

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) John Arthur Jarvis  Great Britain 58:24.0 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Zoltán Halmay  Hungary 1:08:55.4
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Louis Martin  France 1:13:08.4
4 Bill Burgess  Great Britain 1:15:07.6
5 Eduard Meijer  Netherlands 1:16:37.2
6 Fabio Maioni  Italy 1:18:25.4
7 Ernest Martin  France 1:26:32.2
Alois Anderlé  Austria DNF
William Henry  Great Britain DNF

Results summary

Rank Swimmer Nation Semifinals Final Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) John Arthur Jarvis  Great Britain 1:01:48.4 58:24.0 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Zoltán Halmay  Hungary 1:11:33.4 1:08:55.4
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Louis Martin  France 1:22:29.6 1:13:08.4
4 Bill Burgess  Great Britain 1:15:04.8 1:15:07.6
5 Eduard Meijer  Netherlands 1:17:55.4 1:16:37.2
6 Fabio Maioni  Italy 1:25:16.6 1:18:25.4
7 Ernest Martin  France 1:28:32.6 1:26:32.2
8 Alois Anderlé  Austria 1:26:25.6 DNF
William Henry  Great Britain 1:22:58.4 DNF
10 Texier  France 1:31:02.8 Did not advance
11 Louis Laufray  France 1:35:03.2
12 Kobierski  France 1:37:10.4
13 Lagarde  France 1:38:31.8
14 Mortier  France 1:40:16.8
15 Lué  France 1:46:40.4
16 de Romand  France 1:50:36.4
17 Fumouze  France 2:02:27.0
L. Baudoin  France DNF
Jules Clévenot  France DNF
Gallais  France DNF
Pierre Gellé  France DNF
Heyberger  France DNF
Hermand  Belgium DNF
E. T. Jones  Great Britain DNF
Landrich  France DNF
Georges Leuillieux  France DNF
Loppé  France DNF
Regnault  France DNF
Vallée  France DNF

References

  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's 4,000 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e "4,000 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 July 2021.