The men's 100 metre freestyle

Freestyle swimming

Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...

was a swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 event held as part of the swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics

At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, eleven swimming events were contested, six for men and five for women. The competitions were held from Sunday July 13, 1924 to Sunday July 20, 1924.There were 169 participants from 23 countries competing...

 programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which had not been featured at the 1900 Games. The competition was held on Saturday July 19, 1924 and on Sunday July 20, 1924.

Thirty swimmers from 15 nations competed.

Medalists

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

World Record	0:57.4	Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...	Miami Miami, Florida Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...  (USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... )	February 17, 1924
Olympic Record	1:00.4(*)	Duke Kahanamoku Duke Kahanamoku Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer, actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.-Early years:The name "Duke" is not a title, but a given name...	Antwerp (BEL Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... )	August 24, 1920
	1:01.4(*)	Duke Kahanamoku Duke Kahanamoku Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer, actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.-Early years:The name "Duke" is not a title, but a given name...	Antwerp (BEL Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... )	August 23, 1920
	1:01.4(*)	Duke Kahanamoku Duke Kahanamoku Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer, actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.-Early years:The name "Duke" is not a title, but a given name...	Antwerp (BEL Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... )	August 29, 1920

(*) Duke Kahanamoku

Duke Kahanamoku

Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku was a Hawaiian swimmer, actor, lawman, early beach volleyball player and businessman credited with spreading the sport of surfing. He was a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming.-Early years:The name "Duke" is not a title, but a given name...

 swam 1:00.4 minutes in the first final, which was ordered to re-swim. In the second final he recorded 1:01.4, the same time as six days earlier in the semi-final.

In the second semi-final Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...

set a new Olympic record with 1:00.8 minutes. In the final he bettered this record with a time of 59.0 seconds

Heats

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

Heat 1

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:04.2	QQ
2		1:04.2	QQ
3		1:05.4
4		1:08.2
5		1:11.6

Heat 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:03.2	QQ
2		1:03.8	QQ
3		1:04.2	qq
4		1:05.0
5		1:06.0
6		1:10.2

Heat 3

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:06.2	QQ
2		1:08.2	QQ
3		1:13.2
4		1:15.0

Heat 4

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:04.0	QQ
2		1:06.0	QQ
3		1:07.0
4		1:08.0
5		1:11.8

Heat 5

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:03.8	QQ
2		1:05.2	QQ
3		1:06.8
4		1:07.2
5		1:14.2

Heat 6

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:05.4	QQ
2		1:08.4	QQ
3		1:11.8
4		1:12.0
5		1:12.2

Semifinals

The fastest two in each semi-final and the faster of the two third-placed swimmer advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:01.6	QF
2		1:02.2	QF
3		1:02.4	qf
4		1:02.6
5		1:06.0
6		1:08.0
—		DNS

Semifinal 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:00.8	QF OR
2		1:02.6	QF
3		1:03.0
4		1:05.0
5		1:06.0
6		1:07.6

Final

Place	Swimmer	Time
1		59.0 OR
2		1:01.4
3		1:01.8
4		1:02.0
5		1:03.0