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

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.[1] 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.

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

Jarvis swam using the front crawl; Halmay used the Trudgen stroke.[2]

Background edit

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.[2]

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).[2]

Competition format edit

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.[2]

The races were swum downstream in the Seine.[2]

Schedule edit

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

Results edit

Semifinals edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
  John Arthur Jarvis   Great Britain 58:24.0 OR
  Zoltán Halmay   Hungary 1:08:55.4
  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 edit

Rank Swimmer Nation Semifinals Final Notes
  John Arthur Jarvis   Great Britain 1:01:48.4 58:24.0 OR
  Zoltán Halmay   Hungary 1:11:33.4 1:08:55.4
  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 edit

  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.