The men's 100 metre freestyle was one of six 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...

 events on the swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics

At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, six swimming events were contested. These were the first Olympic Games in which a 100 metre pool had been especially constructed . Previous Olympic events were swum in open water...

 programme. It was the shortest of the three individual freestyle events, as the 50 yard freestyle had been dropped after its one appearance on the 1904 Summer Olympics

1904 Summer Olympics

The 1904 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the III Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States from 1 July 1904, to November 23, 1904, at what is now known as Francis Field on the campus of Washington University...

 programme. The 100 metre event was contested for the third time after it had been held at the 1896 and 1906 Olympics. The 1904 Olympics saw a 100 yard event. The competition was held on Friday July 17, 1908 and Monday July 20, 1908.

Thirty-four swimmers from twelve nations competed.

These were the first Olympic Games in which a 100 metre pool had been especially constructed (inside the main stadium's track and field oval). Previous Olympic events were swum in open water (1896: The Mediterranean Sea, 1900: The Seine River, 1904: an artificial lake).

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.

World Record	1:05.8	Zoltán Halmay Zoltán Halmay Zoltán Halmay was a Hungarian Olympic swimmer. He competed in four Olympics , winning the following medals:* 1900: silver , bronze * 1904: gold...	Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...  (AUT Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the... )	December 3, 1905
Olympic Record	1:22.2	Alfréd Hajós Alfréd Hajós Alfréd Hajós was a Hungarian swimmer and architect. He was the first modern Olympic swimming champion and the first Olympic champion of Hungary.-Biography:...	Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...  (GRE Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... )	April 11, 1896 (NS Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter... )
	1:13.0(*)	Charles Daniels Charles Daniels (swimmer) Charles Meldrum "Charlie" Daniels is a former American swimmer and eight-time Olympic medalist. Daniels was an innovator of the front crawl swimming style, inventing the "American crawl".-Career:Daniels began his swimming career with the New York Athletic Club in 1903...	Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...  (GRE Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... )	April 26, 1906 (NS Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter... )
	1:02.8(**)	Zoltán Halmay Zoltán Halmay Zoltán Halmay was a Hungarian Olympic swimmer. He competed in four Olympics , winning the following medals:* 1900: silver , bronze * 1904: gold...	St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...  (USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... )	September 5, 1904

(*) Intercalated Games

(**) 100 yards (91.44 m)

In the first heat Zoltán Halmay

Zoltán Halmay

Zoltán Halmay was a Hungarian Olympic swimmer. He competed in four Olympics , winning the following medals:* 1900: silver , bronze * 1904: gold...

 set a new Olympic record with 1:08.2. In the fifth heat Charles Daniels

Charles Daniels (swimmer)

Charles Meldrum "Charlie" Daniels is a former American swimmer and eight-time Olympic medalist. Daniels was an innovator of the front crawl swimming style, inventing the "American crawl".-Career:Daniels began his swimming career with the New York Athletic Club in 1903...

 and in the seventh heat Wilfred Edwards equalized the standing world record of 1:05.8. Finally Charles Daniels

Charles Daniels (swimmer)

Charles Meldrum "Charlie" Daniels is a former American swimmer and eight-time Olympic medalist. Daniels was an innovator of the front crawl swimming style, inventing the "American crawl".-Career:Daniels began his swimming career with the New York Athletic Club in 1903...

set a new world record with 1:05.6 in the final.

First round

The fastest swimmer in each heat and the two fastest losers advanced, qualifying 11 swimmers for the semifinals.

Heat 1

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:08.2 OR	QS
2		Unknown
3-6		Unknown
		Unknown
		Unknown
		Unknown

Heat 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:11.8	QS
2		1:12.0	qs
3-5		Unknown
		Unknown
		Unknown

Heat 3

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:11.6	QS
2		1:13.2
3-5		Unknown
		Unknown
		Unknown

Heat 4

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:12.0	QS
2		1:12.6
3-4		Unknown
		Unknown

Heat 5

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:05.8 =WR	QS
2		1:13.2
3		Unknown
4-5		Unknown
		Unknown

Heat 6

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:11.0	QS
2		1:12.0	qs
3-4		Unknown
		Unknown

Heat 7

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:05.8 =WR	QS
2		1:35.0

Heat 8

Dockrell had no competition in the eighth heat.

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:13.2	QS

Heat 9

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:14.6	QS
2		1:18.0

Semifinals

The fastest two swimmers from each semifinal advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:09.4	QF
2		1:10.2	QF
3		1:11.8
4		Unknown
5-6		Unknown
		Unknown

Semifinal 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:10.2	QF
2		1:10.8	QF
3		1:11.4
4		Unknown
5		Unknown

Final

Place	Swimmer	Time
1		1:05.6 WR
2		1:06.2
3		1:08.0
4		Unknown

Sources