Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke


The men's 200 metre breaststroke was one of 6 swimming events on the Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. It was the only breaststroke event on the schedule. 1908 was the first appearance of the 200 metre breaststroke, as 1904 had seen the introduction of the stroke to Olympic competition with the 440 yard event. Each nation could enter up to 12 swimmers.

Competition format

With a much larger field than in 1904, the 1908 competition expanded to three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The 1908 Games also restored the wild-card system from 1900, allowing the fastest swimmers who did not win their heat to advance. The seven heats consisted of between 3 and 5 swimmers, with the winner of the heat advancing along with the fastest loser from across the heats. There were two semifinals, intended to be of 5 swimmers each but one of which actually had 6 due to a tie in the heats; the top 2 finishers in each semifinal advanced to the 4-person final.
Each race involved two lengths of the 100 metre pool. The rules required that "both hands of the competitor must be pushed forward and brought backwards simultaneously, the shoulders must be kept perfectly in line with the surface of the water, and when touching at the turn... the touch shall be made with both hands" and that "the touch at the finish shall be made with both hands."

Results

First round

The fastest swimmer in each heat and the fastest loser advanced, qualifying 8 swimmers for the semifinals.

Heat 1

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1Frederick Holman3:10.6
2Richard Rösler3:18.0
3Max GumpelUnknown

Heat 2

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1Wilhelm Persson3:17.6
2András Baronyi3:18.0
3Augustus GoesslingUnknown
4-5Herman CederbergUnknown
4-5Frederick NaylorUnknown

Heat 3

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1Erich Seidel3:17.2
2Hjalmar Johansson3:21.2
3Arthur DaviesUnknown
4Pierre StrauwenUnknown

Heat 4

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1Ödön Toldi3:14.4
2Pontus Hanson3:15.0
3Sydney GoodayUnknown
4Amilcare BerettaUnknown

Heat 5

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1William Robinson3:13.0
2Per Fjästad3:31.4
3John HenrikssonUnknown
—Edward CookeDid not finish

Heat 6

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1József Fabinyi3:23.4
2Torsten Kumfeldt3:24.6
3Harald KlemUnknown
—Hugo JonssonDid not finish

Heat 7

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1Félicien Courbet3:16.4
2Percy Courtman3:18.4
3Adolf AnderssonUnknown

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1Frederick Holman3:10.0
2Ödön Toldi3:16.4
3Erich SeidelUnknown
4József FabinyiUnknown

Semifinal 2

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1William Robinson3:11.8
2Pontus Hanson3:13.0
3Wilhelm PerssonUnknown
4Félicien CourbetUnknown

Final

PlaceSwimmerNationTime
1Frederick Holman3:09.2
2William Robinson3:12.8
3Pontus Hanson3:14.6
4Ödön Toldi3:15.2