| | Event type

100 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	17 – 20 July 1908
Status	Olympic
Location	White City Stadium, London
Participants	34 from 12 countries

The final brought together the two top sprinters in the world and the last two Olympic champions. Charlie Daniels had won in 1906 at Athens and in 1904 at St. Louis, he had finished 3rd behind Hungary’s Zoltán von Halmay. Halmay was the recognized holder of the world record, having posted 1:06.8 in Vienna on 3 December 1905.

In the final, Halmay started quickly and led through 30 metres, when Daniels caught him. At 50 metres, Daniels had a very slight lead. At the finish he was ahead by ½ yard, while Halmay led Harald Julin by 2 yards. Both Daniels and Halmay broke the old world record.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Charlie Daniels	USA	1:05.8 (1 h5)	1:10.2 (1 h2)	1:05.6 (1)	Gold
2	Zoltán Halmay	HUN	1:08.2 (1 h1)	1:09.4 (1 h1)	1:06.2 (2)	Silver
3	Harald Julin	SWE	1:12.0 (1 h4)	1:10.2 (2 h1)	1:08.0 (3)	Bronze
4	Leslie Rich	USA	1:14.6 (1 h9)	1:10.8 (2 h2)	– (4)
3 h1 r2/3	Harry Hebner	USA	1:11.0 (1 h6)	1:11.8 (3 h1)	–
3 h2 r2/3	George Dockrell	GBR	1:13.2 (1 h8)	1:11.4 (3 h2)	–
4 h1 r2/3	Frank Beaurepaire	ANZ	1:13.2 (1 h3)	– (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	Otto Scheff	AUT	1:11.4 (1 h2)	– (4 h2)	–
5 h2 r2/3	Addin Tyldesley	GBR	1:12.0 (2 h2)	– (5 h2)	–
AC h1 r2/3	Wilfred Edwards	GBR	1:15.8 (1 h7)	– (AC h1)	–
AC h1 r2/3	Paul Radmilovic	GBR	1:12.0 (2 h6)	– (AC h1)	–
2 h1 r1/3	Theo Tartakover	ANZ	– (2 h1)	–	–
2 h3 r1/3	Lambertus Benenga	NED	1:14.0 (2 h3)	–	–
2 h4 r1/3	Rob Derbyshire	GBR	1:12.6 (2 h4)	–	–
2 h5 r1/3	József Ónody	HUN	1:13.2 (2 h5)	–	–
2 h7 r1/3	Robert Zimmerman	CAN	1:35.0 (2 h7)	–	–
2 h9 r1/3	Armand Deprez	BEL	1:18.0 (2 h9)	–	–
3 h5 r1/3	George Innocent	GBR	– (3 h5)	–	–
AC h1 r1/3	Herman Meyboom	BEL	– (AC h1)	–	–
AC h1 r1/3	Harald Klem	DEN	– (AC h1)	–	–
AC h1 r1/3	Davide Baiardo	ITA	– (AC h1)	–	–
AC h1 r1/3	Bouke Benenga	NED	– (AC h1)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	Gérard Meister	FRA	– (AC h2)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	József Munk	HUN	– (AC h2)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	Conrad Trubenbach	USA	– (AC h2)	–	–
AC h3 r1/3	Poul Holm	DEN	– (AC h3)	–	–
AC h3 r1/3	Henrik Hajós	HUN	– (AC h3)	–	–
AC h3 r1/3	Robert Andersson	SWE	– (AC h3)	–	–
AC h4 r1/3	Victor Boin	BEL	– (AC h4)	–	–
AC h4 r1/3	Robert Foster	USA	– (AC h4)	–	–
AC h5 r1/3	Hjalmar Saxtorph	DEN	– (AC h5)	–	–
AC h5 r1/3	René André	FRA	– (AC h5)	–	–
AC h6 r1/3	Edward Cooke	ANZ	– (AC h6)	–	–
AC h6 r1/3	Fernand Feyaerts	BEL	– (AC h6)	–	–
DNS	Snowy Baker	ANZ	– (DNS h8)	–	–
DNS	Paul Vasseur	FRA	– (DNS h8)	–	–
DNS	Gentilly	FRA	– (DNS h7)	–	–
DNS	Géza Kiss	HUN	– (DNS h7)	–	–
DNS	Sándor Ádám	HUN	– (DNS h9)	–	–
DNS	Alajos Bruckner	HUN	– (DNS h8)	–	–
DNS	Lóránt Apor	HUN	– (DNS h9)	–	–
DNS	Jenő Hégner-Tóth	HUN	– (DNS h6)	–	–
DNS	Gyula Hornung	HUN	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	Ragnar Lagergren	SWE	– (DNS h8)	–	–
DNS	Axel Persson	SWE	– (DNS h9)	–	–
DNS	Budd Goodwin	USA	– (DNS h7)	–	–

Round One (17 July 1908 — 16:15)

Winners of heats and fastest loser advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Zoltán Halmay	HUN	– (–) –	1:08.2	QOR
2	–	Theo Tartakover	ANZ	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Bouke Benenga	NED	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Herman Meyboom	BEL	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Harald Klem	DEN	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Davide Baiardo	ITA	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Otto Scheff	AUT	– (–) –	1:11.4	Q
2	–	Addin Tyldesley	GBR	– (–) –	1:12.0	q
AC	–	Gérard Meister	FRA	– (–) –	–
AC	–	József Munk	HUN	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Conrad Trubenbach	USA	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Frank Beaurepaire	ANZ	– (–) –	1:13.2	Q
2	–	Lambertus Benenga	NED	– (–) –	1:14.0
AC	–	Poul Holm	DEN	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Henrik Hajós	HUN	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Robert Andersson	SWE	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Harald Julin	SWE	– (–) –	1:12.0	Q
2	–	Rob Derbyshire	GBR	– (–) –	1:12.6
AC	–	Robert Foster	USA	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Victor Boin	BEL	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Gyula Hornung	HUN	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Charlie Daniels	USA	– (–) –	1:05.8	QOR
2	–	József Ónody	HUN	– (–) –	1:13.2
3	–	George Innocent	GBR	– (–) –	–
AC	–	René André	FRA	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Hjalmar Saxtorph	DEN	– (–) –	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Harry Hebner	USA	– (–) –	1:11.0	Q
2	–	Paul Radmilovic	GBR	– (–) –	1:12.0	q
AC	–	Fernand Feyaerts	BEL	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Edward Cooke	ANZ	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Jenő Hégner-Tóth	HUN	– (–) –	–

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Wilfred Edwards	GBR	– (–) –	1:15.8	Q
2	–	Robert Zimmerman	CAN	– (–) –	1:35.0
DNS	–	Gentilly	FRA	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Géza Kiss	HUN	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Budd Goodwin	USA	– (–) –	–

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	George Dockrell	GBR	– (–) –	1:13.2	Q
DNS	–	Snowy Baker	ANZ	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Paul Vasseur	FRA	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Alajos Bruckner	HUN	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Ragnar Lagergren	SWE	– (–) –	–

Heat Nine

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Leslie Rich	USA	– (–) –	1:14.6	Q
2	–	Armand Deprez	BEL	– (–) –	1:18.0
DNS	–	Sándor Ádám	HUN	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Lóránt Apor	HUN	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Axel Persson	SWE	– (–) –	–

Semi-Finals (20 July 1908 — 11:00)

Top two in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Zoltán Halmay	HUN	– (–) –	1:09.4	Q
2	–	Harald Julin	SWE	– (–) –	1:10.2	Q
3	–	Harry Hebner	USA	– (–) –	1:11.8
4	–	Frank Beaurepaire	ANZ	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Wilfred Edwards	GBR	– (–) –	–
AC	–	Paul Radmilovic	GBR	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Charlie Daniels	USA	– (–) –	1:10.2	Q
2	–	Leslie Rich	USA	– (–) –	1:10.8	Q
3	–	George Dockrell	GBR	– (–) –	1:11.4
4	–	Otto Scheff	AUT	– (–) –	–
5	–	Addin Tyldesley	GBR	– (–) –	–

Final (20 July 1908 — 14:30)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Charlie Daniels	USA	– (–) –	1:05.6	WR
2	–	Zoltán Halmay	HUN	– (–) –	1:06.2
3	–	Harald Julin	SWE	– (–) –	1:08.0
4	–	Leslie Rich	USA	– (–) –	–