| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Men

Date	16 – 17 July 1908
Status	Olympic
Location	White City Stadium, London
Participants	21 from 11 countries

The Germans were considered the top backstroke swimmers in the world and they placed two men in the finals - Arno Bieberstein and Gustav Aurich. Bieberstein led the final from the start, with Britain’s Bert Haresnape 2nd until 70 metres, at which time he was passed by Ludvig Dam (DEN). Bieberstein was German backstroke champion for 1905-07 and was also Austrian champion in 1907.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Arno Bieberstein	GER	1:25.6 (1 h1)	1:25.2 (1 h1)	1:24.6 (1)	Gold
2	Ludvig Dam	DEN	1:26.4 (2 h4)	at 1 yard (2 h1)	1:26.6 (2)	Silver
3	Bert Haresnape	GBR	1:26.2 (1 h4)	1:28.8 (2 h2)	1:27.0 (3)	Bronze
4	Gustav Aurich	GER	1:27.4 (1 h7)	1:28.2 (1 h2)	– (4)
3 h1 r2/3	Max Ritter	GER	1:33.4 (1 h2)	at 6 yards (3 h1)	–
3 h2 r2/3	Jack Taylor	GBR	1:25.8 (1 h6)	– (3 h2)	–
4 h1 r2/3	Sidney Parvin	GBR	1:30.2 (1 h5)	– (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	Colin Lewis	GBR	1:31.0 (1 h3)	– (4 h2)	–
2 h1 r1/3	Fred Unwin	GBR	1:29.8 (2 h1)	–	–
2 h2 r1/3	Sidney Willis	GBR	1:34.4 (2 h2)	–	–
2 h3 r1/3	Bartholomeus Roodenburch	NED	1:36.2 (2 h3)	–	–
2 h6 r1/3	Gus Goessling	USA	1:29.0 (2 h6)	–	–
2 h7 r1/3	George Cortlever	NED	– (2 h7)	–	–
3 h1 r1/3	Hugo Jonsson	FIN	– (3 h1)	–	–
3 h2 r1/3	John Henriksson	FIN	– (3 h2)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	Robert Zimmerman	CAN	– (3 h3)	–	–
3 h4 r1/3	Amilcare Beretta	ITA	– (3 h4)	–	–
3 h6 r1/3	Gustaf Wretman	SWE	– (3 h6)	–	–
3 h7 r1/3	Eric Seward	GBR	– (3 h7)	–	–
AC h6 r1/3	Oscar Grégoire	BEL	– (DNF h6)	–	–		DNF
AC h7 r1/3	Sándor Kugler	HUN	[1:27.0] (DQ h7)	–	–		DQ
DNS	Edward Cooke	ANZ	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	Franz Kellner	AUT	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	Herman Cederberg	FIN	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	Walter Brack	GER	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	József Ónody	HUN	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	Sándor Ádám	HUN	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	Sándor Ember	HUN	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Károly Fülöp	HUN	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	Axel Persson	SWE	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	Al Gosnell	USA	– (DNS h2)	–	–

Round One (16 July 1908 — 16:30)

Winner in each heat and the fastest loser advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Arno Bieberstein	GER	– (–) –	1:25.6	QOR
2	–	Fred Unwin	GBR	– (–) –	1:29.8
3	–	Hugo Jonsson	FIN	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	József Ónody	HUN	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Axel Persson	SWE	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Max Ritter	GER	– (–) –	1:33.4	Q
2	–	Sidney Willis	GBR	– (–) –	1:34.4
3	–	John Henriksson	FIN	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Sándor Ember	HUN	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Al Gosnell	USA	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Colin Lewis	GBR	– (–) –	1:31.0	Q
2	–	Bartholomeus Roodenburch	NED	– (–) –	1:36.2
3	–	Robert Zimmerman	CAN	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Walter Brack	GER	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Sándor Ádám	HUN	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Bert Haresnape	GBR	– (–) –	1:26.2	Q
2	–	Ludvig Dam	DEN	– (–) –	1:26.4	q
3	–	Amilcare Beretta	ITA	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Károly Fülöp	HUN	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Sidney Parvin	GBR	– (–) –	1:30.2	Q
DNS	–	Edward Cooke	ANZ	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Franz Kellner	AUT	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Herman Cederberg	FIN	– (–) –	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Jack Taylor	GBR	– (–) –	1:25.8	Q
2	–	Gus Goessling	USA	– (–) –	1:29.0
3	–	Gustaf Wretman	SWE	– (–) –	–
DNF	–	Oscar Grégoire	BEL	– (–) –	–

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Gustav Aurich	GER	– (–) –	1:27.4	Q
2	–	George Cortlever	NED	– (–) –	–
3	–	Eric Seward	GBR	– (–) –	–
DQ	–	Sándor Kugler	HUN	– (–) –	[1:27.0]

Semi-Finals (17 July 1908 — 14:30)

Top two in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Arno Bieberstein	GER	– (–) –	1:25.2	QOR
2	–	Ludvig Dam	DEN	– (–) –	at 1 yard	Q
3	–	Max Ritter	GER	– (–) –	at 6 yards
4	–	Sidney Parvin	GBR	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Gustav Aurich	GER	– (–) –	1:28.2	Q
2	–	Bert Haresnape	GBR	– (–) –	1:28.8	Q
3	–	Jack Taylor	GBR	– (–) –	–
4	–	Colin Lewis	GBR	– (–) –	–

Final (17 July 1908 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Arno Bieberstein	GER	– (–) –	1:24.6	WR
2	–	Ludvig Dam	DEN	– (–) –	1:26.6
3	–	Bert Haresnape	GBR	– (–) –	1:27.0
4	–	Gustav Aurich	GER	– (–) –	–