| | 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	Competitor	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

Date	16 July 1908 — 16:30
Format	Winner in each heat and the fastest loser advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat #1

Pos	Competitor	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 #2

Pos	Competitor	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 #3

Pos	Competitor	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 #4

Pos	Competitor	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 #5

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

Heat #6

Pos	Competitor	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 #7

Pos	Competitor	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

Date	17 July 1908 — 14:30
Format	Top two in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Pos	Competitor	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 #2

Pos	Competitor	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

Date	17 July 1908 — 17:00

Pos	Competitor	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	–