| | Event type

1,500 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	4 – 6 August 1928
Status	Olympic
Location	Zwemstadion, Amsterdam
Participants	19 from 13 countries

Arne Borg would eventually set over 30 world records at a variety of distances, but this victory in Amsterdam was his only Olympic gold medal though he competed in three Olympic Games. The “Swedish Sturgeon”, as he was dubbed by the press, dominated the competition from the heats and was never headed in the final, as he swam away from the moment the gun sounded to finish 10 seconds ahead of the “Manly Flying Fish”, Australia’s defending champion, Andrew “Boy” Charlton. Clarence “Buster” Crabbe secured the bronze, though his nickname seemed tame by comparison.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Arne Borg	SWE	20:14.2 (1 h5)	20:42.0 (1 h1)	19:51.8 (1)	Gold
2	Boy Charlton	AUS	20:17.4 (2 h5)	20:57.0 (2 h2)	20:02.6 (2)	Silver
3	Buster Crabbe	USA	20:17.8 (3 h5)	20:55.4 (1 h2)	20:28.8 (3)	Bronze
4	Ray Ruddy	USA	22:12.0 (2 h3)	21:31.2 (3 h2)	21:05.0 (4)
5	Alberto Zorrilla	ARG	22:21.2 (1 h4)	21:17.0 (2 h1)	21:23.8 (5)
6	Garnet Ault	CAN	22:55.8 (2 h4)	21:33.4 (3 h1)	21:46.0 (6)
4 h1 r2/3	Nobuo Arai	JPN	21:35.4 (1 h2)	– (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	Giuseppe Perentin	ITA	21:42.4 (2 h2)	– (4 h2)	–
AC h1 r2/3	Takaji Takebayashi	JPN	22:30.4 (2 h1)	– (DNF h1)	–		DNF
1 h1 r1/3	Austin Clapp	USA	21:31.0 (1 h1)	– (DNS h1)	–
1 h3 r1/3	Katsuo Takaishi	JPN	21:20.8 (1 h3)	– (DNS h2)	–
3 h1 r1/3	Jimmy Thompson	CAN	22:56.6 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h2 r1/3	Dick de Man	NED	23:03.2 (3 h2)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	Václav Antoš	TCH	22:43.0 (3 h3)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	Giovanni Gambi	ITA	– (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	Dave Lindsay	NZL	– (4 h2)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	Walter Handschuhmacher	GER	22:18.6 (4 h5)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	Jean Taris	FRA	– (5 h1)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	Tuburan Tamse	PHI	– (5 h5)	–	–
DNS	D. D. Mulji	IND	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	Jack Hatfield	GBR	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	Percy Peter	GBR	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Paul Radmilovic	GBR	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	Paolo Costoli	ITA	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	Olivér Halassy	HUN	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	Albert Vandeplancke	FRA	– (DNS h4)	–	–

Round One

Date	4 August 1928 — 10:00
Format	Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Austin Clapp	USA	21:31.0	Q
2	–	Takaji Takebayashi	JPN	22:30.4	Q
3	–	Jimmy Thompson	CAN	22:56.6
4	–	Giovanni Gambi	ITA	–
5	–	Jean Taris	FRA	–
DNS	–	Jack Hatfield	GBR	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Nobuo Arai	JPN	21:35.4	Q
2	–	Giuseppe Perentin	ITA	21:42.4	Q
3	–	Dick de Man	NED	23:03.2
4	–	Dave Lindsay	NZL	–
DNS	–	Percy Peter	GBR	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Katsuo Takaishi	JPN	21:20.8	Q
2	–	Ray Ruddy	USA	22:12.0	Q
3	–	Václav Antoš	TCH	22:43.0
DNS	–	Paul Radmilovic	GBR	–
DNS	–	Paolo Costoli	ITA	–

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Alberto Zorrilla	ARG	22:21.2	Q
2	–	Garnet Ault	CAN	22:55.8	Q
DNS	–	D. D. Mulji	IND	–
DNS	–	Olivér Halassy	HUN	–
DNS	–	Albert Vandeplancke	FRA	–

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Arne Borg	SWE	20:14.2	Q
2	–	Boy Charlton	AUS	20:17.4	Q
3	–	Buster Crabbe	USA	20:17.8	q
4	–	Walter Handschuhmacher	GER	22:18.6
5	–	Tuburan Tamse	PHI	–

Semi-Finals

Date	5 August 1928 — 14:00
Format	Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Time	14:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Arne Borg	SWE	20:42.0	Q
2	–	Alberto Zorrilla	ARG	21:17.0	Q
3	–	Garnet Ault	CAN	21:33.4	Q
4	–	Nobuo Arai	JPN	–
DNF	–	Takaji Takebayashi	JPN	–
DNS	–	Austin Clapp	USA	–

Heat #2

Time	14:35

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Buster Crabbe	USA	20:55.4	Q
2	–	Boy Charlton	AUS	20:57.0	Q
3	–	Ray Ruddy	USA	21:31.2	Q
4	–	Giuseppe Perentin	ITA	–
DNS	–	Katsuo Takaishi	JPN	–

Final Round

Date	6 August 1928 — 15:15

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Arne Borg	SWE	19:51.8	OR
2	–	Boy Charlton	AUS	20:02.6
3	–	Buster Crabbe	USA	20:28.8
4	–	Ray Ruddy	USA	21:05.0
5	–	Alberto Zorrilla	ARG	21:23.8
6	–	Garnet Ault	CAN	21:46.0