| | Event type

100 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	30 – 31 July 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Wembley Arena, Wembley, London
Participants	41 from 19 countries

Although the American Alan Ford was the world record holder in this event, the acknowledged favorite was the teenaged French colossus Alex Jany. Jany moved to the final without alarm, but was joined by a powerful trio of Americans. The Frenchman made a fast start and led at the 50 metre mark, but he had mistimed his effort and faded back into the chasing pack. Ford took the lead but, twenty metres from the wall, he was passed by his compatriot Wally Ris, who edged clear to win by half a second. Ford held on for silver, although he was helped by the Hungarian Géza Kádas’ collision with a lane divider a stroke from the end.

Jany’s sister, Ginette, was so overwhelmed by the events of the race, that she collapsed and had to be stretchered away from the arena. Ari Guðmundsson of Iceland failed to make the semi-finals, but was to return to Olympic competition in 1952 as a ski-jumper in the Oslo Winter Games.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	35	Wally Ris	USA	58.1 (1 h5)	57.5 (1 h2)	57.3 (1)	Gold
2	–	Alan Ford	USA	59.2 (1 h6)	57.8 (2 h2)	57.8 (2)	Silver
3	27	Géza Kádas	HUN	58.2 (1 h3)	58.0 (3 h2)	58.1 (3)	Bronze
4	44	Keith Carter	USA	58.7 (1 h2)	57.6 (1 h1)	58.3 (4)
5	20	Alex Jany	FRA	58.1 (1 h1)	57.9 (2 h1)	58.3 (5)
6	42	Per-Olof Olsson	SWE	59.0 (2 h2)	59.1 (4 h2)	59.3 (6)
7	215	Zoltán Szilárd	HUN	59.8 (3 h2)	59.6 (3 h1)	59.6 (7)
8	15	Taha El-Gamal	EGY	59.7 (2 h6)	59.9 (4 h1)	1:00.5 (8)
9	–	Bruce Bourke	AUS	59.1 (2 h1)	1:00.0 (5 h1)	–
10	41	Martin Lundén	SWE	1:00.2 (3 h6)	1:00.2 (6 h1)	–
=11	2	Horacio White	ARG	1:00.2 (1 h4)	1:00.4 (5 h2)	–
=11	34	Alberto Isaac	MEX	1:00.1 (2 h3)	1:00.4 (7 h1)	–
13	28	Elemér Szathmáry	HUN	59.7 (3 h1)	1:00.5 (6 h2)	–
=14	25	Ron Stedman	GBR	1:01.3 (2 h5)	1:01.0 (7 h2)	–
=14	8	Aram Boghossian	BRA	1:00.9 (2 h4)	1:01.0 (8 h1)	–
16	4	Warren Boyd	AUS	1:00.4 (3 h3)	1:01.1 (8 h2)	–
17	–	Manolo Guerra	ESP	1:00.7 (4 h2)	–	–
=18	40	Olle Johansson	SWE	1:01.0 (4 h1)	–	–
=18	10	Peter Salmon	CAN	1:01.0 (4 h6)	–	–
20	37	Jesús Domínguez	ESP	1:01.3 (3 h4)	–	–
21	6	Henri Padou, Jr.	FRA	1:01.5 (3 h5)	–	–
=22	46	Sérgio Rodrígues	BRA	1:01.6 (4 h5)	–	–
=22	30	Ari Guðmundsson	ISL	1:01.6 (5 h6)	–	–
24	1	Augusto Cantón	ARG	1:01.8 (5 h2)	–	–
25	12	Nicasio Silverio	CUB	1:02.0 (6 h2)	–	–
26	24	Pat Kendall	GBR	1:02.1 (7 h2)	–	–
27	–	Trevor Harrop	GBR	1:02.3 (6 h6)	–	–
28	14	Ali Bagdadi	EGY	1:02.4 (4 h3)	–	–
=29	–	Dorri Abdel Kader	EGY	1:02.5 (4 h4)	–	–
=29	13	Raúl García	CUB	1:02.5 (7 h6)	–	–
31	9	Eric Jubb	CAN	1:02.8 (5 h3)	–	–
32	11	Wu Chuanyu	CHN	1:03.5 (5 h5)	–	–
33	7	Plauto Guimarães	BRA	1:03.7 (5 h1)	–	–
34	33	Sachin Nag	IND	1:03.8 (6 h3)	–	–
35	38	Isidoro Pérez	ESP	1:04.0 (6 h1)	–	–
36	209	Fernand Martinaux	FRA	1:04.2 (5 h4)	–	–
37	43	Walter Schneider	SUI	1:05.1 (8 h6)	–	–
38	31	Isaac Mansoor	IND	1:06.4 (7 h1)	–	–
39	32	Dilip Mitra	IND	1:06.9 (8 h2)	–	–
40	26	Panagiotis Chatzikyriakakis	GRE	1:07.4 (6 h4)	–	–
41	5	Derek Oatway	BER	1:08.6 (6 h5)	–	–
DNS	18	Ernest McCartney	IRL	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	7	Paddy Kavanagh	IRL	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	–	Stuart Kramm	IRL	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	–	Sultan Karim Ali	PAK	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	35	Brian O'Connell	PAK	– (DNS h5)	–	–

Round One

Date	30 July 1948 — 14:00
Format	Top two in each heat and the next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
=1	4	Alex Jany	FRA	58.1	Q
=1	6	Wally Ris	USA	58.1	Q
3	7	Géza Kádas	HUN	58.2	Q
4	8	Keith Carter	USA	58.7	Q
5	6	Per-Olof Olsson	SWE	59.0	Q
6	3	Bruce Bourke	AUS	59.1	Q
7	1	Alan Ford	USA	59.2	Q
=8	1	Elemér Szathmáry	HUN	59.7	q
=8	2	Taha El-Gamal	EGY	59.7	Q
10	3	Zoltán Szilárd	HUN	59.8	q
11	4	Alberto Isaac	MEX	1:00.1	Q
=12	3	Horacio White	ARG	1:00.2	Q
=12	6	Martin Lundén	SWE	1:00.2	q
14	3	Warren Boyd	AUS	1:00.4	q
15	1	Manolo Guerra	ESP	1:00.7
16	2	Aram Boghossian	BRA	1:00.9	Q
=17	7	Olle Johansson	SWE	1:01.0
=17	3	Peter Salmon	CAN	1:01.0
=19	6	Jesús Domínguez	ESP	1:01.3
=19	3	Ron Stedman	GBR	1:01.3	Q
21	8	Henri Padou, Jr.	FRA	1:01.5
=22	7	Sérgio Rodrígues	BRA	1:01.6
=22	5	Ari Guðmundsson	ISL	1:01.6
24	4	Augusto Cantón	ARG	1:01.8
25	5	Nicasio Silverio	CUB	1:02.0
26	2	Pat Kendall	GBR	1:02.1
27	7	Trevor Harrop	GBR	1:02.3
28	5	Ali Bagdadi	EGY	1:02.4
=29	4	Dorri Abdel Kader	EGY	1:02.5
=29	8	Raúl García	CUB	1:02.5
31	1	Eric Jubb	CAN	1:02.8
32	4	Wu Chuanyu	CHN	1:03.5
33	5	Plauto Guimarães	BRA	1:03.7
34	6	Sachin Nag	IND	1:03.8
35	6	Isidoro Pérez	ESP	1:04.0
36	5	Fernand Martinaux	FRA	1:04.2
37	4	Walter Schneider	SUI	1:05.1
38	8	Isaac Mansoor	IND	1:06.4
39	7	Dilip Mitra	IND	1:06.9
40	1	Panagiotis Chatzikyriakakis	GRE	1:07.4
41	2	Derek Oatway	BER	1:08.6
DNS	2	Sultan Karim Ali	PAK	–
DNS	2	Stuart Kramm	IRL	–
DNS	7	Paddy Kavanagh	IRL	–
DNS	1	Ernest McCartney	IRL	–
DNS	5	Brian O'Connell	PAK	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	4	Alex Jany	FRA	58.1	Q
2	3	Bruce Bourke	AUS	59.1	Q
3	1	Elemér Szathmáry	HUN	59.7	q
4	7	Olle Johansson	SWE	1:01.0
5	5	Plauto Guimarães	BRA	1:03.7
6	6	Isidoro Pérez	ESP	1:04.0
7	8	Isaac Mansoor	IND	1:06.4
DNS	2	Sultan Karim Ali	PAK	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	8	Keith Carter	USA	58.7	Q
2	6	Per-Olof Olsson	SWE	59.0	Q
3	3	Zoltán Szilárd	HUN	59.8	q
4	1	Manolo Guerra	ESP	1:00.7
5	4	Augusto Cantón	ARG	1:01.8
6	5	Nicasio Silverio	CUB	1:02.0
7	2	Pat Kendall	GBR	1:02.1
8	7	Dilip Mitra	IND	1:06.9

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	7	Géza Kádas	HUN	58.2	Q
2	4	Alberto Isaac	MEX	1:00.1	Q
3	3	Warren Boyd	AUS	1:00.4	q
4	5	Ali Bagdadi	EGY	1:02.4
5	1	Eric Jubb	CAN	1:02.8
6	6	Sachin Nag	IND	1:03.8
DNS	2	Stuart Kramm	IRL	–

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	3	Horacio White	ARG	1:00.2	Q
2	2	Aram Boghossian	BRA	1:00.9	Q
3	6	Jesús Domínguez	ESP	1:01.3
4	4	Dorri Abdel Kader	EGY	1:02.5
5	5	Fernand Martinaux	FRA	1:04.2
6	1	Panagiotis Chatzikyriakakis	GRE	1:07.4
DNS	7	Paddy Kavanagh	IRL	–

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	6	Wally Ris	USA	58.1	Q
2	3	Ron Stedman	GBR	1:01.3	Q
3	8	Henri Padou, Jr.	FRA	1:01.5
4	7	Sérgio Rodrígues	BRA	1:01.6
5	4	Wu Chuanyu	CHN	1:03.5
6	2	Derek Oatway	BER	1:08.6
DNS	1	Ernest McCartney	IRL	–
DNS	5	Brian O'Connell	PAK	–

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	1	Alan Ford	USA	59.2	Q
2	2	Taha El-Gamal	EGY	59.7	Q
3	6	Martin Lundén	SWE	1:00.2	q
4	3	Peter Salmon	CAN	1:01.0
5	5	Ari Guðmundsson	ISL	1:01.6
6	7	Trevor Harrop	GBR	1:02.3
7	8	Raúl García	CUB	1:02.5
8	4	Walter Schneider	SUI	1:05.1

Semi-Finals

Date	30 July 1948 — 20:30
Format	Top three in each heat and the next two fastest advanced to the final.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Wally Ris	USA	57.5	Q=OR
2	Keith Carter	USA	57.6	Q
3	Alan Ford	USA	57.8	Q
4	Alex Jany	FRA	57.9	Q
5	Géza Kádas	HUN	58.0	Q
6	Per-Olof Olsson	SWE	59.1	q
7	Zoltán Szilárd	HUN	59.6	Q
8	Taha El-Gamal	EGY	59.9	q
9	Bruce Bourke	AUS	1:00.0
10	Martin Lundén	SWE	1:00.2
=11	Alberto Isaac	MEX	1:00.4		1
=11	Horacio White	ARG	1:00.4
13	Elemér Szathmáry	HUN	1:00.5
=14	Aram Boghossian	BRA	1:01.0
=14	Ron Stedman	GBR	1:01.0
16	Warren Boyd	AUS	1:01.1

Heat #1

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Keith Carter	USA	57.6	Q
2	Alex Jany	FRA	57.9	Q
3	Zoltán Szilárd	HUN	59.6	Q
4	Taha El-Gamal	EGY	59.9	q
5	Bruce Bourke	AUS	1:00.0
6	Martin Lundén	SWE	1:00.2
7	Alberto Isaac	MEX	1:00.4		2
8	Aram Boghossian	BRA	1:01.0

Heat #2

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Wally Ris	USA	57.5	Q=OR
2	Alan Ford	USA	57.8	Q
3	Géza Kádas	HUN	58.0	Q
4	Per-Olof Olsson	SWE	59.1	q
5	Horacio White	ARG	1:00.4
6	Elemér Szathmáry	HUN	1:00.5
7	Ron Stedman	GBR	1:01.0
8	Warren Boyd	AUS	1:01.1

Final Round

Date	31 July 1948 — 15:30

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	5	Wally Ris	USA	57.3	OR
2	6	Alan Ford	USA	57.8
3	7	Géza Kádas	HUN	58.1
4	4	Keith Carter	USA	58.3
5	3	Alex Jany	FRA	58.3
6	2	Per-Olof Olsson	SWE	59.3
7	8	Zoltán Szilárd	HUN	59.6
8	1	Taha El-Gamal	EGY	1:00.5