| | Event type

100 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	29 – 30 November 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Park Swimming and Diving Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	34 from 19 countries

At the time of the Helsinki Olympics, Jon Henricks was the up and coming star of Australian distance swimming having won medals at 440 y, 880 y and 1650 y at the national championships. His chances of an Olympic début in 1952 were then ruined by a serious and persistent ear infection that wrecked his chances of making the Australian team. Henricks reinvented himself as a sprinter in 1953 and soon embarked on a spectacular run of success over the 100 metres or imperial equivalent. He won three gold medals at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1956 and was successful on visits to the USA and Japan as well.

As such, Henricks was the favourite for the title in Melbourne and he lived up to his billing by setting a world record on his way to the Olympic championships. It was, however, a far closer race than anyone had predicted with Henricks being chased by teammate John Devitt until the very end. Gary Chapman took bronze to compete a clean sweep for Australian on the medal podium – the first time ever Australia had swept any Olympic event. Henricks also had the honour of being the first Australian man to win Olympic gold on home soil.

In a statistical curiosity American swimmers finished in positions 4-5-6 behind the Australians in 1-2-3.

Henricks’ attempt to defend his title in Rome ended in the heats after a debilitating stomach ailment ruined his Olympics.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	1	Jon Henricks	AUS	57.3 (1 h1)	55.7 (1 h1)	55.4 (1)	Gold
2	–	John Devitt	AUS	57.2 (1 h3)	56.4 (1 h2)	55.8 (2)	Silver
3	2	Gary Chapman	AUS	57.8 (1 h5)	56.9 (2 h2)	56.7 (3)	Bronze
4	29	Reid Patterson	USA	56.8 (1 h4)	57.1 (3 h2)	57.2 (4)
5	30	Dick Hanley	USA	57.8 (2 h1)	56.9 (2 h1)	57.6 (5)
6	28	Bill Woolsey	USA	58.2 (2 h5)	58.0 (4 h2)	57.6 (6)
7	19	Atsushi Tani	JPN	57.1 (2 h4)	57.4 (3 h1)	58.0 (7)
8	–	Aldo Eminente	FRA	58.0 (2 h2)	58.0 (4 h1)	58.1 (8)
9	20	Hiroshi Suzuki	JPN	58.4 (3 h3)	58.0 (5 h1)	–
=10	62	Gyula Dobay	HUN	58.5 (4 h5)	58.1 (5 h2)	–
=10	21	Manabu Koga	JPN	57.7 (1 h2)	58.1 (6 h2)	–
12	64	Vitaly Sorokin	URS	58.6 (3 h2)	58.2 (6 h1)	–
13	–	Paul Voell	GER	58.4 (4 h3)	58.6 (7 h2)	–
14	23	Paolo Pucci	ITA	58.3 (2 h3)	58.8 (7 h1)	–
15	12	Ronald Roberts	GBR	58.3 (3 h5)	58.9 (8 h2)	–
16	–	Carlo Pedersoli	ITA	58.5 (3 h4)	59.0 (8 h1)	–
17	–	George Park	CAN	58.8 (5 h5)	–	–
18	26	Billy Steuart	RSA	59.2 (3 h1)	–	–
19	11	Kenneth Williams	GBR	59.4 (5 h3)	–	–
20	–	Dennis Ford	RSA	59.5 (6 h3)	–	–
21	63	Lev Balandin	URS	59.6 (4 h1)	–	–
=22	–	Karri Käyhkö	FIN	59.8 (6 h1)	–	–
=22	13	Hans Köhler	GER	59.8 (5 h1)	–	–
=22	16	Cheung Kin Man	HKG	59.8 (4 h2)	–	–
25	–	Haroldo Lara	BRA	59.9 (4 h4)	–	–
=26	14	Horst Bleeker	GER	1:00.1 (5 h2)	–	–
=26	18	Habib Nasution	INA	1:00.1 (5 h4)	–	–
=28	131	Sergio Martínez	COL	1:00.2 (6 h2)	–	–
=28	10	Alex Jany	FRA	1:00.2 (6 h4)	–	–
=28	22	Dakula Arabani	PHI	1:00.2 (6 h5)	–	–
31	–	Peter Duncan	RSA	1:00.4 (7 h2)	–	–
=32	17	Wan Shiu Ming	HKG	1:00.7 (7 h5)	–	–
=32	–	André Laurent	BEL	1:00.7 (7 h1)	–	–
34	–	Shrichand Bajaj	IND	1:01.6 (7 h3)	–	–

Round One

Date	29 November 1956 — 14:00
Format	Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Reid Patterson	USA	56.8	QOR
2	–	Atsushi Tani	JPN	57.1	Q
3	–	John Devitt	AUS	57.2	Q
4	–	Jon Henricks	AUS	57.3	Q
5	–	Manabu Koga	JPN	57.7	Q
=6	–	Dick Hanley	USA	57.8	Q
=6	–	Gary Chapman	AUS	57.8	Q
8	–	Aldo Eminente	FRA	58.0	Q
9	–	Bill Woolsey	USA	58.2	Q
=10	–	Paolo Pucci	ITA	58.3	Q
=10	–	Ronald Roberts	GBR	58.3	Q
=12	–	Hiroshi Suzuki	JPN	58.4	Q
=12	–	Paul Voell	GER	58.4	Q
=14	–	Carlo Pedersoli	ITA	58.5	Q
=14	–	Gyula Dobay	HUN	58.5	Q
16	–	Vitaly Sorokin	URS	58.6	Q
17	–	George Park	CAN	58.8
18	–	Billy Steuart	RSA	59.2
19	–	Kenneth Williams	GBR	59.4
20	–	Dennis Ford	RSA	59.5
21	–	Lev Balandin	URS	59.6
=22	–	Hans Köhler	GER	59.8
=22	–	Karri Käyhkö	FIN	59.8
=22	–	Cheung Kin Man	HKG	59.8
25	–	Haroldo Lara	BRA	59.9
=26	–	Horst Bleeker	GER	1:00.1
=26	–	Habib Nasution	INA	1:00.1
=28	–	Sergio Martínez	COL	1:00.2
=28	–	Alex Jany	FRA	1:00.2
=28	–	Dakula Arabani	PHI	1:00.2
31	–	Peter Duncan	RSA	1:00.4
=32	–	André Laurent	BEL	1:00.7
=32	–	Wan Shiu Ming	HKG	1:00.7
34	–	Shrichand Bajaj	IND	1:01.6

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Jon Henricks	AUS	57.3	Q
2	–	Dick Hanley	USA	57.8	Q
3	–	Billy Steuart	RSA	59.2
4	–	Lev Balandin	URS	59.6
5	–	Hans Köhler	GER	59.8
6	–	Karri Käyhkö	FIN	59.8
7	–	André Laurent	BEL	1:00.7

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Manabu Koga	JPN	57.7	Q
2	–	Aldo Eminente	FRA	58.0	Q
3	–	Vitaly Sorokin	URS	58.6	Q
4	–	Cheung Kin Man	HKG	59.8
5	–	Horst Bleeker	GER	1:00.1
6	–	Sergio Martínez	COL	1:00.2
7	–	Peter Duncan	RSA	1:00.4

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	John Devitt	AUS	57.2	Q
2	–	Paolo Pucci	ITA	58.3	Q
3	–	Hiroshi Suzuki	JPN	58.4	Q
4	–	Paul Voell	GER	58.4	Q
5	–	Kenneth Williams	GBR	59.4
6	–	Dennis Ford	RSA	59.5
7	–	Shrichand Bajaj	IND	1:01.6

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Reid Patterson	USA	56.8	QOR
2	–	Atsushi Tani	JPN	57.1	Q
3	–	Carlo Pedersoli	ITA	58.5	Q
4	–	Haroldo Lara	BRA	59.9
5	–	Habib Nasution	INA	1:00.1
6	–	Alex Jany	FRA	1:00.2

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Gary Chapman	AUS	57.8	Q
2	–	Bill Woolsey	USA	58.2	Q
3	–	Ronald Roberts	GBR	58.3	Q
4	–	Gyula Dobay	HUN	58.5	Q
5	–	George Park	CAN	58.8
6	–	Dakula Arabani	PHI	1:00.2
7	–	Wan Shiu Ming	HKG	1:00.7

Semi-Finals

Date	29 November 1956 — 20:35
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Jon Henricks	AUS	55.7	QOR
2	John Devitt	AUS	56.4	Q
=3	Dick Hanley	USA	56.9	Q
=3	Gary Chapman	AUS	56.9	Q
5	Reid Patterson	USA	57.1	Q
6	Atsushi Tani	JPN	57.4	Q
=7	Aldo Eminente	FRA	58.0	Q
=7	Hiroshi Suzuki	JPN	58.0
=7	Bill Woolsey	USA	58.0	Q
=10	Gyula Dobay	HUN	58.1
=10	Manabu Koga	JPN	58.1
12	Vitaly Sorokin	URS	58.2
13	Paul Voell	GER	58.6
14	Paolo Pucci	ITA	58.8
15	Ronald Roberts	GBR	58.9
16	Carlo Pedersoli	ITA	59.0

Heat #1

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Jon Henricks	AUS	55.7	QOR
2	Dick Hanley	USA	56.9	Q
3	Atsushi Tani	JPN	57.4	Q
4	Aldo Eminente	FRA	58.0	Q
5	Hiroshi Suzuki	JPN	58.0
6	Vitaly Sorokin	URS	58.2
7	Paolo Pucci	ITA	58.8
8	Carlo Pedersoli	ITA	59.0

Heat #2

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	John Devitt	AUS	56.4	Q
2	Gary Chapman	AUS	56.9	Q
3	Reid Patterson	USA	57.1	Q
4	Bill Woolsey	USA	58.0	Q
5	Gyula Dobay	HUN	58.1
6	Manabu Koga	JPN	58.1
7	Paul Voell	GER	58.6
8	Ronald Roberts	GBR	58.9

Final Round

Date	30 November 1956 — 19:55

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Jon Henricks	AUS	55.4	WR
2	–	John Devitt	AUS	55.8
3	–	Gary Chapman	AUS	56.7
4	–	Reid Patterson	USA	57.2
5	–	Dick Hanley	USA	57.6
6	–	Bill Woolsey	USA	57.6
7	–	Atsushi Tani	JPN	58.0
8	–	Aldo Eminente	FRA	58.1