100 metre freestyle

The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event)^[1] of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics, symbolizing the pinnacle of speed and athleticism in swimming competitions. ^[2]

The switch to mid-race in a 100 m freestyle.

The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1922.^[3] The current world records holders are Pan Zhanle who broke the record in Paris 2024 Olympics ^[4] and Sarah Sjöström (since 2017).

Australian Dawn Fraser won the event a record three times at the Olympics, and she is the only woman to win it more than once. Four men, American Duke Kahanamoku, Weissmuller, Russian Alexander Popov, and Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband won the event at the Olympics twice. Popov was also world champion (held since 1973) three times.

Men's champions

Olympic Games

See also: 100 m freestyle at the Summer Olympics

Edition	Winner	Time	Notes
Athens 1896	Alfréd Hajós (HUN)	1:22.2
Paris 1900	not held
St. Louis 1904	the race was 100 yards, not 100 meters
London 1908	Charles Daniels (USA)	1:05.6
Stockholm 1912	Duke Kahanamoku (USA)	1:03.4
Antwerp 1920	Duke Kahanamoku (USA)	1:01.4
Paris 1924	Johnny Weissmuller (USA)	59.0
Amsterdam 1928	Johnny Weissmuller (USA)	58.6
Los Angeles 1932	Yasuji Miyazaki (JPN)	58.2	[5]
Berlin 1936	Ferenc Csik (HUN)	57.6	[5]
London 1948	Wally Ris (USA)	57.3
Helsinki 1952	Clarke Scholes (USA)	57.4	[5]
Melbourne 1956	Jon Henricks (AUS)	55.4
Rome 1960	John Devitt (AUS)	55.2
Tokyo 1964	Don Schollander (USA)	53.4
Mexico City 1968	Mike Wenden (AUS)	52.2
Munich 1972	Mark Spitz (USA)	51.22
Montreal 1976	Jim Montgomery (USA)	49.99
Moscow 1980	Jörg Woithe (GDR)	50.40
Los Angeles 1984	Rowdy Gaines (USA)	49.80
Seoul 1988	Matt Biondi (USA)	48.63
Barcelona 1992	Alexander Popov (EUN)	49.02
Atlanta 1996	Alexander Popov (RUS)	48.74
Sydney 2000	Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED)	48.30	[5]
Athens 2004	Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED)	48.17
Beijing 2008	Alain Bernard (FRA)	47.21	[5]
London 2012	Nathan Adrian (USA)	47.52
Rio de Janeiro 2016	Kyle Chalmers (AUS)	47.58
Tokyo 2020	Caeleb Dressel (USA)	47.02
Paris 2024	Pan Zhanle (CHN)	46.40

World Championships

See also: 100 m freestyle at the World Championships

Edition	Winner	Time	Notes
Belgrade 1973	Jim Montgomery (USA)	51.70	[6]
Cali 1975	Andy Coan (USA)	51.25
Berlin 1978	David McCagg (USA)	50.24
Guayaquil 1982	Jörg Woithe (GDR)	50.18
Madrid 1986	Matt Biondi (USA)	48.94
Perth 1991	Matt Biondi (USA)	49.18
Roma 1994	Alexander Popov (RUS)	49.12
Perth 1998	Alexander Popov (RUS)	48.93
Fukuoka 2001	Anthony Ervin (USA)	48.33
Barcelona 2003	Alexander Popov (RUS)	48.42
Montreal 2005	Filippo Magnini (ITA)	48.12
Melbourne 2007	Filippo Magnini (ITA)  Brent Hayden (CAN)	48.43
Rome 2009	César Cielo (BRA)	46.91
Shanghai 2011	James Magnussen (AUS)	47.63
Barcelona 2013	James Magnussen (AUS)	47.71
Kazan 2015	Ning Zetao (CHN)	47.84
Budapest 2017	Caeleb Dressel (USA)	47.17
Gwanju 2019	Caeleb Dressel (USA)	46.96
Budapest 2022	David Popovici (ROU)	47.58
Fukuoka 2023	Kyle Chalmers (AUS)	47.15
Doha 2024	Pan Zhanle (CHN)	47.53

Women's champions

Olympic Games

See also: 100 m freestyle at the Summer Olympics

Edition	Winner	Time	Notes
Stockholm 1912	Fanny Durack (AUS)	1:22.2
Antwerp 1920	Ethelda Bleibtrey (USA)	1:13.6
Paris 1924	Ethel Lackie (USA)	1:12.4
Amsterdam 1928	Albina Osipowich (USA)	1:11.0
Los Angeles 1932	Helene Madison (USA)	1:06.8
Berlin 1936	Rie Mastenbroek (NED)	1:05.9
London 1948	Greta Andersen (DEN)	1:06.3
Helsinki 1952	Katalin Szöke (HUN)	1:06.8
Melbourne 1956	Dawn Fraser (AUS)	1:02.0
Rome 1960	Dawn Fraser (AUS)	1:01.2
Tokyo 1964	Dawn Fraser (AUS)	59.5
Mexico City 1968	Jan Henne (USA)	1:00.0
Munich 1972	Sandra Neilson (USA)	58.59
Montreal 1976	Kornelia Ender (GDR)	55.65
Moscow 1980	Barbara Krause (GDR)	54.79
Los Angeles 1984	Nancy Hogshead (USA)  Carrie Steinseifer (USA)	55.92
Seoul 1988	Kristin Otto (GDR)	54.93
Barcelona 1992	Zhuang Yong (CHN)	54.65
Atlanta 1996	Le Jingyi (CHN)	54.50
Sydney 2000	Inge de Bruijn (NED)	53.83
Athens 2004	Jodie Henry (AUS)	53.84
Beijing 2008	Britta Steffen (GER)	53.12
London 2012	Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED)	53.00
Rio de Janeiro 2016	Simone Manuel (USA)  Penny Oleksiak (CAN)	52.70
Tokyo 2020	Emma McKeon (AUS)	51.96
Paris 2024	Sarah Sjöström (SWE)	52.16

World Championships

See also: 100 m freestyle at the World Championships

Edition	Winner	Time	Notes
Belgrade 1973	Kornelia Ender (GDR)	57.54
Cali 1975	Kornelia Ender (GDR)	56.50
Berlin 1978	Barbara Krause (GDR)	55.68
Guayaquil 1982	Birgit Meineke (GDR)	55.79
Madrid 1986	Kristin Otto (GDR)	55.05
Perth 1991	Nicole Haislett (USA)	55.17
Roma 1994	Le Jingyi (CHN)	54.01
Perth 1998	Jenny Thompson (USA)	54.95
Fukuoka 2001	Inge de Bruijn (NED)	54.18
Barcelona 2003	Hanna-Maria Seppälä (FIN)	54.37
Montreal 2005	Jodie Henry (AUS)	54.18
Melbourne 2007	Libby Lenton (AUS)	53.40
Rome 2009	Britta Steffen (GER)	52.07
Shanghai 2011	Aliaksandra Herasimenia (BLR)	53.45
	Jeanette Ottesen (DEN)
Barcelona 2013	Cate Campbell (AUS)	52.34
Kazan 2015	Bronte Campbell (AUS)	52.52
Budapest 2017	Simone Manuel (USA)	52.27
Gwanju 2019	Simone Manuel (USA)	52.04
Budapest 2022	Mollie O'Callaghan (AUS)	52.67
Fukuoka 2023	Mollie O'Callaghan (AUS)	52.16
Doha 2024	Marrit Steenbergen (NED)	52.26

See also

• Freestyle swimming
• World record progression 100 metres freestyle

References

1. Balym, Todd (April 7, 2015). "James Magnussen fuming after finishing second to Cameron McEvoy in 100m freestyle event". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
2. Petru, Banias (2011). "Study on reduction of swimming speed in relation to age, in freestyle men events, in masters swimming". Procedia, social and behavioral science. 1 (1): 238.
3. "Swimming World Record progression – Men 100 m freestyle" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. 8 July 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2007.
4. Ed, Mackey (2024). "Swimming: New world record as Pan Zhanle wins gold!".
5. The Olympic Record was broken in the previous round.
6. The Championship's Record was broken in the previous round.

External links

• Swimming Men's 100 metres Freestyle Medalists at Sports-Reference
• History of the Men's 100-Meter Freestyle at the Olympic Games