Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

Men's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the IV Olympiad
File:London 1908 Swimming.jpg The start of the final
Venue	White City Stadium
Dates	July 15–18
Competitors	27 from 10 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Frederick Holman File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain 2nd place, silver medalist(s) William Robinson File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pontus Hanson File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden

The men's 200 metre breaststroke was one of 6 swimming events on the Swimming at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. It was the only breaststroke event on the schedule. 1908 was the first appearance of the 200 metre breaststroke, as 1904 had seen the introduction of the stroke to Olympic competition with the 440 yard event. Each nation could enter up to 12 swimmers.

Competition format

With a much larger field than in 1904, the 1908 competition expanded to three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The 1908 Games also restored the wild-card system from 1900, allowing the fastest swimmers who did not win their heat to advance. The seven heats consisted of between 3 and 5 swimmers, with the winner of the heat advancing along with the fastest loser from across the heats (all tied swimmers advanced in the case of equal times). There were two semifinals, intended to be of 5 swimmers each but one of which actually had 6 due to a tie in the heats; the top 2 finishers in each semifinal (regardless of overall time) advanced to the 4-person final. Each race involved two lengths of the 100 metre pool. The rules required that "both hands of the competitor must be pushed forward and brought backwards simultaneously, the shoulders must be kept perfectly in line with the surface of the water, and when touching at the turn . . . the touch shall be made with both hands" and that "the touch at the finish shall be made with both hands."

Results

First round

The fastest swimmer in each heat and the fastest loser advanced, qualifying 8 swimmers for the semifinals.

Heat 1

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	Frederick Holman	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	3:10.6
2	Richard Rösler	File:Flag of the German Empire.svg Germany	3:18.0
3	Max Gumpel	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	Unknown

Heat 2

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	Wilhelm Persson	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	3:17.6
2	András Baronyi	File:Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg Hungary	3:18.0
3	Augustus Goessling	File:US flag 45 stars.svg United States	Unknown
4-5	Herman Cederberg	File:Flag of Russia.svg Finland	Unknown
	Frederick Naylor	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	Unknown

Heat 3

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	Erich Seidel	File:Flag of the German Empire.svg Germany	3:17.2
2	Hjalmar Johansson	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	3:21.2
3	Alf Davies	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	Unknown
4	Pierre Strauwen	File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium	Unknown

Heat 4

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	Ödön Toldi	File:Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg Hungary	3:14.4
2	Pontus Hanson	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	3:15.0
3	Sydney Gooday	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	Unknown
4	Amilcare Beretta	File:Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Italy	Unknown

Heat 5

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	William Robinson	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	3:13.0
2	Per Fjästad	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	3:31.4
3	John Henriksson	File:Flag of Russia.svg Finland	Unknown
—	Edward Cooke	File:Flag of Australasian team for Olympic games.svg Australasia	Did not finish

Heat 6

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	József Fabinyi	File:Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg Hungary	3:23.4
2	Torsten Kumfeldt	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	3:24.6
3	Harald Klem	File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark	Unknown
—	Hugo Jonsson	File:Flag of Russia.svg Finland	Did not finish

Heat 7

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	Félicien Courbet	File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium	3:16.4
2	Percy Courtman	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	3:18.4
3	Adolf Andersson	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	Unknown

Semifinals

The fastest two swimmers from each semifinal advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	Frederick Holman	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	3:10.0
2	Ödön Toldi	File:Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg Hungary	3:16.4
3	Erich Seidel	File:Flag of the German Empire.svg Germany	Unknown
4	József Fabinyi	File:Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg Hungary	Unknown

Semifinal 2

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	William Robinson	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	3:11.8
2	Pontus Hanson	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	3:13.0
3	Wilhelm Persson	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	Unknown
4	Félicien Courbet	File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium	Unknown

Final

Place	Swimmer	Nation	Time
1	Frederick Holman	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	3:09.2
2	William Robinson	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	3:12.8
3	Pontus Hanson	File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	3:14.6
4	Ödön Toldi	File:Flag of Hungary (1867-1918).svg Hungary	3:15.2

Sources

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
• De Wael, Herman (2001). "Swimming 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 13 May 2006.