Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
800 m		women
1500 m	men
Backstroke
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
Breaststroke
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
Butterfly
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
Individual medley
200 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
Freestyle relay
4×100 m	men	women
4×200 m	men
Medley relay
4×100 m	men	women

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between October 18 and 19. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

Medalists

Gold	Mike Wenden Australia (AUS)
Silver	Ken Walsh United States (USA)
Bronze	Mark Spitz United States (USA)

Results

Heats

There were 9 heats in this category. 24 fastest swimmers from the heats advanced to the semifinals.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Michel Rousseau (FRA)	54.9
2.	Lester Eriksson (SWE)	55.2
3.	Bernard Gruener (FRA)	56.2
4.	Pano Capéronis (SUI)	56.2
5.	Ørjan Madsen (NOR)	56.3
6.	Donnacha O'Dea (IRL)	59.5
7.	Lee Tong-shing (ROC)	1:01.0
8.	José Alvarado (ESA)	1:02.0

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Luis Nicolao (ARG)	54.6
2.	Bobby McGregor (GBR)	55.1
3.	Greg Rogers (AUS)	55.4
4.	José Aranha (BRA)	56.8
5.	Mario Santibáñez (MEX)	57.0
6.	Andrew Loh (HKG)	1:00.7
7.	Luis Aguilar (CRC)	1:04.5

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Leonid Ilyichov (URS)	54.9
2.	Kunihiro Iwasaki (JPN)	55.5
3.	Gary Goodner (PUR)	55.7
4.	Rafaél Cal (MEX)	56.5
5.	Petr Schmid (AUT)	57.1
6.	Wong Man Chiu (HKG)	58.0
7.	Fernando González (CRC)	58.6

Heat 4

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Zac Zorn (USA)	54.2
2.	Wolfgang Kremer (FRG)	55.0
3.	Kucsera Gábor (HUN)	55.1
4.	Csaba Csatlós (HUN)	56.6
5.	Herman Verbauwen (BEL)	57.5
6.	Federico Sicard (COL)	59.0
7.	Yacoub Masboungi (LIB)	1:00.5

Heat 5

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Mark Spitz (USA)	54.6
2.	José Antonio Chicoy (ESP)	54.9
3.	François Simons (BEL)	55.5
4.	Roosevelt Abdulgafur (PHI)	55.8
5.	Carlos van der Maath (ARG)	56.4
6.	Angus Edghill (BAR)	58.1
7.	Michael Goodner (PUR)	58.2
8.	Salvador Vilanova (ESA)	59.6

Heat 6

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Sergey Gusev (URS)	54.8
2.	John Gilchrist (CAN)	55.4
3.	Michele D’Oppido (ITA)	57.3
4.	Gregorio Fiallo (CUB)	58.2
5.	Geoffrey Ferreira (TRI)	58.9
6.	Robert Loh (HKG)	1:01.1

Heat 7

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Georgijs Kuļikovs (URS)	54.3
2.	Pietro Boscaini (ITA)	55.7
3.	Olaf, Baron von Schilling (FRG)	55.8
4.	Luis Ayesa (PHI)	56.2
5.	Salvador Ruiz (MEX)	56.4
6.	Paul Nash (JAM)	59.0
7.	José Martinez (CUB)	1:00.4

Heat 8

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Mike Wenden (AUS)	53.6
2.	Bob Windle (AUS)	54.8
3.	Mike Turner (GBR)	55.8
4.	Glen Finch (CAN)	56.0
5.	José Ferriouli (PUR)	56.1
6.	Ricardo González (HKG)	57.0

Heat 9

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Ken Walsh (USA)	55.7
2.	Masayuki Osawa (JPN)	56.5
3.	Anthony Jarvis (ITA)	56.5
4.	Peter Schorning (FRG)	56.9
5.	Letase Gérard (TRI)	57.2
6.	Amnon Krauz (ISR)	57.2
7.	Gudmunður Gíslason (ISL)	58.6
8.	Ernesto Durón (ESA)	1:03.8

Semifinals

8 fastest swimmers advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Leonid Ilyichov (URS)	53.8
2.	Bobby McGregor (GBR)	53.8
3.	Georgijs Kuļikovs (URS)	54.1
4.	Greg Rogers (AUS)	54.8
5.	Sergey Gusev (URS)	55.2
6.	Kunihiro Iwasaki (JPN)	55.8
7.	Gary Goodner (PUR)	55.8
8.	Olaf, Baron von Schilling (FRG)	55.9

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Zac Zorn (USA)	53.4
2.	Luis Nicolao (ARG)	53.8
3.	Ken Walsh (USA)	53.9
4.	Wolfgang Kremer (FRG)	54.3
5.	Lester Eriksson (SWE)	55.2
6.	José Antonio Chicoy (ESP)	54.9
7.	François Simons (BEL)	55.3
8.	Roosevelt Abdulgafur (PHI)	55.9

Semifinal 3

Rank	Athlete Name	Time
1.	Mike Wenden (AUS)	52.9
2.	Mark Spitz (USA)	53.8
3.	Michel Rousseau (FRA)	54.5
4.	Bob Windle (AUS)	54.6
5.	John Gilchrist (CAN)	54.8
6.	Kucsera Gábor (HUN)	55.0
7.	Pietro Boscaini (ITA)	55.6
8.	Mike Turner (GBR)	55.6

Final

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
	Mike Wenden	Australia	52.2	WR
	Ken Walsh	United States	52.8
	Mark Spitz	United States	53.0
4	Bobby McGregor	Great Britain	53.5
5	Leonid Ilyichov	Soviet Union	53.8
6	Georgijs Kuļikovs	Soviet Union	53.8
7	Luis Nicolao	Argentina	53.9
8	Zac Zorn	United States	53.9

Key: WR = World record

References

• 1968 Summer Olympics results: Men's 100 m freestyle, from http://www.sports-reference.com/; retrieved 2009-11-27.
• Men 100m Freestyle Swimming Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City (MEX)