Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's sailors 100 metre freestyle

The men's sailors 100 metre freestyle was one of the four swimming events on the Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The second swimming race was open only to sailors of the Greek Royal Navy. Eleven entered but only three actually took part in the event. The winning time was nearly a minute slower than that of the open 100 metre freestyle.

Men's 100 metre freestyle for sailors at the Games of the I Olympiad
Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Venue	Bay of Zea
Date	April 11
Competitors	3 from 1 nation
Winning time	2:20.4
Medalists
Ioannis Malokinis  Greece Spyridon Chazapis  Greece Dimitrios Drivas  Greece

Background

This was the only appearance of an event limited to Greek Royal Navy sailors. The exclusionary nature of this race is a rare phenomenon in the Olympic Games, which in general include only events open to all competitors; Bill Mallon, in his book about the 1896 Games, says of the event that "its inclusion in the Olympic records is dubious at best". However, the competition is included in the International Olympic Committee's database of Olympic medallists, and there is no record of Pierre de Coubertin or any other major figure in the beginning of the modern Olympic movement objecting to the consideration of the race as Olympic.[1]

Competition format

This freestyle swimming competition involved a single race, with all swimmers competing at the same time. The swimmers were taken out by ship into the bay, where they would swim toward shore.[1][2]

Schedule

The 100 metre freestyle for sailors was the second of the swimming events, held shortly after the open 100 metre freestyle.[2]

Date		Time	Round
Gregorian	Julian
Saturday, 11 April 1896	Saturday, 30 March 1896	11:00	Final

Results

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time
	Ioannis Malokinis	Greece	2:20.4
	Spyridon Chazapis	Greece	Unknown
	Dimitrios Drivas	Greece	Unknown

References

1. "500 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
2. Official Report, part 2, p. 96.

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J. & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at )
• Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at )
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.