The men's 1500 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the second appearance of the event, which had been introduced in 1908. At the 1904 and 1906 Olympics a one-mile freestyle contest was held. The competition was held from Saturday July 6, 1912 to Wednesday July 10, 1912.
Nineteen swimmers from eleven nations competed. The winning margin was 39.0 seconds which as of 2023 remains the only time this event was won by more than 35 seconds at the Olympics.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.
World record 22:48.4 Henry Taylor London (GBR) July 25, 1908 Olympic record 22:48.4 Henry Taylor London (GBR) July 25, 1908
George Hodgson set a new world record with a 22:23.0 in the qualifying round and improved his own record in the final to 22:00.0.
Results
Quarterfinals
The top two in each heat advanced along with the fastest loser overall.
Quarterfinal 1
Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 23:12.2 QS 2 23:34.0 QS 3 24:06.4 qs — DNF
Quarterfinal 2
Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 22:58.0 QS 2 23:16.6 QS — DNF
Quarterfinal 3
Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 22:23.0 QS WR 2 23:03.6 QS 3 28:32.4
Quarterfinal 4
Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 23:58.0 QS 2 25:19.8 QS 3 27:38.0 — DNF
Quarterfinal 5
Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 23:23.2 QS 2 23:52.2 QS 3 25:45.6 4 27:05.2 — DNF
Semifinals
The top two from each heat and the faster of the two third place swimmers advanced.
Semifinal 1
Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 22:26.0 QF 2 22:33.4 QF 3 23:14.0 qf 4 23:14.4 — DNF DNS
Semifinal 2
Place Swimmer Time Qual. 1 23:09.8 QF 2 23:24.2 QF 3 23:32.2 4 — DNS
Final
Place Swimmer Time 1 22:00.0 WR 2 22:39.0 3 23:15.4 - DNF - DNF
References
Notes