Swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Dates 13 – 20 July 1924
Medal Events 11

The 1924 Olympic swimming program took place at the Piscine des Tourelles, or the Tourelles Swimming Pool, in Saint-Mandé. It still exists, but was renovated in 1989, and is now known as the Stade Nautique Georges Vallerey.

The 1924 Olympic Program consisted of 11 swimming events, 6 for men and 5 for women. The men’s program was unchanged from 1920, with the same six events. The women added two events – the 200 metre breaststroke and the 100 metre backstroke. In addition, the women’s longer freestyle event was changed from 300 metres, which was the distance in 1920, to 400 metres.

The United States dominated the competition for both genders, winning 9 of 11 gold medals and 19 of the 33 available medals. Among the men the Americans won 5 golds and 9 medals, while the women won 4 golds and 10 medals.

The swimming star of the 1924 Olympics was the United States’ Johnny Weissmuller, who won gold medals in the 100 freestyle, 400 freestyle, and the 4×200 relay. He also added a bronze medal in water polo. Three swimmers won three medals – Australian Boy Charlton, American Trudy Ederle, and Sweden’s Arne Borg, while American Ethel Lackie was the only other swimmer, besides Weissmuller, to win two gold medals.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
100 metres Freestyle, Men Olympic 19 – 20 July 1924 30 15
400 metres Freestyle, Men Olympic 16 – 18 July 1924 23 13
1,500 metres Freestyle, Men Olympic 13 – 15 July 1924 22 12
4 x 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men Olympic 18 – 20 July 1924 57 13
100 metres Backstroke, Men Olympic 16 – 18 July 1924 20 11
200 metres Breaststroke, Men Olympic 15 – 17 July 1924 28 16
100 metres Freestyle, Women Olympic 19 – 20 July 1924 16 7
400 metres Freestyle, Women Olympic 13 – 15 July 1924 18 8
4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women Olympic 18 July 1924 24 6
100 metres Backstroke, Women Olympic 19 – 20 July 1924 10 5
200 metres Breaststroke, Women Olympic 16 – 18 July 1924 15 8
169 (118/51) 23 (22/10)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 metres Freestyle, Men Johnny WeissmullerUSA Duke KahanamokuUSA Sam KahanamokuUSA
400 metres Freestyle, Men Johnny WeissmullerUSA Arne BorgSWE Boy CharltonAUS
1,500 metres Freestyle, Men Boy CharltonAUS Arne BorgSWE Frank BeaurepaireAUS
4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men United StatesUSA AustraliaAUS SwedenSWE
100 metres Backstroke, Men Warren KealohaUSA Paul WyattUSA Károly BarthaHUN
200 metres Breaststroke, Men Bob SkeltonUSA Joseph De CombeBEL Bill KirschbaumUSA
100 metres Freestyle, Women Ethel LackieUSA Mariechen WehselauUSA Trudy EderleUSA
400 metres Freestyle, Women Martha NoreliusUSA Helen WainwrightUSA Trudy EderleUSA
4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women United StatesUSA Great BritainGBR SwedenSWE
100 metres Backstroke, Women Sybil BauerUSA Phyllis HardingGBR Aileen RigginUSA
200 metres Breaststroke, Women Lucy MortonGBR Agnes GeraghtyUSA Gladys CarsonGBR

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
United States USA 9 5 5 19
Great Britain GBR 1 2 1 4
Australia AUS 1 1 2 4
Sweden SWE 0 2 2 4
Belgium BEL 0 1 0 1
Hungary HUN 0 0 1 1