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| Event type

100 metres Freestyle, Men

Date29 – 30 November 1956
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympic Park Swimming and Diving Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants34 from 19 countries

At the time of the Helsinki Olympics, Jon Henricks was the up and coming star of Australian distance swimming having won medals at 440 y, 880 y and 1650 y at the national championships. His chances of an Olympic début in 1952 were then ruined by a serious and persistent ear infection that wrecked his chances of making the Australian team. Henricks reinvented himself as a sprinter in 1953 and soon embarked on a spectacular run of success over the 100 metres or imperial equivalent. He won three gold medals at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1956 and was successful on visits to the USA and Japan as well.

As such, Henricks was the favourite for the title in Melbourne and he lived up to his billing by setting a world record on his way to the Olympic championships. It was, however, a far closer race than anyone had predicted with Henricks being chased by teammate John Devitt until the very end. Gary Chapman took bronze to compete a clean sweep for Australian on the medal podium – the first time ever Australia had swept any Olympic event. Henricks also had the honour of being the first Australian man to win Olympic gold on home soil.

In a statistical curiosity American swimmers finished in positions 4-5-6 behind the Australians in 1-2-3.

Henricks’ attempt to defend his title in Rome ended in the heats after a debilitating stomach ailment ruined his Olympics.

PosSwimmerNOCR1SFFinal
1Jon HenricksAUS57.3 (1 h1)55.7 (1 h1)55.4 (1)Gold
2John DevittAUS57.2 (1 h3)56.4 (1 h2)55.8 (2)Silver
3Gary ChapmanAUS57.8 (1 h5)56.9 (2 h2)56.7 (3)Bronze
4Reid PattersonUSA56.8 (1 h4)57.1 (3 h2)57.2 (4)
5Dick HanleyUSA57.8 (2 h1)56.9 (2 h1)57.6 (5)
6Bill WoolseyUSA58.2 (2 h5)58.0 (4 h2)57.6 (6)
7Atsushi TaniJPN57.1 (2 h4)57.4 (3 h1)58.0 (7)
8Aldo EminenteFRA58.0 (2 h2)58.0 (4 h1)58.1 (8)
9Hiroshi SuzukiJPN58.4 (3 h3)58.0 (5 h1)
=10Gyula DobayHUN58.5 (4 h5)58.1 (5 h2)
=10Manabu KogaJPN57.7 (1 h2)58.1 (6 h2)
12Vitaly SorokinURS58.6 (3 h2)58.2 (6 h1)
13Paul VoellGER58.4 (4 h3)58.6 (7 h2)
14Paolo PucciITA58.3 (2 h3)58.8 (7 h1)
15Ronald RobertsGBR58.3 (3 h5)58.9 (8 h2)
16Carlo PedersoliITA58.5 (3 h4)59.0 (8 h1)
17George ParkCAN58.8 (5 h5)
18Billy SteuartRSA59.2 (3 h1)
19Kenneth WilliamsGBR59.4 (5 h3)
20Dennis FordRSA59.5 (6 h3)
21Lev BalandinURS59.6 (4 h1)
=22Karri KäyhköFIN59.8 (6 h1)
=22Hans KöhlerGER59.8 (5 h1)
=22Cheung Kin ManHKG59.8 (4 h2)
25Haroldo LaraBRA59.9 (4 h4)
=26Horst BleekerGER1:00.1 (5 h2)
=26Habib NasutionINA1:00.1 (5 h4)
=28Sergio MartínezCOL1:00.2 (6 h2)
=28Alex JanyFRA1:00.2 (6 h4)
=28Dakula ArabaniPHI1:00.2 (6 h5)
31Peter DuncanRSA1:00.4 (7 h2)
=32Wan Shiu MingHKG1:00.7 (7 h5)
=32André LaurentBEL1:00.7 (7 h1)
34Shrichand BajajIND1:01.6 (7 h3)

Round One (29 November 1956 — 14:00)

Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Jon HenricksAUS57.3Q
25Dick HanleyUSA57.8Q
31Billy SteuartRSA59.2
43Lev BalandinURS59.6
57Hans KöhlerGER59.8
62Karri KäyhköFIN59.8
76André LaurentBEL1:00.7

Heat Two

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Manabu KogaJPN57.7Q
23Aldo EminenteFRA58.0Q
36Vitaly SorokinURS58.6Q
47Cheung Kin ManHKG59.8
55Horst BleekerGER1:00.1
61Sergio MartínezCOL1:00.2
72Peter DuncanRSA1:00.4

Heat Three

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
16John DevittAUS57.2Q
23Paolo PucciITA58.3Q
34Hiroshi SuzukiJPN58.4Q
45Paul VoellGER58.4Q
51Kenneth WilliamsGBR59.4
67Dennis FordRSA59.5
72Shrichand BajajIND1:01.6

Heat Four

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
13Reid PattersonUSA56.8QOR
26Atsushi TaniJPN57.1Q
34Carlo PedersoliITA58.5Q
45Haroldo LaraBRA59.9
57Habib NasutionINA1:00.1
62Alex JanyFRA1:00.2

Heat Five

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
15Gary ChapmanAUS57.8Q
23Bill WoolseyUSA58.2Q
36Ronald RobertsGBR58.3Q
44Gyula DobayHUN58.5Q
57George ParkCAN58.8
62Dakula ArabaniPHI1:00.2
71Wan Shiu MingHKG1:00.7

Semi-Finals (29 November 1956 — 20:35)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
1Jon HenricksAUS55.7QOR
2Dick HanleyUSA56.9Q
3Atsushi TaniJPN57.4Q
4Aldo EminenteFRA58.0Q
5Hiroshi SuzukiJPN58.0
6Vitaly SorokinURS58.2
7Paolo PucciITA58.8
8Carlo PedersoliITA59.0

Heat Two

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
1John DevittAUS56.4Q
2Gary ChapmanAUS56.9Q
3Reid PattersonUSA57.1Q
4Bill WoolseyUSA58.0Q
5Gyula DobayHUN58.1
6Manabu KogaJPN58.1
7Paul VoellGER58.6
8Ronald RobertsGBR58.9

Final (30 November 1956 — 19:55)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Jon HenricksAUS55.4WR
25John DevittAUS55.8
33Gary ChapmanAUS56.7
42Reid PattersonUSA57.2
56Dick HanleyUSA57.6
68Bill WoolseyUSA57.6
77Atsushi TaniJPN58.0
81Aldo EminenteFRA58.1