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1,500 metres Freestyle, Men

Date31 July – 2 August 1952
StatusOlympic
LocationHelsingin Uimastadion, Helsinki
Participants37 from 22 countries

Hironoshin Furuhashi of Japan had been the outstanding long distance freestyle swimmer since the last Olympics but was probably past his best by 1952. His preparations for Helsinki were ruined by a bout of malaria and his Olympic career was limited to a below-par swim in the 400m. The standard of competition was high, 400m champion Jean Boiteux went below the pre-Games Olympic record but failed to reach the final. The fastest qualifiers for the final were Shiro Hashizume of Japan and the Japanese-American Ford Konno, another from the great Hawaiian tradition of swimmers, and these two continued their form into the final. Hashizume went off into a lead but was gradually pulled back by Konno. At 1200m Konno moved level with the Japanese swimmer and then forged ahead as Hashizume’s fast start had drained his stamina. Konno eventually finished ten seconds clear of Hashizume whilst a frantic battle for third place saw Tetsuo Okamoto, a Brazilian of Japanese parentage, edge out the 1948 champion Jimmy McLane to complete an unusual “Japanese” sweep of the medals.

PosNumberCompetitorNOCR1Final
1606Ford KonnoUSA18:53.7 (1 h5)18:30.3 (1)Gold
2282Shiro HashizumeJPN18:34.0 (1 h1)18:41.4 (2)Silver
375Tetsuo OkamotoBRA19:05.6 (1 h3)18:51.3 (3)Bronze
4605Jimmy McLaneUSA19:09.3 (1 h2)18:51.5 (4)
5436Jo BernardoFRA19:06.5 (2 h5)18:59.1 (5)
6283Yasuo KitamuraJPN19:10.3 (3 h6)19:00.4 (6)
7–Peter DuncanRSA19:03.5 (1 h6)19:12.1 (7)
893John MarshallAUS19:09.2 (2 h6)19:53.4 (8)
9435Jean BoiteuxFRA19:12.3 (1 h4)–
10422Gotfryd GremlowskiPOL19:17.5 (2 h1)–
11490Heinz-Günther LehmannGER19:17.9 (2 h2)–
12339Tonatiuh GutiérrezMEX19:18.9 (3 h1)–
13607Bill WoolseyUSA19:24.6 (2 h4)–
14566György CsordásHUN19:26.2 (2 h3)–
1574Sylvio dos SantosBRA19:26.8 (4 h1)–
16284Yukiyoshi AokiJPN19:27.0 (3 h3)–
17127Graham JohnstonRSA19:27.1 (5 h1)–
18125Dennis FordRSA19:27.6 (3 h5)–
19338César BorjaMEX19:43.3 (3 h4)–
20115Enrique GranadosESP19:45.9 (4 h6)–
21337Efrén FierroMEX19:55.8 (3 h2)–
22197Bob SreenanGBR19:59.2 (4 h4)–
23320Gerry McNameeCAN20:02.5 (6 h1)–
2422Garrick AgnewAUS20:03.8 (4 h2)–
25369Vladimer Lavrinenk'oURS20:07.8 (5 h4)–
26321Allen GilchristCAN20:08.3 (4 h5)–
27368Endel PressURS20:11.7 (4 h3)–
28169Cheung Kin ManHKG20:50.2 (6 h4)–
29140Sambiao BasanungPHI20:58.6 (7 h1)–
3091Geoffrey MarksSRI20:59.4 (5 h6)–
3162Robert CookBER20:59.6 (6 h6)–
32588Eduardo PriggioneURU21:11.9 (7 h4)–
33405Roar WoldumNOR21:19.5 (7 h6)–
34536Walter SchneiderSUI21:36.2 (5 h2)–
3563Walter BardgettBER21:42.4 (5 h3)–
36170Sonny MonteiroHKG22:26.7 (6 h3)–
37408Muhammad RamzanPAK23:44.3 (6 h2)–
DNS488Georg MascettiSAA– (DNS h2)–
DNS94Abdel Aziz El-ShafeiEGY– (DNS h3)–
DNS567Dezső LemhényiHUN– (DNS h5)–
DNS370Valentin ProkopovURS– (DNS h5)–

Round One

Date31 July 1952 — 10:00
FormatFastest eight advanced to the final.
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Shiro HashizumeJPN18:34.0QOR
2–Ford KonnoUSA18:53.7Q
3–Peter DuncanRSA19:03.5Q
4–Tetsuo OkamotoBRA19:05.6Q
5–Jo BernardoFRA19:06.5Q
6–John MarshallAUS19:09.2Q
7–Jimmy McLaneUSA19:09.3Q
8–Yasuo KitamuraJPN19:10.3Q
9–Jean BoiteuxFRA19:12.3
10–Gotfryd GremlowskiPOL19:17.5
11–Heinz-Günther LehmannGER19:17.9
12–Tonatiuh GutiérrezMEX19:18.9
13–Bill WoolseyUSA19:24.6
14–György CsordásHUN19:26.2
15–Sylvio dos SantosBRA19:26.8
16–Yukiyoshi AokiJPN19:27.0
17–Graham JohnstonRSA19:27.1
18–Dennis FordRSA19:27.6
19–César BorjaMEX19:43.3
20–Enrique GranadosESP19:45.9
21–Efrén FierroMEX19:55.8
22–Bob SreenanGBR19:59.2
23–Gerry McNameeCAN20:02.5
24–Garrick AgnewAUS20:03.8
25–Vladimer Lavrinenk'oURS20:07.8
26–Allen GilchristCAN20:08.3
27–Endel PressURS20:11.7
28–Cheung Kin ManHKG20:50.2
29–Sambiao BasanungPHI20:58.6
30–Geoffrey MarksSRI20:59.4
31–Robert CookBER20:59.6
32–Eduardo PriggioneURU21:11.9
33–Roar WoldumNOR21:19.5
34–Walter SchneiderSUI21:36.2
35–Walter BardgettBER21:42.4
36–Sonny MonteiroHKG22:26.7
37–Muhammad RamzanPAK23:44.3
DNS–Georg MascettiSAA–
DNS–Abdel Aziz El-ShafeiEGY–
DNS–Dezső LemhényiHUN–
DNS–Valentin ProkopovURS–

Heat #1

Time10:00
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Shiro HashizumeJPN18:34.0QOR
2–Gotfryd GremlowskiPOL19:17.5
3–Tonatiuh GutiérrezMEX19:18.9
4–Sylvio dos SantosBRA19:26.8
5–Graham JohnstonRSA19:27.1
6–Gerry McNameeCAN20:02.5
7–Sambiao BasanungPHI20:58.6

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Jimmy McLaneUSA19:09.3Q
2–Heinz-Günther LehmannGER19:17.9
3–Efrén FierroMEX19:55.8
4–Garrick AgnewAUS20:03.8
5–Walter SchneiderSUI21:36.2
6–Muhammad RamzanPAK23:44.3
DNS–Georg MascettiSAA–

Heat #3

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Tetsuo OkamotoBRA19:05.6Q
2–György CsordásHUN19:26.2
3–Yukiyoshi AokiJPN19:27.0
4–Endel PressURS20:11.7
5–Walter BardgettBER21:42.4
6–Sonny MonteiroHKG22:26.7
DNS–Abdel Aziz El-ShafeiEGY–

Heat #4

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Jean BoiteuxFRA19:12.3
2–Bill WoolseyUSA19:24.6
3–César BorjaMEX19:43.3
4–Bob SreenanGBR19:59.2
5–Vladimer Lavrinenk'oURS20:07.8
6–Cheung Kin ManHKG20:50.2
7–Eduardo PriggioneURU21:11.9

Heat #5

Time17:00
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Ford KonnoUSA18:53.7Q
2–Jo BernardoFRA19:06.5Q
3–Dennis FordRSA19:27.6
4–Allen GilchristCAN20:08.3
DNS–Dezső LemhényiHUN–
DNS–Valentin ProkopovURS–

Heat #6

PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Peter DuncanRSA19:03.5Q
2–John MarshallAUS19:09.2Q
3–Yasuo KitamuraJPN19:10.3Q
4–Enrique GranadosESP19:45.9
5–Geoffrey MarksSRI20:59.4
6–Robert CookBER20:59.6
7–Roar WoldumNOR21:19.5

Final Round

Date2 August 1952 — 17:00
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime
1–Ford KonnoUSA18:30.3OR
2–Shiro HashizumeJPN18:41.4
3–Tetsuo OkamotoBRA18:51.3
4–Jimmy McLaneUSA18:51.5
5–Jo BernardoFRA18:59.1
6–Yasuo KitamuraJPN19:00.4
7–Peter DuncanRSA19:12.1
8–John MarshallAUS19:53.4