Swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, 15 swimming events were contested, eight for men and seven for women. There was a total of 380 participants from 45 countries competing.[1][2] For the first time, the 4 × 100 metres medley relay was contested. The United States topped the medal standings with a total of 15 medals (9 gold), while Australia finished a close second with 13 medals (5 gold). 16-years-old phenom Chris von Saltza won four medals, three of them gold.

Swimming
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
VenueStadio Olimpico del Nuoto
Dates26 August – 3 September 1960
No. of events15
Competitors380 from 45 nations
← 1956
1964 →

Medal table

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  United States (USA)93315
2  Australia (AUS)55313
3  Great Britain (GBR)1113
4  Japan (JPN)0325
5  United Team of Germany (EUA)0134
6  Netherlands (NED)0123
7  Sweden (SWE)0101
8  Brazil (BRA)0011
Totals (8 entries)15151545

Medal summary

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Men's events

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Games Gold Silver Bronze
100 m freestyle
details
John Devitt
  Australia
55.2
(OR)
Lance Larson
  United States
55.2
(OR)
Manuel dos Santos
  Brazil
55.4
400 m freestyle
details
Murray Rose
  Australia
4:18.3
(OR)
Tsuyoshi Yamanaka
  Japan
4:21.4 John Konrads
  Australia
4:21.8
1500 m freestyle
details
John Konrads
  Australia
17:19.2
(OR)
Murray Rose
  Australia
17:21.7 George Breen
  United States
17:30.6
100 m backstroke
details
David Theile
  Australia
1:01.9
(OR)
Frank McKinney
  United States
1:02.1 Bob Bennett
  United States
1:02.3
200 m breaststroke
details
Bill Mulliken
  United States
2:37.4 Yoshihiko Osaki
  Japan
2:38.0 Wieger Mensonides
  Netherlands
2:39.7
200 m butterfly
details
Mike Troy
  United States
2:12.8
(WR)
Neville Hayes
  Australia
2:14.6 Dave Gillanders
  United States
2:15.3
4 × 200 m freestyle relay
details
  United States (USA)
George Harrison
Dick Blick
Mike Troy
Jeff Farrell
8:10.2 (WR)   Japan (JPN)
Makoto Fukui
Hiroshi Ishii
Tsuyoshi Yamanaka
Tatsuo Fujimoto
8:13.3   Australia (AUS)
David Dickson
John Devitt
Murray Rose
John Konrads
8:13.8
4 × 100 m medley relay
details
  United States (USA)
Frank McKinney
Paul Hait
Lance Larson
Jeff Farrell
4:05.4 (WR)   Australia (AUS)
David Theile
Terry Gathercole
Neville Hayes
Geoff Shipton
4:12.0   Japan (JPN)
Kazuo Tomita
Koichi Hirakida
Yoshihiko Osaki
Keigo Shimuzu
4:12.2

Women's events

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Games Gold Silver Bronze
100 m freestyle
details
Dawn Fraser
  Australia
1:01.2 (OR) Chris von Saltza
  United States
1:02.8 Natalie Steward
  Great Britain
1:03.1
400 m freestyle
details
Chris von Saltza
  United States
4:50.6 (OR) Jane Cederqvist
  Sweden
4:53.9 Tineke Lagerberg
  Netherlands
4:56.9
100 m backstroke
details
Lynn Burke
  United States
1:09.3 (OR) Natalie Steward
  Great Britain
1:10.8 Satoko Tanaka
  Japan
1:11.4
200 m breaststroke
details
Anita Lonsbrough
  Great Britain
2:49.5 (WR) Wiltrud Urselmann
  United Team of Germany
2:50.0 Barbara Göbel
  United Team of Germany
2:53.6
100 m butterfly
details
Carolyn Schuler
  United States
1:09.5 (OR) Marianne Heemskerk
  Netherlands
1:10.4 Jan Andrew
  Australia
1:12.2
4 × 100 m freestyle relay
details
  United States (USA)
Joan Spillane
Shirley Stobs
Carolyn Wood
Chris von Saltza
4:08.9 (WR)   Australia (AUS)
Dawn Fraser
Ilsa Konrads
Lorraine Crapp
Alva Colquhoun
4:11.3   United Team of Germany (EUA)
Christel Steffin
Heidi Pechstein
Gisela Weiss
Ursel Brunner
4:19.7
4 × 100 m medley relay
details
  United States (USA)
Lynn Burke
Patty Kempner
Carolyn Schuler
Chris von Saltza
4:41.1 (WR)   Australia (AUS)
Marilyn Wilson
Rosemary Lassig
Jan Andrew
Dawn Fraser
4:45.9   United Team of Germany (EUA)
Ingrid Schmidt
Ursula Küper
Bärbel Fuhrmann
Ursel Brunner
4:47.6

100m men's freestyle controversy

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Results were decided by finish judges who relied on their eyes and did not use replays. Three judges were assigned to each finishing position. There were three official timers in 1960 for each lane and swimmer, all timing by hand. All three timers for Devitt, in lane three, timed him in 55.2 seconds. The three timers for lane four timed Lance Larson in 55.0, 55.1, and 55.1 seconds.[3]

Former Olympic swimmer and FINA co-founder Max Ritter inspected the judge's scorecards. Two of the three first-place judges found that Devitt had finished first and the third found for Larson. Of the three-second-place judges, two found that Devitt finished second and one found that Larson was second. Ritter pointed out to chief judge Henry Runströmer of Sweden that the scorecards indicated a tie. Runstrümer cast the deciding vote and declared Devitt the winner. However, the rules at that time did not provide for the chief judge to have a vote or give him the right to break ties.[4] Ties were supposed to be broken by referring to the timing machine. The official results placed Devitt first and Larson second, both with the identical time of 55.2 seconds.[5] The United States team appealed, bolstered by videotaped footage of the finish that appeared to show Larson the winner.[6] The appeal jury, headed by Jan de Vries, also the President of FINA in 1960, rejected the appeal, keeping Devitt the winner.[7] This controversy would pave the way for electronic touchpads to be included in swimming events to determine finish and accurate timing.

Participating nations

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380 swimmers from 45 nations competed.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Swimming at the 1960 Rome Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  2. ^ "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  3. ^ David Maraniss, Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World, Simon & Schuster, New York City, p. 130 (2008).
  4. ^ Maraniss, Rome 1960 p. 132
  5. ^ Maraniss, Rome 1960, p. 131
  6. ^ Maraniss, Rome 1960, p. 137
  7. ^ Maraniss, Rome 1960, p. 138