Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between 18 and 19 October.

Competition format

The competition used a three-round format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 9 heats of between 6 and 8 swimmers each. The top 24 swimmers advanced to the semifinals. There were 3 semifinals of 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.
This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

Results

Heats

There were 9 heats in this category. 24 fastest swimmers from the heats advanced to the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	8			53.6
2	4			54.2
3	7			54.3
4	2			54.6
4	5			54.6
6	6			54.8
6	8			54.8
8	5			54.9
8	3			54.9
8	1			54.9
11	4			55.0
12	4			55.1
12	2			55.1
14	1			55.2
15	6			55.4
15	2			55.4
17	3			55.5
17	5			55.5
19	7			55.7
19	3			55.7
19	9			55.7
22	5			55.8
22	8			55.8
22	7			55.8
25	8			56.0
26	8			56.1
27	7			56.2
27	1			56.2
27	1			56.2
30	1			56.3
31	7			56.4
31	5			56.4
33	3			56.5
33	9			56.5
33	9			56.5
36	4			56.6
37	2			56.8
38	9			56.9
39	8			57.0
39	2			57.0
41	3			57.1
42	9			57.2
42	9			57.2
44	6			57.3
45	4			57.5
46	3			58.0
47	5			58.1
48	6			58.2
48	5			58.2
50	9			58.6
50	3			58.6
52	6			58.9
53	7			59.0
53	4			59.0
55	1			59.5
56	5			59.6
57	7			1:00.4
58	4			1:00.5
59	2			1:00.7
60	1			1:01.0
61	6			1:01.1
62	1			1:02.0
63	9			1:03.8
64	2			1:04.5

Semifinals

8 fastest swimmers advanced to the final. Zorn matched the previous Olympic record of 53.4 seconds in semifinal 2 before Wenden broke that record with a 52.9 second time in semifinal 3.

Rank	Heat	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3			52.9	,
2	2			53.4	, =
3	1			53.8
3	1			53.8
3	2			53.8
3	3			53.8
7	2			53.9
8	1			54.1
9	2			54.3
10	3			54.5
11	3			54.6
12	3			54.8
12	1			54.8
14	2			54.9
15	3			55.0
16	2			55.2
16	1			55.2
18	2			55.3
19	3			55.6
19	3			55.6
21	1			55.8
21	1			55.8
23	2			55.9
23	1			55.9

Final

Rank	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
	Mike Wenden		52.2
	Ken Walsh		52.8
	Mark Spitz		53.0
4	Bobby McGregor		53.5
5	Leonid Ilyichov		53.8
6	Georgijs Kuļikovs		53.8
7	Luis Nicolao		53.9
8	Zac Zorn		53.9

Zorn lead the field at the 50 metre turn, but weakened by a week long illness, faded and finished last.

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