Ris wins epic final 100m freestyle

SWIMMING - Not French champion and favourite Alex Jany will be remembered as the winner of the 100 m freestyle final at the 1948 Olympic Games, but Walter Ris, a 24-year-old student from the University of Iowa and one of the three Americans having survived the semi-final heats.

It was Jany, however, who took the first lead in what turned out to be a breathtaking final, with five swimmers finishing within one second of eachother. When Jany dropped away, Alan Ford of the USA took over. With only 20 metres to go, it could still be anyone holding that golden medal at the end. It turned out to be Ris, who beat his team-mate by only half a second. The unfortunate Hungarian Kádas got his left arm entangled in the rope and came in third. Jany ended up fifth.

Ris is the first American to win the 100m free style Olympic final since Johnny Weissmuller in 1928. He beat the Olympic record by one fifth of a second.

1 RIS, W. .................................... U.S.A. ................................ 57.3
2 FORD, A.................................. U.S.A.................................. 57.8
3 KADAS, G............................... Hungary............................. 58.1
4 Carter, K ................................... U.S.A. ............................... 58.3
5 Jany, A...................................... France .............................. 58.3
6 Olsson, P.-O ............................. Sweden............................ 59.3
7 Szilard, Z .................................. Hungary............................. 59.6
8 El Gamal, T .............................. Egypt.................................. 1 0.5


All athletes who competed in the 100 metres Freestyle