Men 1500m Freestyle Swimming Olympic Games 1948 London, Great Britain - Saturday, 7th August

Men 1500m Freestyle Swimming Olympic Games 1948 London, Great Britain - Saturday, 7th August - Gold Medal: James McLane, United States

Final 17:00		time	gap	L	Y
1. James McLane	United States	19:18.5		5	17
2. John Marshall	Australia	19:31.3	+12.8s	4	18
3. Gyorgy Mitro	Hungary	19:43.2	+24.7s	6	18
4. Gyorgy Csordas	Hungary	19:54.2	+35.7s	3	19
5. Marjan Stipetic	Yugoslavia	20:10.7	+52.2s	2	17
6. Forbes Holten Jr Norris	United States	20:18.8	+1:00.3s	7	20
7. Donald Bland	Great Britain	20:19.8	+1:01.3s	8	17
8. William Heusner	United States	20:45.4	+1:26.9s	1	21

39 Competitors from 21 Nations. Empire Pool.

World Record: Tomikatsu Amano, Japan 18:58.8 Tokio, Japan 10th September 1938

Olympic Record: Kusuo Kitamura, Japan 19:12.4 Los Angeles, United States 13th August 1936

Todor 66	index Swimming OG
index London 1948	index Swimming London 1948


Men 100m Freestyle	Women 100m Freestyle
Men 400m Freestyle	Women 400m Freestyle
Men 1500m Freestyle
Men 100m Backstroke	Women 100m Backstroke
Men 200m Breaststroke	Women 200m Breaststroke
Men 4x200m Freestyle Relay	Women 4x100m Freestyle Relay

1936 Men 1500m Freestyle

Men 1500m Freestyle History

1952 Men 1500m Freestyle

In 1938 Japan’s Tomikatsu Amano had become the first man to break nineteen minutes for the 1500m and his example had been matched by a younger generation of Japanese swimmers but, since Japan was not invited to the 1948 Olympics, the mantle of favourite for this event fell on France’s Alex Jany. The Frenchman performed poorly in his other events and, after the British food had proved too much for his stomach, was too ill to compete in the 1500m.
This left the way clear for the seventeen year old American schoolboy,James McLane , and the previously unconsidered Australian John Marshall to battle for the gold. McLane started well and maintained a lead for the first thousand metres. With 500m to go Marshall made his challenge and the two men swam stroke for stroke for the next two lengths of the pool. The Australian’s challenge faded and more technically gifted McLane swam away to become the first American to win the event since Antwerp.

Semi-Finals (1/2) - Friday, 6th August 11:00

Best 8 times advanced to Final.

Semi 1		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. John Marshall	Australia	19:53.8	+1.6s	5	18	2.
2. Gyorgy Mitro	Hungary	20:06.5	+14.3s	6	18	3.
3. Marjan Stipetic	Yugoslavia	20:12.9	+20.7s	4	17	6.
4. William Heusner	United States	20:23.9	+31.7s	2	21	8.
5. Florbel Perez	Uruguay	20:32.6	+40.4s	7	20	11.
6. Miroslav Bartusek	Czechoslovakia	20:32.9	+40.7s	3	26	12.
7. Rolf Egon Kestener	Brazil	20:44.6	+52.4s	1	17	14.
-. Jack Hale	Great Britain	DNS		8	26	-.

Semi 2		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. James McLane	United States	19:52.2		6	17	1.
2. Gyorgy Csordas	Hungary	20:06.6	+14.4s	5	19	4.
3. Forbes Holten Jr Norris	United States	20:09.3	+17.1s	7	20	5.
4. Donald Bland	Great Britain	20:19.8	+27.6s	4	17	7.
5. Joseph Bernardo	France	20:25.5	+33.3s	8	19	9.
6. Ferenc Voros	Hungary	20:31.4	+39.2s	2	26	10.
7. Luis Gonzalez	Colombia	20:41.6	+49.4s	1	_	13.
-. Per-Olof Ostrand	Sweden	DNS		3	18	-.

Heats - Friday, Thursday, 5th August

Best 16 times advanced to Semi-Finals (1/2).

Heat 6		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. Gyorgy Mitro	Hungary	20:15.0	+13.9s	7	18	5.
2. Miroslav Bartusek	Czechoslovakia	20:19.4	+18.3s	4	26	7.
3. Florbel Perez	Uruguay	20:20.2	+19.1s	2	20	9.
4. Donald Johnston	South Africa	20:41.8	+40.7s	6	18	17.
5. Ramon Bravo Prieta	Mexico	20:45.5	+44.4s	1	22	19.
6. Rene Cornu	France	21:01.6	+1:00.5	5	19	22.
-. Severo Alfredo Yantorno	Argentina	DNS		3	24	-.

Heat 5		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. John Marshall	Australia	20:01.1		4	18	1.
2. Forbes Holten Jr Norris	United States	20:21.0	+19.9s	1	20	10.
3. Joseph Bernardo	France	20:34.8	+33.7s	5	19	14.
4. Luis Child Velez	Colombia	20:47.0	+45.9s	7	_	20.
5. Juan Garay	Argentina	21:33.2	+1:32.1	2	19	31.
6. Jesus Dominguez Garcia	Spain	21:33.5	+1:32.4	6	22	32.
7. Derek Oatway	Bermuda	21:55.1	+1:54.0	3	17	35.

Heat 4		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. Gyorgy Csordas	Hungary	20:06.8	+5.7s	3	19	2.
2. Per-Olof Ostrand	Sweden	20:19.8	+18.7s	5	18	8.
3. Luis Gonzalez	Colombia	20:40.6	+39.5s	1	_	16.
4. Isidoro Martinez Ferry	Spain	21:13.7	+1:12.6	2	23	24.
5. Cesar Pineda Borja	Mexico	21:15.8	+1:14.7	7	13	25.
6. Garrick Agnew	Australia	21:40.1	+1:39.0	4	17	33.
7. Allan Gilchrist	Canada	23:00.6	+2:59.5	6	16	38.

Heat 3		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. Marjan Stipetic	Yugoslavia	20:10.1	+9.0s	3	17	3.
2. Donald Bland	Great Britain	20:13.9	+12.8s	5	17	4.
3. Sambiao Basanung	Philippines	21:05.9	+1:04.8	6	26	23.
4. Alejandro Febrero Lorenzo	Spain	21:15.9	+1:14.8	4	23	26.
5. Franklin Douglas Gibson	Canada	21:25.6	+1:24.5	1	_	30.
6. Bimal Chandra	India	22:52.9	+2:51.8	7	_	36.
7. Philip Tribley	Bermuda	22:56.6	+2:55.5	2	19	37.

Heat 2		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. James McLane	United States	20:17.7	+16.6s	2	17	6.
2. Jack Hale	Great Britain	20:31.9	+30.8s	6	26	12.
3. Rolf Egon Kestener	Brazil	20:36.3	+35.2s	7	17	15.
4. Jozef Reynders	Belgium	21:23.1	+1:22.0	3	18	29.
5. Ivan Puhar	Yugoslavia	21:45.1	+1:44.0	5	28	34.
-. Alex Jany	France	DNS		4	19	-.

Heat 1		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. William Heusner	United States	20:29.6	+28.5s	6	21	11.
2. Ferenc Voros	Hungary	20:31.9	+30.8s	3	26	12.
3. John Wardrop	Great Britain	20:43.0	+41.9s	7	16	18.
4. Angel Maldonado Campos	Mexico	20:47.2	+46.1s	4	_	21.
5. Adolfo Mancuso	Argentina	21:16.7	+1:15.6	1	_	27.
6. Ivan "Vanja" Ilic	Yugoslavia	21:17.0	+1:15.9	2	21	28.
7. Anwar Aziz Chaudhry	Pakistan	25:37.4	+5:36.3	5	_	39.

Final 17:00		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. James McLane	United States	19:18.5		5	17	1.
2. John Marshall	Australia	19:31.3	+12.8s	4	18	2.
3. Gyorgy Mitro	Hungary	19:43.2	+24.7s	6	18	3.
4. Gyorgy Csordas	Hungary	19:54.2	+35.7s	3	19	4.
5. Marjan Stipetic	Yugoslavia	20:10.7	+52.2s	2	17	5.
6. Forbes Holten Jr Norris	United States	20:18.8	+1:00.3s	7	20	6.
7. Donald Bland	Great Britain	20:19.8	+1:01.3s	8	17	7.
8. William Heusner	United States	20:45.4	+1:26.9s	1	21	8.
Semis		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. James McLane	United States	19:52.2		6	17	1.
1. John Marshall	Australia	19:53.8	+1.6s	5	18	2.
2. Gyorgy Mitro	Hungary	20:06.5	+14.3s	6	18	3.
2. Gyorgy Csordas	Hungary	20:06.6	+14.4s	5	19	4.
3. Forbes Holten Jr Norris	United States	20:09.3	+17.1s	7	20	5.
3. Marjan Stipetic	Yugoslavia	20:12.9	+20.7s	4	17	6.
4. Donald Bland	Great Britain	20:19.8	+27.6s	4	17	7.
4. William Heusner	United States	20:23.9	+31.7s	2	21	8.
5. Joseph Bernardo	France	20:25.5	+33.3s	8	19	9.
6. Ferenc Voros	Hungary	20:31.4	+39.2s	2	26	10.
5. Florbel Perez	Uruguay	20:32.6	+40.4s	7	20	11.
6. Miroslav Bartusek	Czechoslovakia	20:32.9	+40.7s	3	26	12.
7. Luis Gonzalez	Colombia	20:41.6	+49.4s	1	_	13.
7. Rolf Egon Kestener	Brazil	20:44.6	+52.4s	1	17	14.
-. Jack Hale	Great Britain	DNS		8	26	-.
-. Per-Olof Ostrand	Sweden	DNS		3	18	-.
Heats		time	gap	L	Y	Rk
1. John Marshall	Australia	20:01.1		4	18	1.
1. Gyorgy Csordas	Hungary	20:06.8	+5.7s	3	19	2.
1. Marjan Stipetic	Yugoslavia	20:10.1	+9.0s	3	17	3.
2. Donald Bland	Great Britain	20:13.9	+12.8s	5	17	4.
1. Gyorgy Mitro	Hungary	20:15.0	+13.9s	7	18	5.
1. James McLane	United States	20:17.7	+16.6s	2	17	6.
2. Miroslav Bartusek	Czechoslovakia	20:19.4	+18.3s	4	26	7.
2. Per-Olof Ostrand	Sweden	20:19.8	+18.7s	5	18	8.
3. Florbel Perez	Uruguay	20:20.2	+19.1s	2	20	9.
2. Forbes Holten Jr Norris	United States	20:21.0	+19.9s	1	20	10.
1. William Heusner	United States	20:29.6	+28.5s	6	21	11.
2. Jack Hale	Great Britain	20:31.9	+30.8s	6	26	12.
2. Ferenc Voros	Hungary	20:31.9	+30.8s	3	26	12.
3. Joseph Bernardo	France	20:34.8	+33.7s	5	19	14.
3. Rolf Egon Kestener	Brazil	20:36.3	+35.2s	7	17	15.
3. Luis Gonzalez	Colombia	20:40.6	+39.5s	1	_	16.
4. Donald Johnston	South Africa	20:41.8	+40.7s	6	18	17.
3. John Wardrop	Great Britain	20:43.0	+41.9s	7	16	18.
5. Ramon Bravo Prieta	Mexico	20:45.5	+44.4s	1	22	19.
4. Luis Child Velez	Colombia	20:47.0	+45.9s	7	_	20.
4. Angel Maldonado Campos	Mexico	20:47.2	+46.1s	4	_	21.
6. Rene Cornu	France	21:01.6	+1:00.5	5	19	22.
3. Sambiao Basanung	Philippines	21:05.9	+1:04.8	6	26	23.
4. Isidoro Martinez Ferry	Spain	21:13.7	+1:12.6	2	23	24.
5. Cesar Pineda Borja	Mexico	21:15.8	+1:14.7	7	13	25.
4. Alejandro Febrero Lorenzo	Spain	21:15.9	+1:14.8	4	23	26.
5. Adolfo Mancuso	Argentina	21:16.7	+1:15.6	1	_	27.
6. Ivan "Vanja" Ilic	Yugoslavia	21:17.0	+1:15.9	2	21	28.
4. Jozef Reynders	Belgium	21:23.1	+1:22.0	3	18	29.
5. Franklin Douglas Gibson	Canada	21:25.6	+1:24.5	1	_	30.
5. Juan Garay	Argentina	21:33.2	+1:32.1	2	19	31.
6. Jesus Dominguez Garcia	Spain	21:33.5	+1:32.4	6	22	32.
6. Garrick Agnew	Australia	21:40.1	+1:39.0	4	17	33.
5. Ivan Puhar	Yugoslavia	21:45.1	+1:44.0	5	28	34.
7. Derek Oatway	Bermuda	21:55.1	+1:54.0	3	17	35.
6. Bimal Chandra	India	22:52.9	+2:51.8	7	_	36.
7. Philip Tribley	Bermuda	22:56.6	+2:55.5	2	19	37.
7. Allan Gilchrist	Canada	23:00.6	+2:59.5	6	16	38.
7. Anwar Aziz Chaudhry	Pakistan	25:37.4	+5:36.3	5	_	39.
-. Alex Jany	France	DNS		4	19	-.
-. Severo Alfredo Yantorno	Argentina	DNS		3	24	-.

Prepared and maintained by Todor Krastev

todor1966@yahoo.com
Last updated: 17 Apr 2023
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