| | Event type

100 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	18 – 19 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	64 from 35 countries

At the US Olympic Trials, Zac Zorn, 1967 Pan American Games silver medalist, had equalled the world record, posting 52.6. Mike Wenden of Australia was considered a long-shot, his best time prior to the Australian trials only 53.7, but he posted the fastest time in the heats and the semi-finals, equalling the Olympic record in the semis. Zorn took the lead at the turn but he had been sick all week in Mexico City, and faded badly on the final lap, finishing last among the finalists. Wenden finished very strongly to win the gold medal over Ken Walsh and Mark Spitz. Fourth place went to Bobby McGregor, the silver medalist from Tokyo who had won the 1966 European Championships.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Mike Wenden	AUS	53.6 (1 h8)	52.9 (1 h3)	52.2 (1)	Gold
2	Ken Walsh	USA	55.7 (1 h9)	53.9 (3 h2)	52.8 (2)	Silver
3	Mark Spitz	USA	54.6 (1 h5)	53.8 (2 h3)	53.0 (3)	Bronze
4	Bobby McGregor	GBR	55.1 (2 h2)	53.8 (1 h1)	53.5 (4)
5	Leonid Ilyichov	URS	54.9 (1 h3)	53.8 (2 h1)	53.8 (5)
6	Georgijs Kuļikovs	URS	54.3 (1 h7)	54.1 (3 h1)	53.8 (6)
7	Luis Nicolao	ARG	54.6 (1 h2)	53.8 (2 h2)	53.9 (7)
8	Zac Zorn	USA	54.3 (1 h4)	53.4 (1 h2)	53.9 (8)
9	Wolfgang Kremer	FRG	55.0 (2 h4)	54.3 (4 h2)	–
10	Michel Rousseau	FRA	54.9 (1 h1)	54.5 (3 h3)	–
11	Bob Windle	AUS	54.8 (2 h8)	54.6 (4 h3)	–
12	Sandy Gilchrist	CAN	55.4 (2 h6)	54.8 (5 h3)	–
=13	Greg Rogers	AUS	55.4 (3 h2)	54.9 (4 h1)	–
=13	José Antonio Chicoy	ESP	54.9 (2 h5)	54.9 (6 h2)	–
=13	Lester Eriksson	SWE	55.2 (2 h1)	54.9 (5 h2)	–
16	Gábor Kucsera	HUN	55.1 (3 h4)	55.0 (6 h3)	–
17	Sergey Gusev	URS	54.8 (1 h6)	55.2 (5 h1)	–
18	François Simons	BEL	55.5 (3 h5)	55.3 (7 h2)	–
=19	Mike Turner	GBR	55.8 (3 h8)	55.6 (8 h3)	–
=19	Pietro Boscaini	ITA	55.7 (2 h7)	55.6 (7 h3)	–
=21	Kunihiro Iwasaki	JPN	55.5 (2 h3)	55.8 (6 h1)	–
=21	Gary Goodner	PUR	55.7 (3 h3)	55.8 (7 h1)	–
=23	Olaf, Baron von Schilling	FRG	55.8 (3 h7)	55.9 (8 h1)	–
=23	Roosevelt Abdulgafur	PHI	55.8 (4 h5)	55.9 (8 h2)	–
25	Glen Finch	CAN	56.0 (4 h8)	–	–
26	José Ferraioli	PUR	56.1 (5 h8)	–	–
=27	Bernard Gruener	FRA	56.2 (3 h1)	–	–
=27	Luis Ayesa	PHI	56.2 (4 h7)	–	–
=27	Pano Capéronis	SUI	56.2 (4 h1)	–	–
30	Ørjan Madsen	NOR	56.3 (5 h1)	–	–
=31	Carlos van der Maath	ARG	56.4 (5 h5)	–	–
=31	Salvador Ruiz	MEX	56.4 (5 h7)	–	–
=33	Tony Jarvis	GBR	56.5 (3 h9)	–	–
=33	Masayuki Osawa	JPN	56.5 (2 h9)	–	–
=33	Rafaél Cal	MEX	56.5 (4 h3)	–	–
36	Csaba Csatlós	HUN	56.6 (4 h4)	–	–
37	José Roberto Aranha	BRA	56.8 (4 h2)	–	–
38	Peter Schorning	FRG	56.9 (4 h9)	–	–
=39	Ricardo González	COL	57.0 (6 h8)	–	–
=39	Mario Santibáñez	MEX	57.0 (5 h2)	–	–
41	Peter Schmid	AUT	57.1 (5 h3)	–	–
=42	Gérard Letast	FRA	57.2 (5 h9)	–	–
=42	Amnon Krauz	ISR	57.2 (6 h9)	–	–
44	Michele D'Oppido	ITA	57.3 (3 h6)	–	–
45	Herman Verbauwen	BEL	57.5 (5 h4)	–	–
46	Ronnie Wong	HKG	58.0 (6 h3)	–	–
47	Angus Edghill	BAR	58.1 (6 h5)	–	–
=48	Gregorio Fiallo	CUB	58.2 (4 h6)	–	–
=48	Michael Goodner	PUR	58.2 (7 h5)	–	–
=50	Fernando González	ECU	58.6 (7 h3)	–	–
=50	Guðmundur Gíslason	ISL	58.6 (7 h9)	–	–
52	Geoffrey Ferreira	TTO	58.9 (5 h6)	–	–
=53	Federico Sicard	COL	59.0 (6 h4)	–	–
=53	Paul Nash	JAM	59.0 (6 h7)	–	–
55	Donnacha O'Dea	IRL	59.5 (6 h1)	–	–
56	Salvador Vilanova	ESA	59.6 (8 h5)	–	–
57	José Martínez	CUB	1:00.4 (7 h7)	–	–
58	Yacoub Masboungi	LBN	1:00.5 (7 h4)	–	–
59	Andrew Loh	HKG	1:00.7 (6 h2)	–	–
60	Lee Tong-Shing	TPE	1:01.0 (7 h1)	–	–
61	Bob Loh	HKG	1:01.1 (6 h6)	–	–
62	José Alvarado	ESA	1:02.0 (8 h1)	–	–
63	Ernesto Durón	ESA	1:03.8 (8 h9)	–	–
64	Luis Aguilar	CRC	1:04.5 (7 h2)	–	–
DNS	Ingvar Eriksson	SWE	– (DNS h6)	–	–
DNS	Bo Westergren	SWE	– (DNS h4)	–	–

Round One (18 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest 24 advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	6	Michel Rousseau	FRA	– (–) –	54.9	Q
2	2	Lester Eriksson	SWE	– (–) –	55.2	Q
3	4	Bernard Gruener	FRA	– (–) –	56.2
4	8	Pano Capéronis	SUI	– (–) –	56.2
5	7	Ørjan Madsen	NOR	– (–) –	56.3
6	1	Donnacha O'Dea	IRL	– (–) –	59.5
7	5	Lee Tong-Shing	TPE	– (–) –	1:01.0
8	3	José Alvarado	ESA	– (–) –	1:02.0

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Luis Nicolao	ARG	– (–) –	54.6	Q
2	3	Bobby McGregor	GBR	– (–) –	55.1	Q
3	2	Greg Rogers	AUS	– (–) –	55.4	Q
4	7	José Roberto Aranha	BRA	– (–) –	56.8
5	5	Mario Santibáñez	MEX	– (–) –	57.0
6	1	Andrew Loh	HKG	– (–) –	1:00.7
7	6	Luis Aguilar	CRC	– (–) –	1:04.5

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	7	Leonid Ilyichov	URS	– (–) –	54.9	Q
2	4	Kunihiro Iwasaki	JPN	– (–) –	55.5	Q
3	3	Gary Goodner	PUR	– (–) –	55.7	Q
4	2	Rafaél Cal	MEX	– (–) –	56.5
5	6	Peter Schmid	AUT	– (–) –	57.1
6	5	Ronnie Wong	HKG	– (–) –	58.0
7	1	Fernando González	ECU	– (–) –	58.6

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	7	Zac Zorn	USA	– (–) –	54.3	Q
2	5	Wolfgang Kremer	FRG	– (–) –	55.0	Q
3	1	Gábor Kucsera	HUN	– (–) –	55.1	Q
4	6	Csaba Csatlós	HUN	– (–) –	56.6
5	3	Herman Verbauwen	BEL	– (–) –	57.5
6	2	Federico Sicard	COL	– (–) –	59.0
7	4	Yacoub Masboungi	LBN	– (–) –	1:00.5
DNS	–	Bo Westergren	SWE	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Mark Spitz	USA	– (–) –	54.6	Q
2	8	José Antonio Chicoy	ESP	– (–) –	54.9	Q
3	6	François Simons	BEL	– (–) –	55.5	Q
4	5	Roosevelt Abdulgafur	PHI	– (–) –	55.8	Q
5	4	Carlos van der Maath	ARG	– (–) –	56.4
6	1	Angus Edghill	BAR	– (–) –	58.1
7	7	Michael Goodner	PUR	– (–) –	58.2
8	2	Salvador Vilanova	ESA	– (–) –	59.6

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Sergey Gusev	URS	– (–) –	54.8	Q
2	4	Sandy Gilchrist	CAN	– (–) –	55.4	Q
3	3	Michele D'Oppido	ITA	– (–) –	57.3
4	6	Gregorio Fiallo	CUB	– (–) –	58.2
5	7	Geoffrey Ferreira	TTO	– (–) –	58.9
6	2	Bob Loh	HKG	– (–) –	1:01.1
DNS	–	Ingvar Eriksson	SWE	– (–) –	–

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	1	Georgijs Kuļikovs	URS	– (–) –	54.3	Q
2	4	Pietro Boscaini	ITA	– (–) –	55.7	Q
3	7	Olaf, Baron von Schilling	FRG	– (–) –	55.8	Q
4	6	Luis Ayesa	PHI	– (–) –	56.2
5	2	Salvador Ruiz	MEX	– (–) –	56.4
6	3	Paul Nash	JAM	– (–) –	59.0
7	5	José Martínez	CUB	– (–) –	1:00.4

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Mike Wenden	AUS	– (–) –	53.6	Q
2	5	Bob Windle	AUS	– (–) –	54.8	Q
3	7	Mike Turner	GBR	– (–) –	55.8	Q
4	3	Glen Finch	CAN	– (–) –	56.0
5	2	José Ferraioli	PUR	– (–) –	56.1
6	6	Ricardo González	COL	– (–) –	57.0

Heat Nine

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	Ken Walsh	USA	– (–) –	55.7	Q
2	6	Masayuki Osawa	JPN	– (–) –	56.5
3	4	Tony Jarvis	GBR	– (–) –	56.5
4	8	Peter Schorning	FRG	– (–) –	56.9
5	5	Gérard Letast	FRA	– (–) –	57.2
6	7	Amnon Krauz	ISR	– (–) –	57.2
7	3	Guðmundur Gíslason	ISL	– (–) –	58.6
8	1	Ernesto Durón	ESA	– (–) –	1:03.8

Semi-Finals (18 October 1968 — 17:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	6	Bobby McGregor	GBR	– (–) –	53.8	Q
2	3	Leonid Ilyichov	URS	– (–) –	53.8	Q
3	4	Georgijs Kuļikovs	URS	– (–) –	54.1	Q
4	2	Greg Rogers	AUS	– (–) –	54.9
5	5	Sergey Gusev	URS	– (–) –	55.2
6	7	Kunihiro Iwasaki	JPN	– (–) –	55.8
7	1	Gary Goodner	PUR	– (–) –	55.8
8	8	Olaf, Baron von Schilling	FRG	– (–) –	55.9

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Zac Zorn	USA	– (–) –	53.4	Q
2	5	Luis Nicolao	ARG	– (–) –	53.8	Q
3	1	Ken Walsh	USA	– (–) –	53.9	Q
4	6	Wolfgang Kremer	FRG	– (–) –	54.3
5	2	Lester Eriksson	SWE	– (–) –	54.9
6	3	José Antonio Chicoy	ESP	– (–) –	54.9
7	7	François Simons	BEL	– (–) –	55.3
8	8	Roosevelt Abdulgafur	PHI	– (–) –	55.9

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Mike Wenden	AUS	– (–) –	52.9	Q=OR
2	5	Mark Spitz	USA	– (–) –	53.8	Q
3	6	Michel Rousseau	FRA	– (–) –	54.5
4	3	Bob Windle	AUS	– (–) –	54.6
5	7	Sandy Gilchrist	CAN	– (–) –	54.8
6	2	Gábor Kucsera	HUN	– (–) –	55.0
7	1	Pietro Boscaini	ITA	– (–) –	55.6
8	8	Mike Turner	GBR	– (–) –	55.6

Final (19 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Mike Wenden	AUS	– (–) –	52.2	WR
2	1	Ken Walsh	USA	– (–) –	52.8
3	7	Mark Spitz	USA	– (–) –	53.0
4	3	Bobby McGregor	GBR	– (–) –	53.5
5	6	Leonid Ilyichov	URS	– (–) –	53.8
6	8	Georgijs Kuļikovs	URS	– (–) –	53.8
7	2	Luis Nicolao	ARG	– (–) –	53.9
8	5	Zac Zorn	USA	– (–) –	53.9