The Bay of Zea, since Ottoman times and until recently known as Pasalimani (?asa??µ???), is a broad bay located at the eastern coast of the Piraeus peninsula in Greece. It hosted the swimming events at the 1896 Summer Olympics held in Athens. A seaport and marina are in the bay.
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Date retrieved: 29 May 2018 16:27 UTC
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Swimming
Alfréd Hajós, the first Olympic champion in swimming, is one of only two Olympians to have won medals in both sport and art competitions
The swimming competition was held in the open sea because the organizers had refused to spend the money necessary for a specially constructed stadium. Nearly 20,000 spectators lined the Bay of Zea off the Piraeus coast to watch the events. The water in the bay was cold, and the competitors suffered during their races. There were three open events (men's 100-metre freestyle, men's 500-metre freestyle, and men's 1200 metre freestyle), in addition to a special event open only to Greek sailors, all of which were held on the same day (11 April).
For Alfréd Hajós of Hungary, this meant he could only compete in two of the events, as they were held too close together, which made it impossible for him to adequately recuperate. Nevertheless, he won the two events in which he swam, the 100 and 1200 meter freestyle. Hajós later became one of only two Olympians to win a medal in both the athletic and artistic competitions, when he won a silver medal for architecture in 1924. The 500-meter freestyle was won by Austrian swimmer Paul Neumann, who defeated his opponents by more than a minute and a half.
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Date retrieved: 29 May 2018 16:37 UTC
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At the 1896 Summer Olympics, four swimming events were contested, all for men. They were planned and organized by the Sub-Committee for Nautical Sports. All events took place on 11 April in the Bay of Zea. There was a total of 13 participants from 4 countries competing.
Medal table
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Hungary (HUN) 2 0 0 2
2 Greece (GRE) 1 3 3 7
3 Austria (AUT) 1 1 0 2
Medal summary
These medals are retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and subsequent places received no award.
Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 m freestyle Alfréd Hajós (HUN) Otto Herschmann (AUT) none awarded
500 m freestyle Paul Neumann (AUT) Antonios Pepanos (GRE) Efstathios Chorafas (GRE)
1200 m freestyle Alfréd Hajós (HUN) Ioannis Andreou (GRE) Efstathios Chorafas (GRE)
Sailors
100 m freestyle Ioannis Malokinis (GRE) Spyridon Chazapis (GRE) Dimitrios Drivas (GRE)
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Date retrieved: 29 May 2018 16:41 UTC
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