Adolph Kiefer was already clearly ahead at the halfway point, and was never threatened during the race. He broke the Olympic record and finished ahead of fellow American Al Vande Weghe who moved past Kiyokawa in the closing stages. The race was watched by a relatively small crowd, the result of bad weather and a clash with the handball final.
First 3 from each Semi and Best 4th (Kiichi Yoshida, Japan) advanced to Final.
Semi 1
time
gap
L
Y
Rk.
1. Adolph Kiefer
United States
1:06.8
OR
8
18
1.
2. Albert Vande Weghe
United States
1:08.6
+1.8s
7
20
2.
3. Percival Cole Oliver
Australia
1:09.4
+2.6s
1
17
4.
4. Kiichi Yoshida
Japan
1:09.5
+2.7s
5
17
5.
5. Nils A Christiansen
Philippines
1:11.1
+4.3s
2
23
9.
6. Erwin Simon
Germany
1:11.7
+4.9s
4
27
11.
7. Hans Schwarz
Germany
1:11.8
+5.0s
6
23
12.
8. Bjorn Borg
Sweden
1:16.3
+9.5s
3
16
16.
Semi 2
time
gap
L
Y
Rk.
1. Taylor Drysdale
United States
1:08.6
+1.8s
3
22
2.
2. Masaji Kiyokawa
Japan
1:09.7
+2.9s
1
23
6.
3. Yasuhiko Kojima
Japan
1:09.9
+3.1s
8
17
7.
4. Heinz Schlauch
Germany
1:10.8
+4.0s
5
20
8.
5. Gordon Kerr
Canada
1:11.2
+4.4s
2
18
10.
6. Drasko Wilfan
Yugoslavia
1:13.3
+6.5s
7
22
13.
7. John Besford
Great Britain
1:13.6
+6.8s
6
25
14.
8. Jan Pieter Metman
Netherlands
1:14.1
+7.3s
4
20
15.
Masaji Kiyokowa returned to defend his title but the four years since Los Angeles had seen the emergence of Adolph Kiefer. Kiefer’s father had been a swimming instructor in the German army and Keifer was to arrive in his father’s homeland as the world record holder.
United States
Japan
Australia
Philippines
Germany
Sweden
Canada
Yugoslavia
Great Britain
Netherlands
Hungary
Brazil
Bermuda
Luxembourg
Austria
Estonia
Greece
Peru
Denmark