Editing 1896 Summer Olympics (section)

=== Swimming ===
{{Main|Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics}}

[[File:Hajos.jpg|thumb|left|[[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 ([[Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle|men's 100-metre freestyle]], [[Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 500 metre freestyle|men's 500-metre freestyle]], and [[Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 1200 metre freestyle|men's 1200 metre freestyle]]), in addition to a [[Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's sailors 100 metre freestyle|special event open only to Greek sailors]], all of which were held on the same day (11 April).{{r|LW}}

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 swimming|freestyle]]. Hajós later became one of only two Olympians to win a medal in both the athletic and [[Art competitions at the Summer Olympics|artistic competitions]], when he won a silver medal for architecture in 1924. The 500-meter freestyle was won by Austrian swimmer [[Paul Neumann (swimmer)|Paul Neumann]], who defeated his opponents by more than a minute and a half.