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INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING HALL OF FAME
DID YOU
KNOW ABOUT FREDERICK LANE? BY BRUCE WIGO PHOTOS BY INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING HALL OF FAME
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n his fantastic new book, “Splash! 10,000 Years of Swimming,” Howard Means describes the swimming side of the second Olympiad, the 1900 Games in Paris, as being “more like an aquatic carnival”—not only because events were held in the Seine River, but because organizers added a number of “novelty events” that were not included in the Inaugural Games in Greece in 1896. Among the new events were the 200 meter backstroke, considered the “upsidedown crawl,” underwater swimming for distance and the 200 meter obstacle race, where competitors first had to climb over a pole, then climb over a row of boats and then swim under another row of boats! Paris 1900 was the first and only time the obstacle race for swimmers was ever held in Olympic competition, and the winner was Fred Lane, Australia’s first Olympic swimming champion. Lane, from Manly, New South Wales, was 4 years old when his brother saved him from drowning in Sydney Harbour, whereupon he decided to learn to swim. Unlike today’s stars, “Freddie” was physically unimpressive, standing just 5-4 and weighing less than “9 stone” (126 pounds). Lane’s victory in the obstacle race came just 45 minutes after he won the 200 meter free. In neither race was Lane the favorite. In preliminaries the day before, Lane had qualified seventh in the 200 free, 35 and 25 seconds behind the top qualifiers, Karl (Charles) Ruberl and Otto Wahle of Austria. In the prelims for the obstacle race, Lane had qualified second, with Wahle first and Ruberl third. Apparently, the two Austrians made a tactical decision that they thought would guarantee Austria two Olympic champions. So Wahle scratched the final of the 200 free to focus on the obstacle race, leaving the 200 free to Ruberl. The Austrian strategy backfired when Lane dropped 34 seconds to win the 200 free. His win was credited with his ability to swim a double-overarm stroke for the entire race, while fatigue forced Ruberl and the other competitors to use the sidestroke when they tired. While the 200 free has been on the Olympic program ever since, this was the first and only time the obstacle race has appeared on the Olympic program (although it is interesting to note that the Life Saving Sport Association is seeking admission to the Olympic program, and one of their events is a 200 meter obstacle race that has eight underwater obstacles). Twelve swimmers representing Australia, Austria, France, Great Britain and the USA competed in the obstacle race final, Aug. 12, 1900, following three qualifying heats the day before. In what was clearly the closest and most exciting swimming race in the Seine, Lane shaved nearly 25 seconds off his qualifying time to outtouch Wahle for the gold medal by 1.6 seconds.
> Frederick Lane
> Lane emerges from the Seine
*** Lane passed away seven months before his induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in December of 1969, and Wahle was inducted into ISHOF in 1996. An interesting side note is that shortly after the Paris Games, both Wahle and Ruberl emigrated to the United States and became members of the New York Athletic Club. Both became U.S. champions, and in 1912, Wahle was chosen to lead the American swimming team as head coach at the Stockholm Olympic Games.
> Among the memorabilia donated to ISHOF was one of Frederick “Freddie” Lane’s Olympic medals from 1900, which is on display in the ISHOF museum. FEBRUARY 2021
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