(*) 440 yards (= 402.34 m) In the final Henry Taylor set the first official world record for this distance in 5:36.8 minutes.

With a much larger field than in 1904, the 1908 competition expanded to three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final.

The 1908 Games also restored the wild-card system from 1900, allowing the fastest swimmers who did not win their heat to advance.

[3] Each race involved four lengths of the 100 metre pool.

Heat 9 The fastest two swimmers from each semifinal advanced to the final.