Swimming at the 1924 Paris Summer Games:

Johnny Weissmuller, the world record holder in this event, started the event as a strong favourite having already won the 400 metres freestyle and anchored the US relay team to an easy triumph. His main worry for the final was the possibility of collusion between his two American team-mates, the Kahanamoku brothers Duke and Sam, to impede his progress. These worries had no foundation as the Hawaiians were more interested in seeing an American sweep of the medals than in any foul play. Although Weissmuller finished well outside his own world record, his winning margin of nearly two and a half seconds has never since been approached. The American’s victory was greeted by sustained cheering by the Parisian spectators and was one of the most popular of the entire games. Weissmuller had little time to savour his victory as he was due to play in the final of the third-place tournament for the US water polo team that same afternoon. It is worth noting that the five finalists in this event would win nineteen Olympic medals between them