200m obstacle swimming, a combination of an obstacle course and swimming in the Seine river, was only presented during the games in Paris in 1900.

The race featured competitors climbing a pole which hovered just above the water, and both scrambling over and under rows of boats before reaching the finish line.

Australian Frederick Lane swam, climbed and clambered to gold, beating Austria’s Otto Wahle into silver. Briton Peter Kemp struck bronze, although more than half of the original 28 entrants failed to even start the race, which was axed from the programme soon afterwards.

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