The men’s 1,200 metres freestyle at the 1896 Olympic Games was contested in open water, with swimmers starting from boats and racing back toward the shore. The event followed the earlier freestyle races of the day and demanded both endurance and recovery under cold conditions. Alfréd Hajós of Hungary won the race after waiting for the start of the 1,200 metres so he could recover from the shorter events.
Incomplete dataset mode: event rankings may include manual aggregate data and partial official results.
| Rank | Participant | Status | Time | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alfréd Hajós | FINISHED | 18:22.2 | PARTIAL |
| 2 | Ioannis Andreou | FINISHED | 21:03.4 | PARTIAL |
| 4 | Gardner Williams | FINISHED | - | PARTIAL |
| 4 | N. Katravas | FINISHED | - | PARTIAL |
| 4 | Efstathios Chorafas | FINISHED | - | PARTIAL |
| - | Paul Neumann | DNF | - | PARTIAL |