The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which were held in Stockholm, Sweden, in June 1956.
Iain Murray Rose, was an Australian swimmer, actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist, and at one time held the world records in the 400-metre, 800-metre, and 1500-metre freestyle. He made his Olympic debut at the 1956 Summer Olympics as a 17-year-old and won three Olympic medals, all gold. Four years later, as a 21-year-old, he won three Olympic medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912. At the Olympics, swimming has the second-highest number of medal-contested events.
Australia competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. 128 competitors, 104 men and 24 women, took part in 105 events in 16 sports.
Australia competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. 243 competitors, 203 men and 40 women, took part in 133 events in 19 sports. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games.
Australia competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. 189 competitors, 160 men and 29 women, took part in 122 events in 17 sports. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games.
Australia competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 81 competitors, 71 men and 10 women, took part in 67 events in 12 sports. Australian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. As the country hosted the next Olympics in Melbourne, an Australian segment was performed at the closing ceremony.
Sandra Anne Morgan, also known by her married name Sandra Beavis, or as Sandra Morgan-Beavis, is an Australian former freestyle swimmer who was part of the gold medal-winning team in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. At the age of 14 years and 6 months, she became the youngest Australian to win an Olympic gold medal, a record that was broken by Arisa Trew at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Faith Yvonne Leech was an Australian freestyle swimmer who won a gold medal in the 4×100–metre freestyle relay and bronze in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
Lorraine Joyce Thurlow,, née Crapp, is a former Olympic swimming champion representing Australia. In world swimming history, Crapp earned a place as the first woman to break the five-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle.
John Malcolm Henricks is an Australian Olympic swimmer who won two gold medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Henricks set world records in two freestyle events.
David Gavin Dickson is an Australian freestyle swimmer who won three bronze medals in freestyle and medley relay events at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Rome and Tokyo respectively.
John Thomas Devitt, AM was an Australian sprint freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He won in controversial circumstances, being awarded the gold medal despite the timekeepers recording a slower time than the American silver medallist Lance Larson. He also claimed a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay.
The United States competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. 297 competitors, 251 men and 46 women, took part in 139 events in 18 sports.
The United States competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 286 competitors – 245 men and 41 women – took part in 133 events in 18 sports. They won 76 medals, including 6 podium sweeps; the highest number of medal sweeps in a single Olympiad by one country since World War II and still a record.
Kevin O'Halloran was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s who won a gold medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
Ilsa Konrads is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics. In her career, she set 13 individual world records, and after her swimming career ended, was the Australasian editor of Belle magazine. Along with her brother John Konrads, who also set multiple world records, and won gold in the 1500-metre freestyle, they were known as the Konrad Kids.
Gary Arthur Chapman was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1950s who won a bronze medal in the 100-metre freestyle at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Although he had set a world record in the 220-yard freestyle, he was surprisingly omitted from the 4×200-metre freestyle relay team which won the gold medal.
The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place between 29 and 30 November. There were 34 competitors from 19 nations. Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games. The event was won by Jon Henricks of Australia, the nation's first medal in the event. Australia would win a second 0.4 seconds later and a third 0.9 seconds after that, sweeping the podium—the first sweep in the men's 100 metre freestyle since the United States did it in 1920 and 1924, and the first sweep of any event by Australian competitors. This year, the Americans finished fourth through sixth. It was the first time since 1924 that Japan had competed but not medaled.
While not being urged to avoid competition, women had few opportunities to compete in sport in Australia until the 1880s. After that date, new sporting facilities were being built around the country and many new sport clubs were created. For swimming, the rapid expansion of facilities took place during the 1880s and the 1890s. Compared to the past when the whole of the swimming community was made up of males, currently 55 percent of the Australian swimming membership is made up of women. Not only do females dominate swimming in the pool but there are more than 5,500 female coaches in the swimming world in Australian and over 2,000 female technical officials.
Australasia (1908–1912)
