Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Venue	Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre
Dates	29 November – 7 December 1956
No. of events	13
Competitors	235 from 33 nations
←  1952 1960  →

At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 13 swimming events were contested, seven for men and six for women. There was a total of 235 participants from 33 countries competing. ^{[1] [2]} For the first time, the butterfly stroke was contested as a separate event. Australia dominated the medal standings with a total of 8 out of a possible 13 gold medals, eventually finishing with 14 medals overall.

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia  (AUS)	8	4	2	14
2	United States  (USA)	2	4	5	11
3	Japan  (JPN)	1	4	0	5
4	Great Britain  (GBR)	1	0	1	2
	United Team of Germany  (EUA)	1	0	1	2
6	Hungary  (HUN)	0	1	1	2
7	Soviet Union  (URS)	0	0	2	2
8	South Africa  (RSA)	0	0	1	1
Totals (8 entries)		13	13	13	39

Medalists

Men's events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle details	Jon Henricks   Australia	55.4 (WR)	John Devitt   Australia	55.8	Gary Chapman   Australia	56.7
400 m freestyle details	Murray Rose   Australia	4:27.3 (WR)	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka   Japan	4:30.4	George Breen   United States	4:32.5
1500 m freestyle details	Murray Rose   Australia	17:58.9	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka   Japan	18:00.3	George Breen   United States	18:08.2
100 m backstroke details	David Theile   Australia	1:02.2 (WR)	John Monckton   Australia	1:03.2	Frank McKinney   United States	1:04.5
200 m breaststroke details	Masaru Furukawa   Japan	2:34.7	Masahiro Yoshimura   Japan	2:36.7	Kharis Yunichev   Soviet Union	2:36.8
200 m butterfly details	William Yorzyk   United States	2:19.3	Takashi Ishimoto   Japan	2:23.8	György Tumpek   Hungary	2:23.9
4 × 200 metre freestyle relay details	Australia  (AUS) Kevin O'Halloran John Devitt Murray Rose Jon Henricks	8:23.6 (WR)	United States  (USA) Dick Hanley George Breen Bill Woolsey Ford Konno	8:31.5	Soviet Union  (URS) Vitaly Sorokin Vladimir Struzhanov Gennady Nikolayev Boris Nikitin	8:34.7

Women's events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle details	Dawn Fraser   Australia	1:02.0 (WR)	Lorraine Crapp   Australia	1:02.3	Faith Leech   Australia	1:05.1
400 m freestyle details	Lorraine Crapp   Australia	4:54.6 (OR)	Dawn Fraser   Australia	5:02.5	Sylvia Ruuska   United States	5:07.1
100 m backstroke details	Judy Grinham   Great Britain	1:12.9 (WR)	Carin Cone   United States	1:12.9 (WR)	Margaret Edwards   Great Britain	1:13.1
200 m breaststroke details	Ursula Happe   United Team of Germany	2:53.1 (OR)	Éva Székely   Hungary	2:54.8	Eva-Maria Elsen   United Team of Germany	2:55.1
100 m butterfly details	Shelley Mann   United States	1:11.0 (OR)	Nancy Ramey   United States	1:11.9	Mary Sears   United States	1:14.4
4 × 100 metre freestyle relay details	Australia  (AUS) Dawn Fraser Faith Leech Sandra Morgan Lorraine Crapp	4:17.1 (WR)	United States  (USA) Sylvia Ruuska Shelley Mann Nancy Simons Joan Rosazza	4:19.2	South Africa  (RSA) Natalie Myburgh Susan Roberts Moira Abernethy Jeanette Myburgh	4:25.7

Participating nations

235 swimmers from 33 nations competed. ^[1]

•   Australia  (26)
•   Belgium  (6)
•   Brazil  (4)
•   Canada  (8)
•   Colombia  (3)
•   Cuba  (2)
•   Czechoslovakia  (2)
•   Denmark  (2)
•   Finland  (1)
•   France  (16)
•   United Team of Germany  (18)
•   Great Britain  (18)
•   Hong Kong  (2)
•   Hungary  (16)
•   India  (2)
•   Indonesia  (3)
•   Israel  (1)
•   Italy  (7)
•   Japan  (19)
•   Kenya  (1)
•   Luxembourg  (1)
•   Malaya  (2)
•   Mexico  (4)
•   New Zealand  (5)
•   Pakistan  (3)
•   Philippines  (8)
•   Poland  (1)
•   Romania  (2)
•   South Africa  (8)
•   Sweden  (5)
•   Soviet Union  (10)
•   United States  (28)
•   Yugoslavia  (1)

References

1. "Swimming at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
2. "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.