Swimming at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke

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Men's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Bob Bennett, Jed Graef, Gary Dilley 1964.jpg
Medal winners, from left to right: Bob Bennett, Jed Graef and Gary Dilley
Venue Yoyogi National Gymnasium
Dates11 October (heats)
12 October (semifinals)
13 October (final)
Competitors34 from 21 nations
Winning time2:10.3 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Jed Graef Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Gary Dilley Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Bob Bennett Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1900
1968  

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1964 Summer Olympics took place between October 11 and 13. [1] There were 34 competitors from 21 nations, with each nation having up to 3 swimmers. [2] The medals were swept by the United States, with Jed Graef, Gary Dilley, and Bob Bennett taking gold, silver, and bronze respectively.

Background

This was the second appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event. It was first held in 1900. The event did not return until 1964; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. From 1904 to 1960, a men's 100 metre backstroke was held instead. In 1964, only the 200 metres was held. Beginning in 1968 and ever since, both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held. [2]

As there were 64 years between the prior edition of this event and this one, no swimmers returned from the 1900 Games. Reigning Olympic champion Ernst Hoppenberg had died in 1937. The American team was so strong that the world record holder, Tom Stock, did not make the team. [2]

16 nations made their debut in the event, while 5 returned from the 1900 Games. Sweden was the only nation that had competed in the event in 1900 that did not compete again in 1964, other than Germany (now competing as the United Team of Germany).

Competition format

The competition used a three-round (heats, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 9 heats of 7 or 8 swimmers each. The top 24 swimmers advanced to the semifinals. There were 3 semifinals of 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1964 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Tom Stock  (USA)2:10.9 Cuyahoga Falls, United States 10 August 1962
Olympic recordFlag of the German Empire.svg  Ernst Hoppenberg  (GER)2:47.0 Paris, France 12 August 1900

The Olympic record was 64 years old, as the event had not been held since the 1900 Games. In the first heat, Bob Bennett broke the record by over 30 seconds, swimming an unrushed 2:16.1. The Olympic record continued to drop throughout the heats and semifinals (with only one of the 7 races in the first two rounds not resulting the record being broken). Shigeo Fukushima swam 2:14.7 in heat 2, Jed Graef 2:14.5 in heat 3, Gary Dilley 2:14.2 in heat 5, Dilley 2:13.8 in semifinal 1, and Graef 2:13.7 in semifinal 2. In the final, Graef and Dilley both broke the world record; the former took gold and the new record with 2:10.3.

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 11 October 196420:15Heats
Monday, 12 October 196419:40Semifinals
Tuesday, 13 October 196420:20Final

Results

Heats

Five heats were held; the fastest sixteen swimmers advanced to the semifinals.

RankHeatSwimmerNationTimeNotes
15 Gary Dilley Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:14.2Q, OR
23 Jed Graef Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:14.5Q, OR
32 Shigeo Fukushima Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:14.7Q, OR
45 Peter Reynolds Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:15.9Q
51 Bob Bennett Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:16.1Q, OR
64 Ezio Della Savia Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:16.6Q
73 Keisuke Ito Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:16.7Q
82 Viktor Mazanov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:16.8Q
91 Isagi Osumi Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:17.3Q
101 Ralph Hutton Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 2:17.8Q
113 Chiaffredo Rora Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:17.8Q
124 Ernst-Joachim Küppers Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:17.9Q
135 József Csikány Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:18.3Q
145 Wolfgang Wagner Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:18.5Q
151 Henri van Osch Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2:19.1Q
165 Carlos van der Maath Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:19.6Q
173 Jesús Cabrera Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 2:19.7
184 Ivan Ferák Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 2:20.0
192 Jürgen Dietze Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:20.4
202 Jan Weeteling Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2:20.4
214 Friedrich Suda Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:20.7
224 Ron Jacks Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 2:21.3
234 Geoffrey Thwaites Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:22.0
245 Robert Christophe Flag of France.svg  France 2:22.5
251 Lars Kraus Jensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2:23.3
261 Herman Verbauwen Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 2:24.9
273 Pedro Diz Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:24.9
283 Gerhard Wieland Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:25.9
292 John Byrom Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:27.0
303 Augusto Ferrero Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 2:29.9
312 Ákos Gulyás Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:30.5
322 Eliot Chenaux Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 2:33.1
331 Michael Eu Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 2:35.8
344 Chan Kam Hong Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 2:46.0

Semifinals

Two heats were held; the fastest eight swimmers advanced to the final.

RankHeatSwimmerNationTimeNotes
12 Jed Graef Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:13.7Q, OR
21 Gary Dilley Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:13.8Q, OR
31 Shigeo Fukushima Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:14.1Q
42 Ernst-Joachim Küppers Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:15.4Q
52 Viktor Mazanov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:15.4Q
62 Peter Reynolds Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:15.6Q
71 Ralph Hutton Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 2:15.8Q
81 Bob Bennett Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:16.3Q
92 Chiaffredo Rora Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:16.7
101 Isagi Osumi Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:17.0
111 József Csikány Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:17.5
121 Keisuke Ito Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:17.6
132 Ezio Della Savia Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:18.4
141 Henri van Osch Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2:19.7
152 Wolfgang Wagner Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:20.2
162 Carlos van der Maath Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:21.3

Final

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Jed Graef Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:10.3 WR
Silver medal icon.svg Gary Dilley Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:10.5
Bronze medal icon.svg Bob Bennett Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:13.1
4 Shigeo Fukushima Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:13.2
5 Ernst-Joachim Küppers Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 2:15.7
6 Viktor Mazanov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:15.9
7 Ralph Hutton Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 2:15.9
8 Peter Reynolds Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:16.6

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Backstroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "200 metres Backstroke, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 July 2021.