Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Venue	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez
Dates	17 – 26 October 1968
No. of events	29
Competitors	468 from 51 nations
←  1964 1972  →

The swimming competitions at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City took place from 17 to 26 October at the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez. ^[1] Swimming featured a record total of 29 events. There was a total of 468 participants from 51 countries competing. ^[2] The United States dominated the competition, winning 52 of 87 possible medals. 15-year-old American phenom Debbie Meyer from Maryland won three gold medals.

Events

Swimming at the 1968 Olympics featured a total of 29 events (15 for men and 14 for women). This was a significant increase from the 18 events contested in the previous Olympic Games. The following events were contested (all pool events are long course, and distances are in meters): ^[1]

• Freestyle: 100, 200, 400, and 1500 (men's); 100, 200, 400 and 800 (women's)
• Backstroke: 100 and 200;
• Breaststroke: 100 and 200;
• Butterfly: 100 and 200;
• Individual medley: 200 and 400;
• Relays: 4 × 100 free, 4 × 200 free, 4 × 100 medley (men's); 4 × 100 free, 4 × 100 medley (women's)

Participating nations

468 swimmers from 51 nations competed. ^[2]

•   Argentina  (8)
•   Australia  (24)
•   Austria  (3)
•   Barbados  (1)
•   Belgium  (6)
•   Brazil  (4)
•   Bulgaria  (3)
•   Canada  (15)
•   Taiwan  (4)
•   Colombia  (9)
•   Costa Rica  (1)
•   Cuba  (3)
•   Czechoslovakia  (1)
•   Denmark  (3)
•   East Germany  (24)
•   Ecuador  (3)
•   El Salvador  (14)
•   Finland  (3)
•   France  (16)
•   Great Britain  (24)
•   Guatemala  (3)
•   Hong Kong  (3)
•   Hungary  (14)
•   Iceland  (4)
•   Ireland  (4)
•   Israel  (6)
•   Italy  (10)
•   Jamaica  (1)
•   Japan  (20)
•   Lebanon  (1)
•   Luxembourg  (1)
•   Mexico  (27)
•   Netherlands  (17)
•   New Zealand  (4)
•   Norway  (1)
•   Peru  (3)
•   Philippines  (7)
•   Poland  (4)
•   Puerto Rico  (9)
•   Romania  (2)
•   South Korea  (1)
•   Soviet Union  (31)
•   Spain  (13)
•   Sweden  (16)
•   Switzerland  (4)
•   Trinidad and Tobago  (1)
•   United States  (52)
•   Uruguay  (5)
•   Vietnam  (2)
•   West Germany  (27)
•   Yugoslavia  (6)

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	21	15	16	52
2	Australia	3	2	3	8
3	East Germany	2	3	1	6
4	Yugoslavia	1	1	0	2
5	Mexico	1	0	1	2
6	Netherlands	1	0	0	1
7	Soviet Union	0	4	4	8
8	Canada	0	3	1	4
9	Great Britain	0	1	0	1
10	West Germany	0	0	2	2
11	France	0	0	1	1
Totals (11 entries)		29	29	29	87

Medal summary

Men's events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle details	Michael Wenden   Australia	52.2 WR	Ken Walsh   United States	52.8	Mark Spitz   United States	53.0
200 m freestyle details	Michael Wenden   Australia	1:55.2 OR	Don Schollander   United States	1:55.8	John Nelson   United States	1:58.1
400 m freestyle details	Mike Burton   United States	4:09.0 OR	Ralph Hutton   Canada	4:11.7	Alain Mosconi   France	4:13.3
1500 m freestyle details	Mike Burton   United States	16:38.9 OR	John Kinsella   United States	16:57.3	Greg Brough   Australia	17:04.7
100 m backstroke details	Roland Matthes   East Germany	58.7 OR	Charlie Hickcox   United States	1:00.2	Ronnie Mills   United States	1:00.5
200 m backstroke details	Roland Matthes   East Germany	2:09.6 OR	Mitch Ivey   United States	2:10.6	Jack Horsley   United States	2:10.9
100 m breaststroke details	Don McKenzie   United States	1:07.7 OR	Vladimir Kosinsky   Soviet Union	1:08.0	Nikolai Pankin   Soviet Union	1:08.0
200 m breaststroke details	Felipe Muñoz   Mexico	2:28.7	Vladimir Kosinsky   Soviet Union	2:29.2	Brian Job   United States	2:29.9
100 m butterfly details	Doug Russell   United States	55.9 OR	Mark Spitz   United States	56.4	Ross Wales   United States	57.2
200 m butterfly details	Carl Robie   United States	2:08.7	Martyn Woodroffe   Great Britain	2:09.0	John Ferris   United States	2:09.3
200 m individual medley details	Charlie Hickcox   United States	2:12.0 OR	Greg Buckingham   United States	2:13.0	John Ferris   United States	2:13.3
400 m individual medley details	Charlie Hickcox   United States	4:48.4	Gary Hall, Sr.   United States	4:48.7	Michael Holthaus   West Germany	4:51.4
4 × 100 m freestyle relay details	United States  (USA) Zac Zorn Stephen Rerych Ken Walsh Mark Spitz	3:31.7 WR	Soviet Union  (URS) Georgi Kulikov Viktor Mazanov Semyon Belits-Geiman Leonid Ilyichov	3:34.2	Australia  (AUS) Greg Rogers Robert Cusack Bob Windle Michael Wenden	3:34.7
4 × 200 m freestyle relay details	United States  (USA) John Nelson Stephen Rerych Mark Spitz Don Schollander	7:52.3	Australia  (AUS) Greg Rogers Graham White Bob Windle Michael Wenden	7:53.7	Soviet Union  (URS) Vladimir Bure Semyon Belits-Geiman Georgi Kulikov Leonid Ilyichov	8:01.6
4 × 100 m medley relay details	United States  (USA) Charlie Hickcox Don McKenzie Doug Russell Ken Walsh	3:54.9 WR	East Germany  (GDR) Roland Matthes Egon Henninger Horst-Günter Gregor Frank Wiegand	3:57.5	Soviet Union  (URS) Yuri Gromak Vladimir Nemshilov Vladimir Kosinsky Leonid Ilyichov	4:00.7

Women's events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle details	Jan Henne   United States	1:00.0	Susan Pedersen   United States	1:00.3	Linda Gustavson   United States	1:00.3
200 m freestyle details	Debbie Meyer   United States	2:10.5 OR	Jan Henne   United States	2:11.0	Jane Barkman   United States	2:11.2
400 m freestyle details	Debbie Meyer   United States	4:31.8 OR	Linda Gustavson   United States	4:35.5	Karen Moras   Australia	4:37.0
800 m freestyle details	Debbie Meyer   United States	9:24.0 OR	Pam Kruse   United States	9:35.7	Maria Teresa Ramírez   Mexico	9:38.5
100 m backstroke details	Kaye Hall   United States	1:06.2 WR	Elaine Tanner   Canada	1:06.7	Jane Swagerty   United States	1:08.1
200 m backstroke details	Lillian Watson   United States	2:24.8 OR	Elaine Tanner   Canada	2:27.4	Kaye Hall   United States	2:28.9
100 m breaststroke details	Đurđica Bjedov   Yugoslavia	1:15.8 OR	Galina Prozumenshchikova   Soviet Union	1:15.9	Sharon Wichman   United States	1:16.1
200 m breaststroke details	Sharon Wichman   United States	2:44.4 OR	Đurđica Bjedov   Yugoslavia	2:46.4	Galina Prozumenshchikova   Soviet Union	2:47.0
100 m butterfly details	Lyn McClements   Australia	1:05.5	Ellie Daniel   United States	1:05.8	Susan Shields   United States	1:06.2
200 m butterfly details	Ada Kok   Netherlands	2:24.7 OR	Helga Lindner   East Germany	2:24.8	Ellie Daniel   United States	2:25.9
200 m individual medley details	Claudia Kolb   United States	2:24.7 OR	Susan Pedersen   United States	2:28.8	Jan Henne   United States	2:31.4
400 m individual medley details	Claudia Kolb   United States	5:08.5 OR	Lynn Vidali   United States	5:22.2	Sabine Steinbach   East Germany	5:25.3
4 × 100 m freestyle relay details	United States  (USA) Jane Barkman Linda Gustavson Susan Pedersen Jan Henne	4:02.5 OR	East Germany  (GDR) Gabriele Wetzko Roswitha Krause Uta Schmuck Martina Grunert	4:05.7	Canada  (CAN) Angela Coughlan Marilyn Corson Elaine Tanner Marion Lay	4:07.2
4 × 100 m medley relay details	United States  (USA) Kaye Hall Catie Ball Ellie Daniel Susan Pedersen	4:28.3 OR	Australia  (AUS) Lynne Watson Judy Playfair Lyn McClements Janet Steinbeck	4:30.0	West Germany  (FRG) Angelika Kraus Uta Frommater Heike Hustede Heidemarie Reineck	4:36.4

Gallery of the medalists

Some of the Olympic medalists in Mexico City:

• 
  Don Schollander, winner of the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay.
• 
  Mark Spitz, winner of the 4 × 100-metre freestyle relay and 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay.
• 
  Mike Burton, winner of the 400-metre freestyle and 1500-metre freestyle.
• 
  Debbie Meyer, winner of the 200-metre freestyle, 400-metre freestyle, and 800-metre freestyle.
• 
  Roland Matthes, winner of the 100-metre backstroke and 200-metre backstroke.
• 
  Carl Robie, winner of the 200-metre butterfly.
• 
  Charlie Hickcox, winner of the 200-metre individual medley and 400-metre individual medley.
• 
  Claudia Kolb, winner of the 200-metre individual medley and 400-metre individual medley.
• 
  Don McKenzie, winner of the 100-metre breaststroke and 4×100-metre medley relay.

References

1. "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
2. "Swimming at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2016.