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Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

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The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place between 30 November and 6 December.[1] This swimming event used the breaststroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Medalists

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Gold Masaru Furukawa
 Japan
Silver Masahiro Yoshimura
 Japan
Bronze Kharis Yunichev
 Soviet Union

Results

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Heats

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Three heats were held; the swimmers with the fastest eight times advanced to the Finals. The athletes that advanced are highlighted.

Heat One

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Rank Athlete Country Time
1 Masaru Furukawa Japan 2:36.1
2 Knud Gleie Denmark 2:36.4
3 Farid Dosayev Soviet Union 2:43.9
4 Louis Kozma Belgium 2:48.4
5 Shamsher Khan India 3:19.0
- Octávio Mobiglia Brazil DSQ
- Palsons Naibula Philippines DSQ

Heat Two

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Rank Athlete Country Time
1 Igor Zaseda Soviet Union 2:40.1
2 Terry Gathercole Australia 2:40.2
3 Manuel Sanguily Cuba 2:41.8
4 Ren Kohn Luxembourg 2:50.9
5 István Szívós Hungary 3:18.7
- Álvaro Gómez Colombia DSQ
- Herbert Klein Germany DSQ

Heat Three

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Rank Athlete Country Time
1 Masahiro Yoshimura Japan 2:38.6
2 Kharis Yunichev Soviet Union 2:41.2
3 Hugues Broussard France 2:43.0
4 Gilbert Desmit Belgium 2:43.5
5 Christopher Walkden Great Britain 2:47.1
6 Robert Hughes United States 2:52.2
- Ghulam Rasul Pakistan DSQ

Final

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Rank Athlete Country Time Notes
1 Masaru Furukawa  Japan 2:34.7
2 Masahiro Yoshimura  Japan 2:36.7
3 Kharis Yunichev  Soviet Union 2:36.8
4 Terry Gathercole  Australia 2:38.7
5 Igor Zaseda  Soviet Union 2:39.0
6 Knud Gleie  Denmark 2:40.0
7 Manuel Sanguily  Cuba 2:42.0
Hugues Broussard  France DSQ

A loophole in the rules allowed swimmers to swim below the surface of the water, which was quicker and more efficient, with Furukawa spending 75% of the race underwater. Underwater swimming was banned in early 1957.[2]

Key: DSQ = Disqualified

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Breaststroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  2. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 407. ISBN 0140066322.