Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Swimming
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
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
4	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

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

[SportsRef-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.

[1]

[2]

v t e Swimming at the Summer Olympics
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Past events	500 m free (1896) 1000 m free (1900) 1200 m free (1896) 4000 m free (1900) 400 m breast 1904 1912 1920 4 × 100 yd free relay (1904) 200 m team (1900) 200 m obstacle (1900) underwater (1900) 100 m free sailors (1896)
List of medalists men women List of Olympic records List of Olympic venues

Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Freestyle
100 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
1500 m	men
Backstroke
100 m	men	women
Breaststroke
200 m	men	women
Butterfly
100 m		women
200 m	men
Freestyle relay
4 × 100 m		women
4 × 200 m	men
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