Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics

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.

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 →

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)