1912 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 200 m chest (men)

sport	swim
discipline	200 m chest
gender	Men
Attendees	24 athletes from 11 countries
Competition location	Djurgårdsbrunnsviken
Competition phase	July 7-10, 1912
Winning time	3: 01.8 min ( OR )
Medalist Walter Bathe ( GER ) Wilhelm Lützow ( GER ) Paul Malisch ( GER )

Swimming competitions at the 1912 Olympics
100 m freestyle	Men	Women
400 m freestyle	Men
1500 m freestyle	Men
100 m back	Men
200 m chest	Men
400 m chest	Men
4 × 100 m freestyle		Women
4 × 200 m freestyle	Men

The swimming competition over 200m breaststroke men at the 1912 Summer Olympics took place between 7 July and 10 July 1912th The venue was the swimming stadium at Djurgårdsbrunnsviken .

After its premiere at the 1908 Games, the competition was part of the Olympic program for the second time. 24 athletes from 11 countries took part.

In the breaststroke the European athletes were dominant at this time. With the world record holder Félicien Courbet (Belgium), the winner of the ASA Championships 1907-1909 and 1912 Percy Courtman (Great Britain) and Harald Julin (Sweden), winners of the ASA Championships 1910, the most successful swimmers of the last few years were at the start. Only Ödön Toldi (Hungary), winner of the ASA Championships 1911, was missing.

Of them, however, only Courtman reached the final. The competition was determined by the swimmers from Germany, who celebrated a triple success in the end. Olympic champion Walter Bathe improved the Olympic record by a total of 5.6 seconds in each of his three races. The world record remained untouched.

Records

Before the start of the Olympic Games, the following records were valid.

World record	3: 00.8 min	Félicien Courbet	Schaerbeek (Belgium)	October 2, 1910
Olympic record	3: 09.2 min	Frederick Holman	London (Great Britain)	July 18, 1908

The following new records were set:

Olympic record	3: 01.8 min	Walter Bathe	final	July 10, 1912
	3: 02.2 min	Walter Bathe	Semi-final 2	July 9, 1912
	3: 03.4 min	Walter Bathe	Forward 4	July 7, 1912
	3: 07.4 min	Wilhelm Lützow	Forward 1	July 7, 1912

Results

First round

The six preliminary runs took place on Sunday, July 7th, 1912, from 1:50 p.m. For the semi-finals, the two fastest of each heat qualified as well as the fastest third placed of all heats.

Forward 1 space Surname country time Note 1. Wilhelm Lützow  GER 3: 07.4 min OR 2. Thor Henning  SWE 3: 14.0 min 3. Karl Gustaf L. Lindroos  FIN 3: 16.6 min 4th Frank Schryver  ANZ 3: 24.0 min Lützow and Henning were tied for over 150 meters. In a tough final sprint, the German managed to break away and in the end easily won in a new Olympic record time.	Forward 2 space Surname country time Note 1. Paul Malisch  GER 3: 08.8 min 2. Arvo Ossian Aaltonen  FIN 3: 13.0 min 3. Nils Gustaf Andersson  SWE 3: 20.6 min 4th Josef Wastl  AUT 3: 25.6 min 5. Georgi Baimakov  RUS 3: 29.0 min Malisch determined the lead and won by a safe margin.
Forward 3 space Surname country time Note 1. Carlyle Atkinson  GBR 3: 12.0 min Atkinson had no opponent.	Forward 4 space Surname country time Note 1. Walter Bathe  GER 3: 03.4 min OR 2. Percy Courtman  GBR 3: 09.8 min 3. Fredrik Lion Eagle  SWE 3: 22.2 min - Michael McDermott  United States 3: 18.2 min DSQ Bathe won clearly and improved the Olympic record set by his compatriot Lützow by 4.0 seconds.
Forward 5 space Surname country time Note 1. Félicien Courbet  BEL 3: 12.6 min 2. Pontus Hanson  SWE 3: 14.2 min - George Innocent  GBR 3: 16.0 min DSQ - Audun Rusten  NOR 3: 30.8 min DSQ Courbet and Hanson fought an uphill battle. Initially the Swede was in the lead, but after the turnaround the Belgian took the lead and won in the final sprint. Towards the end of the race, Innocent came close to Hanson again.	Forward 6 space Surname country time Note 1. Oszkár Demján  HUN 3: 07.8 min 2. Harald Julin  SWE 3: 12.8 min 3. Herman Cederberg  FIN 3: 18.6 min 4th Vilhelm Lindgrén  FIN 3: 21.2 min 5. Sven Hanson  SWE 3: 24.4 min 6th Oscar Hamren  SWE Demján won the race without much effort.

Semifinals

The semi-finals took place on Tuesday, July 9, 1912, from 8:15 p.m. The two fastest of each run and the fastest third placed in both semifinals qualified for the final.

Semi-final 1 space Surname country time Note 1. Paul Malisch  GER 3: 09.6 min 2. Thor Henning  SWE 3: 10.4 min 3. Harald Julin  SWE 3: 10.6 min 4th Karl Gustaf L. Lindroos  FIN 3: 11.6 min 5. Carlyle Atkinson  GBR 3: 15.2 min 6th Arvo Ossian Aaltonen  FIN 3: 17.0 min At the first turn, Henning was in the lead. Malisch passed him on the last track and won in the final sprint. Julin fought for second place.

Semi-final 2 space Surname country time Note 1. Walter Bathe  GER 3: 02.2 min OR 2. Wilhelm Lützow  GER 3: 04.4 min 3. Percy Courtman  GBR 3: 09.4 min 4th Oszkár Demján  HUN 3: 11.2 min 5. Félicien Courbet  BEL 3: 11.6 min - Pontus Hanson  SWE DNF Bathe was in the lead from the start of the race and improved his own Olympic record from the lead by 1.2 seconds, closely followed by his compatriot Lützow.

final

The final took place on Wednesday, July 10, 1912 at 7:30 p.m.

space	Surname	country	time	Note
1.	Walter Bathe	GER	3: 01.8 min	OR
2.	Wilhelm Lützow	GER	3: 05.0 min
3.	Paul Malisch	GER	3: 08.0 min
4th	Percy Courtman	GBR	3: 08.8 min
-	Thor Henning	SWE	DNF

Bathe, the fastest of the heats and the semi-finals, took the lead from the start. Lützow stayed with him. In the final sprint, Bathe certainly won with a new Olympic record. In the battle for third place, Malisch and Henning were side by side at 50 meters, Courtman a little behind. The health-weakened Swede had to give up the race after the turn. In an exciting final sprint, Malisch prevailed against the British and secured a three-fold German success.

literature

• The Swedish Olympic Committee: The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912 - Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1912, pp. 722f
• Results at SportsReference.com