1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 100m backstroke (women)

sport	swim
competition	100 meters back
gender	Women
place	Swimming and Diving Stadium , Melbourne
Attendees	23 swimmers from 14 nations
Competition phase	3rd and 5th December 1956
Medals	Judy Grinham ( GBR ) Carin Cone ( USA ) Margaret Edwards (GBR)

The women's 100 meter back swimming competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in the Australian metropolis of Melbourne was held on December 3rd and 5th in the Swimming and Diving Stadium .

Participating Nations

A total of 23 swimmers from 14 nations took part in the 100 meter back competition.

Australia (3)  Germany (1)  France (1)  Indonesia (1)  Canada (2)

New Zealand (2)  Philippines (1)  Poland (1)  Romania (1)  Soviet Union (1)

South African Union (1)  Hungary (2)  United States (3)  United Kingdom (3)

Records

Note: Due to the time savings when turning, most of the previous records came from competitions in a 25-meter pool. On the one under 1956 Olympics conducted FINA -Congress was finally determined that records from May 1, 1957 found only on the long course (50 meters or 55 yards) official recognition. Previously dated (long-course) top marks - primarily achieved in Melbourne's Olympic basin - were subsequently recognized as the first official 50-m-course world record if they were no longer undercut on the short course by the specified date.

Previous records

World record	Cor Kint	Netherlands	1: 10.9 min	Rotterdam , Netherlands	September 22, 1939
Olympic record	Geertje Wielema	Netherlands	1: 13.8 min	Helsinki , Finland	July 29, 1952

New records

The following records were set during the competition:

date	run	Surname	nation	time	OR	WR
3 Dec	Forward 1	Judy Grinham	United Kingdom	1: 13.1 min	OR	-
3 Dec	Forward 3	Margaret Edwards	United Kingdom	1: 13.0 min	OR	-
Dec 5	final	Judy Grinham	United Kingdom	1: 12.9 min	OR	WR

Prelims

There were three preliminary runs on December 3rd. The eight fastest swimmers of all heats (highlighted in blue) qualified for the final two days later.

Forward 1

The Briton Judy Grinham set a new Olympic record: she improved the best time set in Helsinki four years earlier from 1: 13.8 min by 0.7 s to 1: 13.1 min.

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	Judy Grinham	United Kingdom	1: 13.1 min
2	Maria Both	Romania	1: 15.8 min
3	Liudmyla Klipova	Soviet Union	1: 16.1 min
4th	Mary Anne Marchino	United States	1: 16.2 min
5	Elżbieta Gellner	Poland	1: 16.2 min
6th	Pam Singleton	Australia	1: 17.0 min
7th	Lenora Fisher	Canada	1: 17.5 min
8th	Ginette Jany-Sendral	France	1: 19.1 min

Forward 2

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	Carin Cone	United States	1: 13.9 min
2	Gerganiya Beckitt	Australia	1: 14.8 min
3	Julie Hoyle	United Kingdom	1: 15.0 min
4th	Éva Pajor	Hungary	1: 15.3 min
5	Jean Stewart	New Zealand	1: 15.4 min
6th	Moira Abernethy	South African Union	1: 15.4 min
7th	Jocelyn von Giese	Philippines	1: 20.0 min

Forward 3

The British Margaret Edwards improved the Olympic record by a tenth of a second to 1: 13.0 min.

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	Margaret Edwards	United Kingdom	1: 13.0 min
2	Sara Barber	Canada	1: 14.3 min
3	Helga Schmidt-Neuber	Germany	1: 14.8 min
4th	Maureen Murphy	United States	1: 14.8 min
5	Patricia Huntingford	Australia	1: 16.0 min
6th	Philippa Gould	New Zealand	1: 17.5 min
7th	Judit Temes	Hungary	1: 17.6 min
7th	Martha Gultom	Indonesia	1: 21.7 min

final

The final took place on December 5th. The Briton Judy Grinham set a new world record and an Olympic record over 100 meters back for women with 1: 12.9 minutes .

rank	Surname	nation	time
	Judy Grinham	United Kingdom	1: 12.9 min
	Carin Cone	United States	1: 12.9 min
	Margaret Edwards	United Kingdom	1: 13.1 min
4th	Helga Schmidt-Neuber	Germany	1: 13.4 min
5	Maureen Murphy	United States	1: 14.1 min
6th	Julie Hoyle	United Kingdom	1: 14.3 min
7th	Sara Barber	Canada	1: 14.3 min
8th	Gerganiya Beckitt	Australia	1: 14.7 min

Web links

• 1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 100 m back in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 , p. 462 ff.