1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 200 m chest (women)

sport	swim
competition	200 meters chest
gender	Women
place	Swimming and Diving Stadium , Melbourne
Attendees	14 swimmers from 10 nations
Competition phase	November 29th and 30th, 1956
Medals	Ursula Happe ( ) Éva Székely ( ) Eva-Maria ten Elsen ( )

The women's 200 meter breast swimming competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in the Australian metropolis of Melbourne was held on November 29th and 30th in the Swimming and Diving Stadium .

Participating Nations

A total of 14 swimmers from 10 nations took part in the competition over 200 m chest.

Australia (1)  Belgium (1)  Denmark (1)  Germany (2)

Indonesia (1)  Italy (1)  Yugoslavia (1)

Hungary (3)  United States (1)  United Kingdom (2)

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	Ada den Haan	Netherlands	2: 46.4 min	Naarden , Netherlands	November 13, 1956
Olympic record	Éva Novák-Gerard	Hungary	2: 54.0 min	Helsinki , Finland	July 26, 1952

New records

The following record was set again during the competition:

date	run	Surname	nation	time	OR	WR
Nov 30	final	Ursula Happe	Germany	2: 53.1 min	OR

Prelims

There were two preliminary runs on November 29th. The eight fastest swimmers in both heats (highlighted in blue) qualified for the final that took place one day later.

Forward 1

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	Ursula Happe	Germany	2: 54.1 min
2	Klára Killermann	Hungary	2: 54.6 min
3	Elenor Gordon	United Kingdom	2: 55.4 min
4th	Mary Sears	United States	2: 58.2 min
5	Colette Goossens	Belgium	3: 00.5 min
6th	Elena Zennaro	Italy	3: 05.2 min
7th	Ria Tobing	Indonesia	3: 14.2 min

Forward 2

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	Éva Székely	Hungary	2: 55.8 min
2	Vinka Jeričević	Yugoslavia	2: 56.0 min
3	Eva-Maria ten Elsen	Germany	2: 57.5 min
4th	Christine Gosden	United Kingdom	2: 58.2 min
5	Jytte Hansen	Denmark	2: 59.8 min
6th	Éva Novák-Gerard	Hungary	3: 02.7 min
7th	Barbara Evans	Australia	3: 03.6 min

final

The final took place on November 30th. The German Ursula Happe set a new Olympic record over 200 m breasts for women with 2: 53.1 minutes.

rank	Surname	nation	time
	Ursula Happe	Germany	2: 53.1 min
	Éva Székely	Hungary	2: 54.8 min
	Eva-Maria ten Elsen	Germany	2: 55.1 min
4th	Vinka Jeričević	Yugoslavia	2: 55.8 min
5	Klára Killermann	Hungary	2: 56.1 min
6th	Elenor Gordon	United Kingdom	2: 56.1 min
7th	Mary Sears	United States	2: 57.2 min
8th	Christine Gosden	United Kingdom	2: 59.2 min

Web links

• Olympic Summer Games 1956 / Swimming - 200 m chest in the database of Sports-Reference (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.