1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 400m Freestyle (Men)

sport	swim
competition	400 meters freestyle
gender	Men
place	Swimming and Diving Stadium , Melbourne
Attendees	32 athletes from 19 nations
Competition phase	December 1st to 4th, 1956
Medals	Murray Rose ( AUS ) Tsuyoshi Yamanaka ( JPN ) George Breen ( USA )

The contest over 400 meters freestyle men at the 1956 Summer Olympics in the Australian city of Melbourne has from 1 to 4 December in Swimming and Diving Stadium discharged.

Participating Nations

A total of 32 swimmers from 19 nations took part in the competition.

Australia (3)  Brazil (1)  Federal Republic of Germany (2)  Finland (1)  France (3)

Hong Kong (1)  Indonesia (1)  Italy (1)  Japan (3)  Canada (1)

Colombia (1)  Cuba (1)  Philippines (2)  Soviet Union (1)  Sweden (1)

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

Existing records

World record	Ford Konno ( United States )	4: 26.7 min	New Haven , USA	April 3, 1954 *
Olympic record	Jean Boiteux ( France )	4: 30.7 min	Helsinki , Finland	July 30, 1952 *

* before rule change

Prelims

There were five preliminary runs. The eight fastest swimmers of all heats qualified for the final.

Forward 1

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	Kevin O'Halloran	Australia	4: 36.9 min
2	Koji Nonoshita	Japan	4: 37.4 min
3	Angelo Romani	Italy	4: 37.6 min
4th	Bill Woolsey	United States	4: 38.2 min
5	Silvio dos Santos	Brazil	4: 48.8 min
6th	Ulfiano Babol	Philippines	4: 53.4 min
7th	Wan Shiu Ming	Hong Kong	5: 02.6 min

Forward 2

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	Jack Wardrop	United Kingdom	4: 39.8 min
2	Tony Briscoe	South African Union	4: 41.4 min
3	George Onekea	United States	4: 41.6 min
4th	Hans Koehler	BR Germany	4: 43.5 min
5	Habib Nasution	Indonesia	4: 44.0 min
6th	Per-Olof Östrand	Sweden	4: 45.9 min
7th	Gilberto Martínez	Colombia	4: 51.4 min
8th	Raúl Martín	Cuba	4: 58.2 min

Forward 3

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	George Breen	United States	4: 35.7 min
2	Peter Duncan	South African Union	4: 46.7 min
3	Karri Käyhkö	Finland	4: 49.6 min
4th	Yoshiro Noda	Japan	4: 49.9 min
5	Guy Montserrat	France	4: 52.6 min

Forward 4

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	Gary Winram	Australia	4: 34.5 min
2	Jean Boiteux	France	4: 37.9 min
3	William Slater	Canada	4: 40.4 min
4th	Neil McKechnie	United Kingdom	4: 42.6 min
5	Boris Nikitin	Soviet Union	4: 42.8 min
6th	Billy Steuart	South African Union	4: 43.0 min
7th	Bana Sailani	Philippines	4: 49.0 min

Forward 5

rank	Surname	nation	time
1	Murray Rose	Australia	4: 31.7 min
2	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka	Japan	4: 31.8 min
3	Hans Zierold	BR Germany	4: 35.7 min
4th	Jenő Áts	Hungary	4: 47.6 min
5	Jacques Collignon	France	4: 49.3 min

final

rank	athlete	nation	time	annotation
	Murray Rose	Australia	4: 27.3 min	World record
	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka	Japan	4: 30.4 min
	George Breen	United States	4: 32.5 min
4th	Kevin O'Halloran	Australia	4: 32.9 min
5	Hans Zierold	BR Germany	4: 34.6 min
6th	Gary Winram	Australia	4: 34.9 min
7th	Koji Nonoshita	Japan	4: 38.2 min
8th	Angelo Romani	Italy	4: 41.7 min

Web links

• 1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 400 m freestyle in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. Die Chronik II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 , p. 462 ff .: Due to the time advantages when turning, the majority 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.