The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place between November 30 and December 6. This swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 event used the breaststroke

Breaststroke

The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...

. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Medalists

Heats

Three heats were held; the swimmers with the fastest eight times advanced to the Finals. The athletes that advanced are highlighted.

Heat One

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1	Masaru Furukawa	Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	2:36.1
2	Knud Gleie	Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...	2:36.4
3	Farid Disayev	Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....	2:43.9
4	Louis Kozma	Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...	2:48.4
5	Shamsher Khan	India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...	3:19.0
-	Octavio Mobiglia	Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...	DSQ
-	Palsons Naibula	Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...	DSQ

Heat Two

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1	Igor Zaseda	Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....	2:40.1
2	Terry Gathercole	Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	2:40.2
3	Manuel Sanguily	Cuba Cuba The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...	2:41.8
4	Ren Kohn	Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...	2:50.9
5	István Szívós István Szivós Szívós István was a Hungarian water polo player who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics, in the 1952 Summer Olympics, and in the 1956 Summer Olympics....	Hungary Hungary Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...	3:18.7
-	lvaro Gmez	Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...	DSQ
-	Herbert Klein	Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	DSQ

Heat Three

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1	Masahiro Yoshimura	Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	2:38.6
2	Kharis Yunichev	Soviet Union Soviet Union The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....	2:41.2
3	Henri Broussard	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	2:43.0
4	Gilbert Desmit	Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...	2:43.5
5	Christopher Walkden	Great Britain Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...	2:47.1
6	Robert Hughes	United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	2:52.2
-	Ghulam Rasul	Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...	DSQ

Final

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
	Masaru Furukawa Masaru Furukawa is a Japanese swimmer and Olympic champion. He competed at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, where he received a gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke.-World records:...		2:34.7
	Masahiro Yoshimura Masahiro Yoshimura Masahiro Yoshimura is a Japanese swimmer and Olympic medalist. He participated at the 1956 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in 200 metre breaststroke.-References:...		2:36.7
	Kharis Yunichev		2:36.8
4	Terry Gathercole Terry Gathercole Terrence Stephen Gathercole OAM , was an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the 1960 Rome Olympics...		2:38.7
5	Igor Zaseda		2:39.0
6	Knud Gleie		2:40.0
7	Manuel Sanguily		2:42.0
	Henri Broussard			DSQ

Key: DSQ = Disqualified