Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Venue	Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre
Dates	29 November – 7 December 1956
No. of events	13
Competitors	235 from 33 nations

At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 13 swimming events were contested, seven for men and six for women. There was a total of 235 participants from 33 countries competing. For the first time, the butterfly stroke was contested as a separate event. Australia dominated the medal standings with a total of 8 out of a possible 13 gold medals, eventually finishing with 14 medals overall.

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia (AUS)	8	4	2	14
2	United States (USA)	2	4	5	11
3	Japan (JPN)	1	4	0	5
4	Great Britain (GBR)	1	0	1	2
	United Team of Germany (EUA)	1	0	1	2
6	Hungary (HUN)	0	1	1	2
7	Soviet Union (URS)	0	0	2	2
8	South Africa (RSA)	0	0	1	1
Totals (8 entries)		13	13	13	39

Medalists

Men's events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle	Jon Henricks  Australia	55.4 (WR)	John Devitt  Australia	55.8	Gary Chapman  Australia	56.7
400 m freestyle	Murray Rose  Australia	4:27.3 (WR)	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka  Japan	4:30.4	George Breen  United States	4:32.5
1500 m freestyle	Murray Rose  Australia	17:58.9	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka  Japan	18:00.3	George Breen  United States	18:08.2
100 m backstroke	David Theile  Australia	1:02.2 (WR)	John Monckton  Australia	1:03.2	Frank McKinney  United States	1:04.5
200 m breaststroke	Masaru Furukawa  Japan	2:34.7	Masahiro Yoshimura  Japan	2:36.7	Kharis Yunichev  Soviet Union	2:36.8
200 m butterfly	William Yorzyk  United States	2:19.3	Takashi Ishimoto  Japan	2:23.8	György Tumpek  Hungary	2:23.9
4 × 200 metre freestyle relay	Australia (AUS) Kevin O'Halloran John Devitt Murray Rose Jon Henricks	8:23.6 (WR)	United States (USA) Dick Hanley George Breen Bill Woolsey Ford Konno	8:31.5	Soviet Union (URS) Vitaly Sorokin Vladimir Struzhanov Gennady Nikolayev Boris Nikitin	8:34.7

Women's events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle	Dawn Fraser  Australia	1:02.0 (WR)	Lorraine Crapp  Australia	1:02.3	Faith Leech  Australia	1:05.1
400 m freestyle	Lorraine Crapp  Australia	4:54.6 (OR)	Dawn Fraser  Australia	5:02.5	Sylvia Ruuska  United States	5:07.1
100 m backstroke	Judy Grinham  Great Britain	1:12.9 (WR)	Carin Cone  United States	1:12.9 (WR)	Margaret Edwards  Great Britain	1:13.1
200 m breaststroke	Ursula Happe  United Team of Germany	2:53.1 (OR)	Éva Székely  Hungary	2:54.8	Eva-Maria Elsen  United Team of Germany	2:55.1
100 m butterfly	Shelley Mann  United States	1:11.0 (OR)	Nancy Ramey  United States	1:11.9	Mary Sears  United States	1:14.4
4 × 100 metre freestyle relay	Australia (AUS) Dawn Fraser Faith Leech Sandra Morgan Lorraine Crapp	4:17.1 (WR)	United States (USA) Sylvia Ruuska Shelley Mann Nancy Simons Joan Rosazza	4:19.2	South Africa (RSA) Natalie Myburgh Susan Roberts Moira Abernethy Jeanette Myburgh	4:25.7

Participating nations

235 swimmers from 33 nations competed.

•  Australia (26)
•  Belgium (6)
•  Brazil (4)
•  Canada (8)
•  Colombia (3)
•  Cuba (2)
•  Czechoslovakia (2)
•  Denmark (2)
•  Finland (1)
•  France (16)
•  United Team of Germany (18)
•  Great Britain (18)
•  Hong Kong (2)
•  Hungary (16)
•  India (2)
•  Indonesia (3)
•  Israel (1)
•  Italy (7)
•  Japan (19)
•  Kenya (1)
•  Luxembourg (1)
•  Malaya (2)
•  Mexico (4)
•  New Zealand (5)
•  Pakistan (3)
•  Philippines (8)
•  Poland (1)
•  Romania (2)
•  South Africa (8)
•  Sweden (5)
•  Soviet Union (10)
•  United States (28)
•  Yugoslavia (1)