Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Swimming at the Games of the XVI Olympiad | |
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Venue | Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre |
Dates | 29 November – 7 December 1956 |
No. of events | 13 |
Competitors | 235 from 33 nations |
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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.[1][2] 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 |
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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
Women's events
Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
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100 m freestyle details | Dawn Fraser Australia | 1:02.0 (WR) | Lorraine Crapp Australia | 1:02.3 | Faith Leech Australia | 1:05.1 |
400 m freestyle details | Lorraine Crapp Australia | 4:54.6 (OR) | Dawn Fraser Australia | 5:02.5 | Sylvia Ruuska United States | 5:07.1 |
100 m backstroke details | 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 details | 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 details | 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 details | 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.[1]
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References
- ^ a b "Swimming at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 17 December 2023.