| | Event type
200 metres Breaststroke, Men
| Date | 7 – 10 July 1912 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Simstadion, Djurgårdsbrunnsviken, Stockholm |
| Participants | 24 from 11 countries |
International breaststroke competition in this era was dominated by Continental Europeans, notably the Germans. The world record was held by Belgium’s Félicien Courbet, with a mark of 3:00.8 set at Schaerback on 2 October 1910. Although Courbet was in Stockholm he did not advance in his semi-final heat. The most recent ASA championships had been won as follows: 1907-09 - Percy Courtman (GBR), 1910 - Harald Julin (SWE), 1911 - Ödön Toldi (HUN), and 1912-13 - Courtman. Thus the event was wide-open.
But none of the above won a medal, although all but Toldi competed. The event was swept by the Germans, led by Walter Bathe, who challenged, but did not break, Courbet’s world record with a mark of 3:01.8.
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Bathe |  GER | 3:03.4 (1 h3) | 3:02.2 (1 h2) | 3:01.8 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Willy Lützow | GER | 3:07.4 (1 h1) | 3:04.4 (2 h2) | 3:05.0 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Paul Malisch | GER | 3:08.8 (1 h2) | 3:09.6 (1 h1) | 3:08.0 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Percy Courtman |  GBR | 3:09.8 (2 h3) | 3:09.4 (3 h2) | 3:08.8 (4) | |||
| AC r3/3 | Thor Henning |  SWE | 3:14.0 (2 h1) | 3:10.4 (2 h1) | – ( | DNF | ||
| 3 h1 r2/3 | Harald Julin | SWE | 3:12.8 (2 h5) | 3:10.6 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r2/3 | Lennart Lindroos |  FIN | 3:16.6 (3 h1) | 3:11.6 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r2/3 | Oszkár Demján |  HUN | 3:07.8 (1 h5) | 3:11.2 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | Carlyle Atkinson | GBR | – (DNS h1) | 3:15.2 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | Félicien Courbet |  BEL | 3:12.6 (1 h4) | 3:11.6 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | Arvo Aaltonen | FIN | 3:13.0 (2 h2) | 3:17.0 (6 h1) | – | |||
| AC h2 r2/3 | Pontus Hanson | SWE | 3:14.2 (2 h4) | – (DNF h2) | – | DNF | ||
| 3 h2 r1/3 | Nils Andersson | SWE | 3:20.6 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 3 h4 r1/3 | Fredrik Löwenadler | SWE | 3:22.2 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 3 h6 r1/3 | Herman Cederberg | FIN | 3:18.6 (3 h5) | – | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/3 | Frank Schryver |  ANZ | 3:24.0 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r1/3 | Josef Wastl |  AUT | 3:25.6 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 4 h6 r1/3 | Vilhelm Lindgrén | FIN | 3:21.2 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/3 | Georgy Baymakov |  RUS | 3:29.0 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h6 r1/3 | Sven Hanson | SWE | 3:24.4 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 6 h6 r1/3 | Oscar Hamrén | SWE | – (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| AC h4 r1/3 | Mike McDermott |  USA | [3:18.2] (DQ h3) | – | – | DQ | ||
| AC h5 r1/3 | George Innocent | GBR | [3:16.0] (DQ h4) | – | – | DQ | ||
| AC h5 r1/3 | Audun Rusten |  NOR | [3:39.8] (DQ h4) | – | – | DQ | ||
| Heinrich Brandstetter | AUT | – (DNS h6) | – | – | ||||
| Rudolf Dlouchy | AUT | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Daniel Lehu |  FRA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Louis Laufray | FRA | – (DNS h6) | – | – | ||||
| Henri Dubois | FRA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Victor Pierre Eggman | FRA | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| Richard Hallard | FRA | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| Walter Krohn | GER | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Alfred Stühmer | GER | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Ödön Toldi | HUN | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| János Wenk | HUN | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| András Baronyi | HUN | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| Imre Elek | HUN | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| Davide Baiardo |  ITA | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| Mario Massa | ITA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Virgilio Bellezza | ITA | – (DNS h3) | – | – | ||||
| Attilio Bellezza | ITA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Aldo Cigheri | ITA | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| Mario Pratolongo | ITA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| John Johnsen | NOR | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| George Godfrey |  RSA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Arno Almqvist | RUS | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Nikolay Voronkov | RUS | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Ilarion Borisovsky | RUS | – (DNS h3) | – | – | ||||
| Sven Henning | SWE | – (DNS h4) | – | – |
Round One1 (7 July 1912 — 13:50-19:30)
Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One (13:50)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Willy Lützow | GER | 3:07.4 | |||
| 2 | – | Thor Henning | SWE | 3:14.0 | |||
| 3 | – | Lennart Lindroos | FIN | 3:16.6 | |||
| 4 | – | Frank Schryver | ANZ | 3:24.0 | |||
| – | Carlyle Atkinson | GBR | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Paul Malisch | GER | 3:08.8 | |||
| 2 | – | Arvo Aaltonen | FIN | 3:13.0 | |||
| 3 | – | Nils Andersson | SWE | 3:20.6 | |||
| 4 | – | Josef Wastl | AUT | 3:25.6 | |||
| 5 | – | Georgy Baymakov | RUS | 3:29.0 | |||
| – | Victor Pierre Eggman | FRA | – | 2 | |||
| – | Richard Hallard | FRA | – | 3 | |||
| – | András Baronyi | HUN | – | 4 | |||
| – | Imre Elek | HUN | – | 5 | |||
| – | Davide Baiardo | ITA | – | 6 | |||
| – | Aldo Cigheri | ITA | – | 7 | |||
| – | John Johnsen | NOR | – | 8 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Walter Bathe | GER | 3:03.4 | |||
| 2 | – | Percy Courtman | GBR | 3:09.8 | |||
| 3 | – | Fredrik Löwenadler | SWE | 3:22.2 | |||
| – | Mike McDermott | USA | [3:18.2] | ||||
| – | Virgilio Bellezza | ITA | – | ||||
| – | Ilarion Borisovsky | RUS | – |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Félicien Courbet | BEL | 3:12.6 | |||
| 2 | – | Pontus Hanson | SWE | 3:14.2 | |||
| – | George Innocent | GBR | [3:16.0] | ||||
| – | Audun Rusten | NOR | [3:39.8] | ||||
| – | Rudolf Dlouchy | AUT | – | 9 | |||
| – | Daniel Lehu | FRA | – | 10 | |||
| – | Henri Dubois | FRA | – | 11 | |||
| – | Walter Krohn | GER | – | 12 | |||
| – | Alfred Stühmer | GER | – | 13 | |||
| – | Ödön Toldi | HUN | – | 14 | |||
| – | János Wenk | HUN | – | 15 | |||
| – | Mario Massa | ITA | – | 16 | |||
| – | Attilio Bellezza | ITA | – | 17 | |||
| – | Mario Pratolongo | ITA | – | 18 | |||
| – | George Godfrey | RSA | – | 19 | |||
| – | Arno Almqvist | RUS | – | 20 | |||
| – | Nikolay Voronkov | RUS | – | 21 | |||
| – | Sven Henning | SWE | – | 22 |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Oszkár Demján | HUN | 3:07.8 | |||
| 2 | – | Harald Julin | SWE | 3:12.8 | |||
| 3 | – | Herman Cederberg | FIN | 3:18.6 | |||
| 4 | – | Vilhelm Lindgrén | FIN | 3:21.2 | |||
| 5 | – | Sven Hanson | SWE | 3:24.4 | |||
| 6 | – | Oscar Hamrén | SWE | – |
Heat Six (19:30)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Carlyle Atkinson | GBR | 3:12.0 | |||
| – | Heinrich Brandstetter | AUT | – | ||||
| – | Louis Laufray | FRA | – |
Semi-Finals (9 July 1912 — 20:15)
Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Paul Malisch | GER | 3:09.6 | |||
| 2 | – | Thor Henning | SWE | 3:10.4 | |||
| 3 | – | Harald Julin | SWE | 3:10.6 | |||
| 4 | – | Lennart Lindroos | FIN | 3:11.6 | |||
| 5 | – | Carlyle Atkinson | GBR | 3:15.2 | |||
| 6 | – | Arvo Aaltonen | FIN | 3:17.0 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Walter Bathe | GER | 3:02.2 | |||
| 2 | – | Willy Lützow | GER | 3:04.4 | |||
| 3 | – | Percy Courtman | GBR | 3:09.4 | |||
| 4 | – | Oszkár Demján | HUN | 3:11.2 | |||
| 5 | – | Félicien Courbet | BEL | 3:11.6 | |||
| – | Pontus Hanson | SWE | – |
Final (10 July 1912 — 19:30)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Walter Bathe | GER | 3:01.8 | |||
| 2 | – | Willy Lützow | GER | 3:05.0 | |||
| 3 | – | Paul Malisch | GER | 3:08.0 | |||
| 4 | – | Percy Courtman | GBR | 3:08.8 | |||
| – | Thor Henning | SWE | – |