200 metres Breaststroke, Men
| Date | 15 – 17 July 1924 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscine des Tourelles, Saint-Mandé |
| Participants | 28 from 16 countries |
In the absence of German world record holder Erich Rademacher and his German team-mate Sommer, the mantle of favourite fell on the Americans and in particular, Bob Skelton. Skelton started his tilt for an Olympic title by setting a new Olympic record in the opening heat of the event and was never challenged in the final. He finished clear of Joseph de Combe of Belgium but was six seconds adrift of Rademacher’s world record.
Frigyes Jung-Hollósi of Hungary, who failed to qualify from his heat, returned to Olympic competition twelve years later as part of the Hungarian rowing eight. Turner Chapman‘s role in Olympic history was forever relegated to a footnote when, as the Canadian lined up for his heat, officials ordered him to leave the arena, a victim of a dispute between the Canadian Olympic Committee and the national swimming authorities.
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Skelton |  USA | 2:56.0 (1 h1) | 3:00.2 (1 h1) | 2:56.6 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Joseph De Combe |  BEL | 3:02.0 (1 h2) | 3:00.2 (1 h2) | 2:59.2 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Bill Kirschbaum | USA | 3:01.0 (1 h3) | 3:02.6 (2 h1) | 3:01.0 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Bengt Linders |  SWE | 3:03.4 (1 h5) | 3:01.4 (2 h2) | 3:02.2 (4) | |||
| 5 | Robert Wyss |  SUI | 3:03.6 (2 h5) | 3:04.2 (3 h1) | 3:05.6 (5) | |||
| 3 h2 r2/3 | Thor Henning | SWE | 3:02.4 (2 h1) | 3:05.0 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r2/3 | Frigyes Hollósi |  HUN | 3:06.4 (2 h4) | 3:05.6 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r2/3 | Edward Maw |  GBR | 3:07.0 (2 h2) | 3:07.0 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | Reggie Flint | GBR | 3:05.2 (1 h4) | 3:06.8 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | Zoltán Bitskey | HUN | 3:05.4 (3 h1) | 3:09.2 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | Rudolf Piowatý |  TCH | 3:10.8 (2 h3) | 3:11.8 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 3 h2 r1/3 | Márton Sipos | HUN | 3:09.8 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 3 h3 r1/3 | Bo Johnsson | SWE | 3:12.2 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 3 h4 r1/3 | Henri Bouvier |  FRA | 3:07.8 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 3 h5 r1/3 | Clarrie Heard |  NZL | 3:09.0 (3 h5) | – | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/3 | Ivan Stedman |  AUS | 3:09.6 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r1/3 | Arvo Aaltonen |  FIN | 3:11.0 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r1/3 | Viljo Wiklund | FIN | 3:12.4 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r1/3 | Gerlacus Moes |  NED | 3:18.8 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 4 h5 r1/3 | Tsunenobu Ishida |  JPN | 3:09.2 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/3 | William Stoney | GBR | 3:10.3 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/3 | Marius Zwiller | FRA | 3:11.2 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/3 | Luciano Trolli |  ITA | 3:23.0 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/3 | Emerico Biach | ITA | 3:26.8 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 5 h5 r1/3 | Jaroslav Müller | TCH | 3:22.0 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/3 | Georges Vallerey, Sr. | FRA | 3:11.2 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r1/3 | Ivo Pavelić |  YUG | 3:28.4 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 6 h5 r1/3 | Mário da Silva Marques |  POR | 3:32.4 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| John Faricy | USA | – (DNS h3) | – | – | ||||
| Bela Deak | YUG | – (DNS h2) | – | – |
Round One (15 July 1924 — 10:30)
Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Bob Skelton | USA | 2:56.0 | |||
| 2 | – | Thor Henning | SWE | 3:02.4 | |||
| 3 | – | Zoltán Bitskey | HUN | 3:05.4 | |||
| 4 | – | Ivan Stedman | AUS | 3:09.6 | |||
| 5 | – | William Stoney | GBR | 3:10.3 | |||
| 6 | – | Georges Vallerey, Sr. | FRA | 3:11.2 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Joseph De Combe | BEL | 3:02.0 | |||
| 2 | – | Edward Maw | GBR | 3:07.0 | |||
| 3 | – | Márton Sipos | HUN | 3:09.8 | |||
| 4 | – | Arvo Aaltonen | FIN | 3:11.0 | |||
| 5 | – | Marius Zwiller | FRA | 3:11.2 | |||
| – | Bela Deak | YUG | – |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Bill Kirschbaum | USA | 3:01.0 | |||
| 2 | – | Rudolf Piowatý | TCH | 3:10.8 | |||
| 3 | – | Bo Johnsson | SWE | 3:12.2 | |||
| 4 | – | Viljo Wiklund | FIN | 3:12.4 | |||
| 5 | – | Luciano Trolli | ITA | 3:23.0 | |||
| – | John Faricy | USA | – |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Reggie Flint | GBR | 3:05.2 | |||
| 2 | – | Frigyes Hollósi | HUN | 3:06.4 | |||
| 3 | – | Henri Bouvier | FRA | 3:07.8 | |||
| 4 | – | Gerlacus Moes | NED | 3:18.8 | |||
| 5 | – | Emerico Biach | ITA | 3:26.8 | |||
| 6 | – | Ivo Pavelić | YUG | 3:28.4 |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Bengt Linders | SWE | 3:03.4 | |||
| 2 | – | Robert Wyss | SUI | 3:03.6 | |||
| 3 | – | Clarrie Heard | NZL | 3:09.0 | |||
| 4 | – | Tsunenobu Ishida | JPN | 3:09.2 | |||
| 5 | – | Jaroslav Müller | TCH | 3:22.0 | |||
| 6 | – | Mário da Silva Marques | POR | 3:32.4 |
Semi-Finals (16 July 1924 — 15:00)
Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Bob Skelton | USA | 3:00.2 | |||
| 2 | – | Bill Kirschbaum | USA | 3:02.6 | |||
| 3 | – | Robert Wyss | SUI | 3:04.2 | |||
| 4 | – | Frigyes Hollósi | HUN | 3:05.6 | |||
| 5 | – | Reggie Flint | GBR | 3:06.8 | |||
| 6 | – | Rudolf Piowatý | TCH | 3:11.8 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Joseph De Combe | BEL | 3:00.2 | |||
| 2 | – | Bengt Linders | SWE | 3:01.4 | |||
| 3 | – | Thor Henning | SWE | 3:05.0 | |||
| 4 | – | Edward Maw | GBR | 3:07.0 | |||
| 5 | – | Zoltán Bitskey | HUN | 3:09.2 |
Final (17 July 1924 — 15:00)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Bob Skelton | USA | 2:56.6 | |||
| 2 | – | Joseph De Combe | BEL | 2:59.2 | |||
| 3 | – | Bill Kirschbaum | USA | 3:01.0 | |||
| 4 | – | Bengt Linders | SWE | 3:02.2 | |||
| 5 | – | Robert Wyss | SUI | 3:05.6 |