| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Men

Date	6 – 8 August 1928
Status	Olympic
Location	Zwemstadion, Amsterdam
Participants	21 from 13 countries

Only Triple jumper Mikio Oda, a week before, had ever won Olympic gold for Japan before Yoshiyuki Tsuruta swam in the 200 metres breaststroke. Tsuruta’s main rival was Erich Rademacher, the German world record holder who missed the 1924 Games where he would have been a strong favourite. The two traded the Olympic record in the heats but Rademacher may have suffered from his participation in the water polo competition and although Tsuruta was always pressurised, he was never headed as he won with a metre to spare. Teófilo Yldefonso of the Phillipines came perilously close to being knocked out of the competition in his heat, qualified for the semi-finals only as a fastest loser but swam an inspired final to gain the very first medal for the Philippines in Olympic history. Karl Schäfer of Austria, who was eliminated at the semi-final stage, had represented his country in the preceding Winter Olympics as a skater and would gain greater recognition by winning the men’s figure skating gold at the Winter Games in both 1932 and 1936.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Yoshiyuki Tsuruta	JPN	2:50.0 (1 h4)	2:49.2 (1 h1)	2:48.8 (1)	Gold
2	Erich Rademacher	GER	2:52.0 (1 h3)	2:56.6 (1 h2)	2:50.6 (2)	Silver
3	Teófilo Yldefonso	PHI	2:57.4 (3 h2)	2:53.2 (3 h1)	2:56.4 (3)	Bronze
4	Erwin Sietas	GER	2:57.4 (2 h1)	2:57.8 (3 h2)	2:56.6 (4)
5	Erik Harling	SWE	2:56.4 (1 h2)	2:57.2 (2 h2)	2:56.8 (5)
6	Walter Spence	CAN	2:56.6 (1 h1)	2:53.0 (2 h1)	2:57.2 (6)
4 h1 r2/3	Robert Wyss	SUI	3:02.6 (2 h4)	– (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	Karl Schäfer	AUT	2:56.6 (2 h2)	– (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/3	Tom Blankenburg	USA	3:04.2 (2 h3)	– (5 h1)	–
3 h1 r1/3	Louis Van Parijs	BEL	3:00.0 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	Léon Talon	FRA	3:05.0 (3 h3)	–	–
3 h4 r1/3	Leen Korpershoek	NED	3:04.0 (3 h4)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	William Rozier	FRA	– (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	Yuki Mawatari	JPN	– (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	Jack Aubin	CAN	– (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	Reggie Flint	GBR	– (4 h4)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	Hugh Smith	GBR	– (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	Ernst Budig	GER	2:58.6 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	José Francesch	ESP	– (5 h4)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	Tage Wissnell	SWE	– (6 h4)	–	–
AC h3 r1/3	Joseph De Combe	BEL	– (DNF h3)	–	–		DNF
DNS	Edwin Friedberger	AUT	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	Ottone Andriancich	ITA	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	Jerzy Jurkowski	POL	– (DNS h3)	–	–

Round One (6 August 1928 — 11:15)

Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	Walter Spence	CAN	– (–) –	2:56.6	Q
2	1	Erwin Sietas	GER	– (–) –	2:57.4	Q
3	5	Louis Van Parijs	BEL	– (–) –	3:00.0
4	6	William Rozier	FRA	– (–) –	–
5	3	Hugh Smith	GBR	– (–) –	–
DNS	4	Edwin Friedberger	AUT	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	1	Erik Harling	SWE	– (–) –	2:56.4	Q
2	6	Karl Schäfer	AUT	– (–) –	2:56.6	Q
3	5	Teófilo Yldefonso	PHI	– (–) –	2:57.4	q
4	2	Yuki Mawatari	JPN	– (–) –	–
5	3	Ernst Budig	GER	– (–) –	2:58.6
DNS	4	Ottone Andriancich	ITA	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	1	Erich Rademacher	GER	– (–) –	2:52.0	QOR
2	3	Tom Blankenburg	USA	– (–) –	3:04.2	Q
3	4	Léon Talon	FRA	– (–) –	3:05.0
4	6	Jack Aubin	CAN	– (–) –	–
DNF	5	Joseph De Combe	BEL	– (–) –	–
DNS	2	Jerzy Jurkowski	POL	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	1	Yoshiyuki Tsuruta	JPN	– (–) –	2:50.0	QOR
2	5	Robert Wyss	SUI	– (–) –	3:02.6	Q
3	2	Leen Korpershoek	NED	– (–) –	3:04.0
4	3	Reggie Flint	GBR	– (–) –	–
5	4	José Francesch	ESP	– (–) –	–
6	6	Tage Wissnell	SWE	– (–) –	–

Semi-Finals (7 August 1928)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Yoshiyuki Tsuruta	JPN	– (–) –	2:49.2	QOR
2	–	Walter Spence	CAN	– (–) –	2:53.0	Q
3	–	Teófilo Yldefonso	PHI	– (–) –	2:53.2	Q
4	–	Robert Wyss	SUI	– (–) –	–
5	–	Tom Blankenburg	USA	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Erich Rademacher	GER	– (–) –	2:56.6	Q
2	–	Erik Harling	SWE	– (–) –	2:57.2	Q
3	–	Erwin Sietas	GER	– (–) –	2:57.8	Q
4	–	Karl Schäfer	AUT	– (–) –	–

Final (8 August 1928 — 15:20)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Yoshiyuki Tsuruta	JPN	– (–) –	2:48.8	OR
2	4	Erich Rademacher	GER	– (–) –	2:50.6
3	1	Teófilo Yldefonso	PHI	– (–) –	2:56.4
4	2	Erwin Sietas	GER	– (–) –	2:56.6
5	5	Erik Harling	SWE	– (–) –	2:56.8
6	6	Walter Spence	CAN	– (–) –	2:57.2