| Date | 13 – 15 August 1936 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Schwimmstadion, Reichssportfeld, Berlin |
| Participants | 25 from 11 countries |
American Jack Kasley had set a new world record in March 1936, but was badly out of form by the time of the Olympics. He finished sixth in his semi-final and was eliminated, along with the former record holder Leonard Spence of Bermuda, who was disqualified.
The teenaged Japanese swimmer Tetsuo Hamuro set the fastest time in heat and semi-final, and led throughout the final. Hamuro, who was known for his fast starts, initially trailed Herbert Higgins and Jochen Balke, but the pair, who were using the new butterfly technique, faded in the second half of the race. Hamuro was pressured in the final stages by the fast finish of Germany’s Erwin Sietas, but held on for victory. Sietas finished in 4th place in 1928 and 1932 but, with Chancellor Hitler watching, ended his career with an Olympic medal.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 211 | Tetsuo Hamuro |  JPN | 2:42.5 (1 h1) | 2:43.4 (1 h2) | 2:41.5 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 493 | Erwin Sietas |  GER | 2:44.6 (2 h1) | 2:44.8 (3 h2) | 2:42.9 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Reizo Koike | JPN | 2:43.8 (1 h5) | 2:44.5 (1 h1) | 2:44.2 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 442 | Herbert Higgins |  USA | 2:48.8 (1 h3) | 2:44.0 (2 h2) | 2:45.2 (4) | |||
| 5 | 210 | Saburo Ito | JPN | 2:45.8 (1 h2) | 2:45.5 (3 h1) | 2:47.6 (5) | |||
| 6 | 491 | Jochen Balke | GER | 2:46.4 (2 h2) | 2:45.4 (2 h1) | 2:47.8 (6) | |||
| 7 | 326 | Teófilo Yldefonso |  PHI | 2:47.4 (2 h5) | 2:46.8 (4 h2) | 2:51.1 (7) | |||
| 8 | 492 | Arthur Heina | GER | 2:48.5 (3 h5) | 2:47.3 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 9 | 444 | Ray Kaye | USA | 2:48.5 (3 h1) | 2:49.2 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 10 | 443 | Jack Kasley | USA | 2:54.4 (3 h2) | 2:53.4 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | 377 | Felix Erbert |  TCH | 2:55.7 (3 h4) | 2:53.5 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 12 | 323 | Jikirum Adjaluddin | PHI | 2:50.2 (4 h1) | 2:54.0 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 13 | 327 | Arasad Alpad | PHI | 2:52.6 (2 h3) | 2:54.6 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | 83 | Finn Jensen |  DEN | 2:55.7 (3 h3) | 2:54.8 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 15 | 60 | Gerald Clawson |  CAN | 2:54.7 (2 h4) | 2:55.6 (8 h1) | – | |||
| DQ semi | 36 | Leonard Spence |  BER | 2:52.0 (1 h4) | – (DQ h2) | – | |||
| 17 | 84 | Hans Malmström | DEN | 2:56.5 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 18 | 48 | Antônio Luiz dos Santos |  BRA | 2:56.8 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 19 | 85 | Erik Skou | DEN | 2:57.6 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 20 | 8 | Mohamed Hassanein |  EGY | 2:58.9 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 21 | 49 | Edgard Julius Barbosa Arp | BRA | 3:02.6 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 22 | 40 | Percy Belvin | BER | 3:09.8 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 61 | Bill Puddy | CAN | 3:10.2 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 74 | Jorge Berroeta |  CHI | – (DQ h3) | – | – | ||||
| – | Carlos Reed | CHI | – (DQ h4) | – | – | ||||
| 287 | Karl Schäfer |  AUT | – (DNS h3) | – | – | ||||
| 286 | Hans Girg | AUT | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| 401 | Sándor Barócsy |  HUN | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| 268 | Pippo Schembri |  MLT | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| 318 | Conrado Kuhn |  PER | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| 357 | Auguste Keel |  SUI | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| 358 | Paul Schütz | SUI | – (DNS h1) | – | – | ||||
| 359 | Kurt Zimmermann | SUI | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| 396 | Ferenc Csík | HUN | – (DNS h4) | – | – |
| Date | 13 August 1936 — 16:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top three in each heat and the fastest fourth-place advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Tetsuo Hamuro | JPN | 2:42.5 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Reizo Koike | JPN | 2:43.8 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Erwin Sietas | GER | 2:44.6 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Saburo Ito | JPN | 2:45.8 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Jochen Balke | GER | 2:46.4 | ||
| 6 | 4 | Teófilo Yldefonso | PHI | 2:47.4 | ||
| =7 | 5 | Ray Kaye | USA | 2:48.5 | ||
| =7 | 2 | Arthur Heina | GER | 2:48.5 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Herbert Higgins | USA | 2:48.8 | ||
| 10 | 7 | Jikirum Adjaluddin | PHI | 2:50.2 | ||
| 11 | 4 | Leonard Spence | BER | 2:52.0 | ||
| 12 | 2 | Arasad Alpad | PHI | 2:52.6 | ||
| 13 | 6 | Jack Kasley | USA | 2:54.4 | ||
| 14 | 2 | Gerald Clawson | CAN | 2:54.7 | ||
| =15 | 7 | Finn Jensen | DEN | 2:55.7 | ||
| =15 | 3 | Felix Erbert | TCH | 2:55.7 | ||
| 17 | 5 | Hans Malmström | DEN | 2:56.5 | ||
| 18 | 3 | Antônio Luiz dos Santos | BRA | 2:56.8 | ||
| 19 | 4 | Erik Skou | DEN | 2:57.6 | ||
| 20 | 6 | Mohamed Hassanein | EGY | 2:58.9 | ||
| 21 | 4 | Edgard Julius Barbosa Arp | BRA | 3:02.6 | ||
| 22 | 1 | Percy Belvin | BER | 3:09.8 | ||
| 23 | 2 | Bill Puddy | CAN | 3:10.2 | ||
| 4 | Jorge Berroeta | CHI | – | |||
| 6 | Carlos Reed | CHI | – | |||
| 6 | Paul Schütz | SUI | – | |||
| 7 | Auguste Keel | SUI | – | |||
| 1 | Sándor Barócsy | HUN | – | |||
| 1 | Karl Schäfer | AUT | – | |||
| 1 | Pippo Schembri | MLT | – | |||
| 7 | Conrado Kuhn | PER | – | |||
| 5 | Ferenc Csík | HUN | – | |||
| 6 | Hans Girg | AUT | – | |||
| 7 | Kurt Zimmermann | SUI | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Tetsuo Hamuro | JPN | 2:42.5 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Erwin Sietas | GER | 2:44.6 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Ray Kaye | USA | 2:48.5 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Jikirum Adjaluddin | PHI | 2:50.2 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Edgard Julius Barbosa Arp | BRA | 3:02.6 | ||
| 6 | Paul Schütz | SUI | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Saburo Ito | JPN | 2:45.8 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Jochen Balke | GER | 2:46.4 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Jack Kasley | USA | 2:54.4 | ||
| 4 | 4 | Erik Skou | DEN | 2:57.6 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Percy Belvin | BER | 3:09.8 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Bill Puddy | CAN | 3:10.2 | ||
| 7 | Auguste Keel | SUI | – | |||
| 1 | Sándor Barócsy | HUN | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Herbert Higgins | USA | 2:48.8 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Arasad Alpad | PHI | 2:52.6 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Finn Jensen | DEN | 2:55.7 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Antônio Luiz dos Santos | BRA | 2:56.8 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Mohamed Hassanein | EGY | 2:58.9 | ||
| 4 | Jorge Berroeta | CHI | – | |||
| 1 | Karl Schäfer | AUT | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Leonard Spence | BER | 2:52.0 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Gerald Clawson | CAN | 2:54.7 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Felix Erbert | TCH | 2:55.7 | ||
| 6 | Carlos Reed | CHI | – | |||
| 1 | Pippo Schembri | MLT | – | |||
| 7 | Conrado Kuhn | PER | – | |||
| 5 | Ferenc Csík | HUN | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Reizo Koike | JPN | 2:43.8 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Teófilo Yldefonso | PHI | 2:47.4 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Arthur Heina | GER | 2:48.5 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Hans Malmström | DEN | 2:56.5 | ||
| 6 | Hans Girg | AUT | – | |||
| 7 | Kurt Zimmermann | SUI | – |
| Date | 14 August 1936 — 15:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top three in each heat and the fastest fourth-place advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Tetsuo Hamuro | JPN | 2:43.4 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Herbert Higgins | USA | 2:44.0 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Reizo Koike | JPN | 2:44.5 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Erwin Sietas | GER | 2:44.8 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Jochen Balke | GER | 2:45.4 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Saburo Ito | JPN | 2:45.5 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Teófilo Yldefonso | PHI | 2:46.8 | ||
| 8 | 4 | Arthur Heina | GER | 2:47.3 | ||
| 9 | 8 | Ray Kaye | USA | 2:49.2 | ||
| 10 | 1 | Jack Kasley | USA | 2:53.4 | ||
| 11 | 7 | Felix Erbert | TCH | 2:53.5 | ||
| 12 | 4 | Jikirum Adjaluddin | PHI | 2:54.0 | ||
| 13 | 6 | Arasad Alpad | PHI | 2:54.6 | ||
| 14 | 3 | Finn Jensen | DEN | 2:54.8 | ||
| 15 | 1 | Gerald Clawson | CAN | 2:55.6 | ||
| 3 | Leonard Spence | BER | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Reizo Koike | JPN | 2:44.5 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Jochen Balke | GER | 2:45.4 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Saburo Ito | JPN | 2:45.5 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Ray Kaye | USA | 2:49.2 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Jikirum Adjaluddin | PHI | 2:54.0 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Arasad Alpad | PHI | 2:54.6 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Finn Jensen | DEN | 2:54.8 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Gerald Clawson | CAN | 2:55.6 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Tetsuo Hamuro | JPN | 2:43.4 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Herbert Higgins | USA | 2:44.0 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Erwin Sietas | GER | 2:44.8 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Teófilo Yldefonso | PHI | 2:46.8 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Arthur Heina | GER | 2:47.3 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Jack Kasley | USA | 2:53.4 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Felix Erbert | TCH | 2:53.5 | ||
| 3 | Leonard Spence | BER | – |
| Date | 15 August 1936 — 15:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Tetsuo Hamuro | JPN | 2:41.5 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Erwin Sietas | GER | 2:42.9 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Reizo Koike | JPN | 2:44.2 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Herbert Higgins | USA | 2:45.2 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Saburo Ito | JPN | 2:47.6 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Jochen Balke | GER | 2:47.8 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Teófilo Yldefonso | PHI | 2:51.1 |
