200 metres Breaststroke, Women
| Date | 29 – 30 November 1956 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympic Park Swimming and Diving Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Participants | 14 from 10 countries |
On November 13th, just nine days before the start of the Olympic Games, Ada den Haan of the Netherlands shattered the world record. Sadly for the Dutchwoman, it was already known that she would not be going to Melbourne as the Dutch team had been withdrawn from the Games as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Hungary. She heard about the boycott while showing off her Olympic outfit to her club mates. At that point, her coach decided she’d do a world record attempt - a race specifically to set a record, with Den Haan swimming alone against the clock. Without Den Haan, swimmers from Germany and, ironically, Hungary assumed the mantle of favouritism.
The main beneficiary of the Dutch absence turned out to be Germany’s Ursula Happe. Happe, at 30 years of age and the mother of two children, was much the oldest of the swimming champions of 1956. She had retired from competition in 1955, after falling pregnant for the second time, but backtracked on her decision and decided to train for the Melbourne Olympics. Happe captured the gold medal ahead of Éva Székely of Hungary with another German, Eva-Maria ten Elsen, in third. In recognition of her win, Happe was voted Germany’s Sportswoman of the Year.
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ursula Happe |  GER | 2:54.1 (1 h1) | 2:53.1 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Éva Székely |  HUN | 2:55.8 (1 h2) | 2:54.8 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Eva-Maria ten Elsen | GER | 2:57.5 (3 h2) | 2:55.1 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Vinka Jeričević |  YUG | 2:56.0 (2 h2) | 2:55.8 (4) | |||
| 5 | Klára Killermann | HUN | 2:54.6 (2 h1) | 2:56.1 (5) | |||
| 6 | Elenor McKay |  GBR | 2:55.4 (3 h1) | 2:56.1 (6) | |||
| 7 | Mary Sears |  USA | 2:58.2 (4 h1) | 2:57.2 (7) | |||
| 8 | Christine Gosden | GBR | 2:58.2 (4 h2) | 2:59.2 (8) | |||
| 9 | Jytte Hansen |  DEN | 2:59.8 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | Colette Goossens |  BEL | 3:00.5 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 11 | Éva Gérard-Novák | BEL | 3:02.7 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 12 | Barbara Evans |  AUS | 3:03.6 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 13 | Elena Zennaro |  ITA | 3:05.2 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | Ria Tobing |  INA | 3:14.2 (8 h2) | – | |||
| Helen Stewart |  CAN | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| Jarmila Helešicová |  TCH | – (DNS h1) | – |
Round One (29 November 1956 — 15:00)
Fastest eight advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Ursula Happe | GER | 2:54.1 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Klára Killermann | HUN | 2:54.6 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Elenor McKay | GBR | 2:55.4 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Mary Sears | USA | 2:58.2 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Colette Goossens | BEL | 3:00.5 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Elena Zennaro | ITA | 3:05.2 | |||
| 1 | Helen Stewart | CAN | – | ||||
| 2 | Jarmila Helešicová | TCH | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Éva Székely | HUN | 2:55.8 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Vinka Jeričević | YUG | 2:56.0 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Eva-Maria ten Elsen | GER | 2:57.5 | |||
| 4 | 7 | Christine Gosden | GBR | 2:58.2 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Jytte Hansen | DEN | 2:59.8 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Éva Gérard-Novák | BEL | 3:02.7 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Barbara Evans | AUS | 3:03.6 | |||
| 8 | 2 | Ria Tobing | INA | 3:14.2 |
Final (30 November 1956 — 20:20)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ursula Happe | GER | 2:53.1 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Éva Székely | HUN | 2:54.8 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Eva-Maria ten Elsen | GER | 2:55.1 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Vinka Jeričević | YUG | 2:55.8 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Klára Killermann | HUN | 2:56.1 | |||
| 6 | 3 | Elenor McKay | GBR | 2:56.1 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Mary Sears | USA | 2:57.2 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Christine Gosden | GBR | 2:59.2 |