| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Women

Date	11 – 12 October 1964
Status	Olympic
Location	Kokuritsu Yoyogi Kyogijo, Shibuya, Tokyo
Participants	27 from 15 countries

The defending champion was Anita Lonsbrough of Great Britain, who was in Tokyo, but elected to swim only the 400 individual medley. She would not have been favored, that accolade going to Ukrainian Soviet Galina Prozumenshchikova, who had set two world records earlier in 1964, posting 2:45.4 in Berlin in August, the current mark. Other challengers were thought to be Soviet Svetlana Babanina and the Netherlands’ Klena Bimolt, both of whom had gone under 2:47 in the Olympic year. This is not usually the best event for American swimmers, their top entrant this year being Claudia Kolb, who was only 14-years-old. The final was led for 50 metres by East German Bärbel Grimmer, but Prozumenshchikova swept past to lead at 100 metres. She held on to win, but Kolb closed fast for a surprising silver medal, trailed by Babanina in third. Grimmer faded to sixth, followed by Bimolt in seventh. Prozumenshchikova would win bronze medals in this event in 1968 and 1972. Kolb would return to the Olympics in 1968 to win gold in the 200 and 400 individual medleys.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	Galina Prozumenshchikova	URS	2:49.0 (2 h2)	2:46.4 (1)	Gold
2	Claudia Kolb	USA	2:49.7 (3 h3)	2:47.6 (2)	Silver
3	Svetlana Babanina	URS	2:48.3 (1 h3)	2:48.6 (3)	Bronze
4	Stella Mitchell	GBR	2:48.8 (2 h3)	2:49.0 (4)
5	Jill Slattery	GBR	2:50.2 (1 h4)	2:49.6 (5)
6	Bärbel Grimmer	GER	2:48.6 (1 h2)	2:51.0 (6)
7	Klenie Bimolt	NED	2:50.7 (1 h1)	2:51.3 (7)
8	Ursula Küper	GER	2:50.1 (4 h3)	2:53.9 (8)
9	Marguerite Ruygrok	AUS	2:53.1 (2 h1)	–
10	Wiltrud Urselmann	GER	2:53.2 (3 h1)	–
11	Vivien Haddon	NZL	2:53.4 (2 h4)	–
12	Truus Looijs	NED	2:54.5 (3 h4)	–
13	Jackie Enfield	GBR	2:54.9 (3 h2)	–
14	Tammy Hazleton	USA	2:55.0 (4 h1)	–
15	Gretta Kok	NED	2:55.4 (4 h2)	–
16	Isabel Castañe	ESP	2:55.7 (5 h3)	–
17	Noriko Yamamoto	JPN	2:57.0 (5 h1)	–
18	Sandy Nitta	USA	2:58.4 (4 h4)	–
19	Christl Filippovits	AUT	2:59.2 (5 h4)	–
20	Linda McGill	AUS	2:59.4 (6 h3)	–
21	Yoshiko Morizane	JPN	2:59.9 (6 h4)	–
22	Susana Peper	ARG	3:00.0 (5 h2)	–
23	Zsuzsa Kovács	HUN	3:06.7 (6 h1)	–
24	Marny Jolly	MAS	3:11.0 (7 h3)	–
25	Margaret Harding	PUR	3:16.0 (7 h1)	–
26	Li Hin Yu	HKG	3:22.2 (7 h4)	–
DQ	Christine Barnetson	AUS	– (DQ h2)	–
DNS	Márta Egerváry	HUN	– (DNS h2)	–

Round One

Date	11 October 1964 — 13:20
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Svetlana Babanina	URS	2:48.3	QOR
2	–	Bärbel Grimmer	GER	2:48.6	QOR
3	–	Stella Mitchell	GBR	2:48.8	Q
4	–	Galina Prozumenshchikova	URS	2:49.0	Q
5	–	Claudia Kolb	USA	2:49.7	Q
6	–	Ursula Küper	GER	2:50.1	Q
7	–	Jill Slattery	GBR	2:50.2	Q
8	–	Klenie Bimolt	NED	2:50.7	Q
9	–	Marguerite Ruygrok	AUS	2:53.1
10	–	Wiltrud Urselmann	GER	2:53.2
11	–	Vivien Haddon	NZL	2:53.4
12	–	Truus Looijs	NED	2:54.5
13	–	Jackie Enfield	GBR	2:54.9
14	–	Tammy Hazleton	USA	2:55.0
15	–	Gretta Kok	NED	2:55.4
16	–	Isabel Castañe	ESP	2:55.7
17	–	Noriko Yamamoto	JPN	2:57.0
18	–	Sandy Nitta	USA	2:58.4
19	–	Christl Filippovits	AUT	2:59.2
20	–	Linda McGill	AUS	2:59.4
21	–	Yoshiko Morizane	JPN	2:59.9
22	–	Susana Peper	ARG	3:00.0
23	–	Zsuzsa Kovács	HUN	3:06.7
24	–	Marny Jolly	MAS	3:11.0
25	–	Margaret Harding	PUR	3:16.0
26	–	Li Hin Yu	HKG	3:22.2
DQ	–	Christine Barnetson	AUS	–
DNS	–	Márta Egerváry	HUN	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Klenie Bimolt	NED	2:50.7	1:21.6 (2)	1:29.1 (1)	Q
2	–	Marguerite Ruygrok	AUS	2:53.1	1:21.3 (1)	1:31.8 (4)
3	–	Wiltrud Urselmann	GER	2:53.2	1:22.9 (3)	1:30.3 (3)
4	–	Tammy Hazleton	USA	2:55.0	1:25.6 (5)	1:29.4 (2)
5	–	Noriko Yamamoto	JPN	2:57.0	1:23.4 (4)	1:33.6 (5)
6	–	Zsuzsa Kovács	HUN	3:06.7	1:27.4 (6)	1:39.3 (6)
7	–	Margaret Harding	PUR	3:16.0	1:32.2 (7)	1:43.8 (7)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Bärbel Grimmer	GER	2:48.6	1:20.9 (2)	1:27.7 (1)	QOR
2	–	Galina Prozumenshchikova	URS	2:49.0	1:20.7 (1)	1:28.3 (2)	Q
3	–	Jackie Enfield	GBR	2:54.9	1:23.6 (3)	1:31.3 (4)
4	–	Gretta Kok	NED	2:55.4	1:24.7 (4)	1:30.7 (3)
5	–	Susana Peper	ARG	3:00.0	1:26.0 (5)	1:34.0 (5)
DQ	–	Christine Barnetson	AUS	–	– (–)	–
DNS	–	Márta Egerváry	HUN	–	– (–)	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Svetlana Babanina	URS	2:48.3	1:20.8 (1)	1:27.5 (2)	QOR
2	–	Stella Mitchell	GBR	2:48.8	1:21.6 (=2)	1:27.2 (1)	Q
3	–	Claudia Kolb	USA	2:49.7	1:21.6 (=2)	1:28.1 (3)	Q
4	–	Ursula Küper	GER	2:50.1	1:21.6 (=2)	1:28.5 (4)	Q
5	–	Isabel Castañe	ESP	2:55.7	1:25.2 (5)	1:30.5 (5)
6	–	Linda McGill	AUS	2:59.4	1:25.3 (6)	1:34.1 (6)
7	–	Marny Jolly	MAS	3:11.0	1:30.0 (7)	1:41.0 (7)

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Jill Slattery	GBR	2:50.2	1:21.4 (1)	1:28.8 (1)	Q
2	–	Vivien Haddon	NZL	2:53.4	1:23.2 (=2)	1:30.2 (2)
3	–	Truus Looijs	NED	2:54.5	1:23.2 (=2)	1:31.3 (3)
4	–	Sandy Nitta	USA	2:58.4	1:25.0 (4)	1:33.4 (5)
5	–	Christl Filippovits	AUT	2:59.2	1:25.4 (5)	1:33.8 (6)
6	–	Yoshiko Morizane	JPN	2:59.9	1:27.7 (6)	1:32.2 (4)
7	–	Li Hin Yu	HKG	3:22.2	1:35.1 (7)	1:47.1 (7)

Final Round

Date	12 October 1964 — 20:20

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Galina Prozumenshchikova	URS	2:46.4	OR
2	–	Claudia Kolb	USA	2:47.6
3	–	Svetlana Babanina	URS	2:48.6
4	–	Stella Mitchell	GBR	2:49.0
5	–	Jill Slattery	GBR	2:49.6
6	–	Bärbel Grimmer	GER	2:51.0
7	–	Klenie Bimolt	NED	2:51.3
8	–	Ursula Küper	GER	2:53.9