| | Event type

200 metres Individual Medley, Men

Date	19 – 20 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	46 from 27 countries

This was the first time on the Olympic Program for the 200 individual medley. Official world records had only been recognized in the event since 1966 with Greg Buckingham setting the first two, while Charlie Hickcox bettered him and held the world mark coming into the Olympics. The two made the final along with teammate John Ferris and a medal sweep was considered a possibility. Hickcox was never seriously challenged, taking the lead on the butterfly leg and expanding it on the second 50 using his best stroke, the backstroke. Behind him Buckingham and Ferris were close throughout for the other medals, Buckingham eventually coming in for the silver a full second behind Hickcox, with Ferris third. Peru’s Juan Carlos Bello was in third place briefly on the breaststroke leg, but was passed on the freestyle by Ferris and placed fourth. Through 2008 this remains the best finish ever by a Peruvian swimmer at the Olympics. Hickcox swam again in the 100 backstroke two days later and won a silver behind Roland Matthes, and won gold the next day in the 400 IM, completing an individual medley double.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	15348	Charlie Hickcox	USA	2:16.1 (1 h1)	2:12.0 (1)	Gold
2	15344	Greg Buckingham	USA	2:15.6 (1 h6)	2:13.0 (2)	Silver
3	15346	John Ferris	USA	2:14.6 (1 h3)	2:13.3 (3)	Bronze
4	21967	Juan Carlos Bello	PER	2:17.5 (2 h5)	2:13.7 (4)
5	13937	George Smith	CAN	2:16.4 (1 h2)	2:15.9 (5)
6	–	Sandy Gilchrist	CAN	2:16.8 (1 h5)	2:16.6 (6)
7	12241	Mike Holthaus	FRG	2:17.5 (2 h2)	2:16.8 (7)
8	17294	Péter Lázár	HUN	2:17.1 (2 h1)	2:18.3 (8)
=9	12247	Reinhard Merkel	FRG	2:17.8 (2 h3)	–
=9	20408	Hans Ljungberg	SWE	2:17.8 (3 h3)	–
11	23079	Frank Wiegand	GDR	2:18.0 (3 h2)	–
12	17923	Michele D'Oppido	ITA	2:18.5 (2 h6)	–
13	21045	Vladimir Kravchenko	URS	2:18.6 (1 h4)	–
14	15079	Juan Fortuny	ESP	2:20.6 (3 h5)	–
15	12250	Jürgen Schiller	FRG	2:20.8 (1 h7)	–
16	13934	Ken Campbell	CAN	2:20.9 (3 h6)	–
17	17296	István Szentirmay	HUN	2:21.0 (2 h4)	–
18	14812	Lars Kraus Jensen	DEN	2:21.2 (3 h1)	–
19	16688	Martyn Woodroffe	GBR	2:22.0 (2 h7)	–
20	13292	François Simons	BEL	2:22.5 (4 h5)	–
21	13621	Yuliyan Rusev	BUL	2:22.7 (4 h3)	–
22	18759	Eduardo Alanís	MEX	2:23.0 (4 h6)	–
23	19613	Zbigniew Pacelt	POL	2:23.3 (4 h1)	–
24	16686	Raymond Terrell	GBR	2:23.5 (5 h3)	–
25	19612	Jacek Krawczyk	POL	2:23.8 (3 h7)	–
26	13622	Angel Chakarov	BUL	2:24.0 (3 h4)	–
27	17666	Guðmundur Gíslason	ISL	2:24.1 (5 h1)	–
=28	18764	José Joaquín Santibáñez	MEX	2:24.6 (4 h4)	–
=28	15865	Tony Asamli	PHI	2:24.6 (4 h7)	–
30	18755	Rafael Hernández	MEX	2:24.7 (5 h5)	–
31	–	Andrey Dunayev	URS	2:25.9 (6 h1)	–
32	–	Gershon Shefa	ISR	2:26.6 (5 h6)	–
33	20404	Olle Ferm	SWE	2:27.5 (6 h3)	–
34	12046	Karl Byrom	AUS	2:28.0 (5 h4)	–
35	14413	José Martínez	CUB	2:31.4 (5 h7)	–
36	–	Francisco Ramis	PUR	2:31.9 (7 h1)	–
37	14930	Salvador Vilanova	ESA	2:33.8 (6 h5)	–
38	21939	Ronnie Wong	HKG	2:36.1 (4 h2)	–
39	–	Peter Schmid	AUT	2:36.4 (6 h6)	–
40	17614	Donnacha O'Dea	IRL	2:36.6 (5 h2)	–
41	14934	Rubén Guerrero	ESA	2:37.5 (8 h1)	–
42	21928	Bob Loh	HKG	2:39.3 (7 h5)	–
43	14933	Friedrich Jokisch	ESA	2:41.6 (7 h6)	–
44	21927	Andrew Loh	HKG	2:42.0 (6 h7)	–
45	23707	Chan King-Ming	TPE	2:44.9 (6 h4)	–
DQ	23708	Lee Tong-Shing	TPE	– (DQ h3)	–
DNS	19168	Ørjan Madsen	NOR	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	19844	José Ferraioli	PUR	– (DNS h6)	–

Round One

Date	19 October 1968 — 10:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	John Ferris	USA	2:14.6	QOR
2	–	Greg Buckingham	USA	2:15.6	Q
3	–	Charlie Hickcox	USA	2:16.1	QOR
4	–	George Smith	CAN	2:16.4	Q
5	–	Sandy Gilchrist	CAN	2:16.8	Q
6	–	Péter Lázár	HUN	2:17.1	Q
=7	–	Mike Holthaus	FRG	2:17.5	Q
=7	–	Juan Carlos Bello	PER	2:17.5	Q
=9	–	Reinhard Merkel	FRG	2:17.8
=9	–	Hans Ljungberg	SWE	2:17.8
11	–	Frank Wiegand	GDR	2:18.0
12	–	Michele D'Oppido	ITA	2:18.5
13	–	Vladimir Kravchenko	URS	2:18.6
14	–	Juan Fortuny	ESP	2:20.6
15	–	Jürgen Schiller	FRG	2:20.8
16	–	Ken Campbell	CAN	2:20.9
17	–	István Szentirmay	HUN	2:21.0
18	–	Lars Kraus Jensen	DEN	2:21.2
19	–	Martyn Woodroffe	GBR	2:22.0
20	–	François Simons	BEL	2:22.5
21	–	Yuliyan Rusev	BUL	2:22.7
22	–	Eduardo Alanís	MEX	2:23.0
23	–	Zbigniew Pacelt	POL	2:23.3
24	–	Raymond Terrell	GBR	2:23.5
25	–	Jacek Krawczyk	POL	2:23.8
26	–	Angel Chakarov	BUL	2:24.0
27	–	Guðmundur Gíslason	ISL	2:24.1
=28	–	José Joaquín Santibáñez	MEX	2:24.6
=28	–	Tony Asamli	PHI	2:24.6
30	–	Rafael Hernández	MEX	2:24.7
31	–	Andrey Dunayev	URS	2:25.9
32	–	Gershon Shefa	ISR	2:26.6
33	–	Olle Ferm	SWE	2:27.5
34	–	Karl Byrom	AUS	2:28.0
35	–	José Martínez	CUB	2:31.4
36	–	Francisco Ramis	PUR	2:31.9
37	–	Salvador Vilanova	ESA	2:33.8
38	–	Ronnie Wong	HKG	2:36.1
39	–	Peter Schmid	AUT	2:36.4
40	–	Donnacha O'Dea	IRL	2:36.6
41	–	Rubén Guerrero	ESA	2:37.5
42	–	Bob Loh	HKG	2:39.3
43	–	Friedrich Jokisch	ESA	2:41.6
44	–	Andrew Loh	HKG	2:42.0
45	–	Chan King-Ming	TPE	2:44.9
DQ	–	Lee Tong-Shing	TPE	–
DNS	–	Ørjan Madsen	NOR	–
DNS	–	José Ferraioli	PUR	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Charlie Hickcox	USA	2:16.1	QOR
2	–	Péter Lázár	HUN	2:17.1	Q
3	–	Lars Kraus Jensen	DEN	2:21.2
4	–	Zbigniew Pacelt	POL	2:23.3
5	–	Guðmundur Gíslason	ISL	2:24.1
6	–	Andrey Dunayev	URS	2:25.9
7	–	Francisco Ramis	PUR	2:31.9
8	–	Rubén Guerrero	ESA	2:37.5

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	George Smith	CAN	2:16.4	Q
2	–	Mike Holthaus	FRG	2:17.5	Q
3	–	Frank Wiegand	GDR	2:18.0
4	–	Ronnie Wong	HKG	2:36.1
5	–	Donnacha O'Dea	IRL	2:36.6
DNS	–	Ørjan Madsen	NOR	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	John Ferris	USA	2:14.6	QOR
2	–	Reinhard Merkel	FRG	2:17.8
3	–	Hans Ljungberg	SWE	2:17.8
4	–	Yuliyan Rusev	BUL	2:22.7
5	–	Raymond Terrell	GBR	2:23.5
6	–	Olle Ferm	SWE	2:27.5
DQ	–	Lee Tong-Shing	TPE	–

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Vladimir Kravchenko	URS	2:18.6
2	–	István Szentirmay	HUN	2:21.0
3	–	Angel Chakarov	BUL	2:24.0
4	–	José Joaquín Santibáñez	MEX	2:24.6
5	–	Karl Byrom	AUS	2:28.0
6	–	Chan King-Ming	TPE	2:44.9

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Sandy Gilchrist	CAN	2:16.8	Q
2	–	Juan Carlos Bello	PER	2:17.5	Q
3	–	Juan Fortuny	ESP	2:20.6
4	–	François Simons	BEL	2:22.5
5	–	Rafael Hernández	MEX	2:24.7
6	–	Salvador Vilanova	ESA	2:33.8
7	–	Bob Loh	HKG	2:39.3

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Greg Buckingham	USA	2:15.6	Q
2	–	Michele D'Oppido	ITA	2:18.5
3	–	Ken Campbell	CAN	2:20.9
4	–	Eduardo Alanís	MEX	2:23.0
5	–	Gershon Shefa	ISR	2:26.6
6	–	Peter Schmid	AUT	2:36.4
7	–	Friedrich Jokisch	ESA	2:41.6
DNS	–	José Ferraioli	PUR	–

Heat #7

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Jürgen Schiller	FRG	2:20.8
2	–	Martyn Woodroffe	GBR	2:22.0
3	–	Jacek Krawczyk	POL	2:23.8
4	–	Tony Asamli	PHI	2:24.6
5	–	José Martínez	CUB	2:31.4
6	–	Andrew Loh	HKG	2:42.0

Final Round

Date	20 October 1968 — 17:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Charlie Hickcox	USA	2:12.0	OR
2	–	Greg Buckingham	USA	2:13.0
3	–	John Ferris	USA	2:13.3
4	–	Juan Carlos Bello	PER	2:13.7
5	–	George Smith	CAN	2:15.9
6	–	Sandy Gilchrist	CAN	2:16.6
7	–	Mike Holthaus	FRG	2:16.8
8	–	Péter Lázár	HUN	2:18.3