Swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

Men's 200 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the VIII Olympiad
DateJuly 15–17
Competitors28 from 16 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bob Skelton  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Joseph De Combe  Belgium
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bill Kirschbaum  United States
← 1920
1928 →

The men's 200 metre breaststroke was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the fourth appearance of the event, which was established in 1908. The competition was held on Tuesday July 15, 1924, on Wednesday July 16, 1924, and on Thursday July 17, 1924.

Despite Erich Rademacher from Germany being arguably the fastest breaststroker in the world at the time, and holding the world record in the event, he was not able to compete due to Germany's role in WWI. Despite this, he would establish his dominance in the event by beating the world record several times, which was over 5 seconds faster than the Olympic record set in this event.[2]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

World Record 2:50.4 Germany Erich Rademacher Magdeburg (GER) April 7, 1924
Olympic Record 3:01.8 Germany Walter Bathe Stockholm (SWE) July 12, 1912

In the first heat Bob Skelton set a new Olympic record with 2:56.0 minutes.

Results

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Heats

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Tuesday July 15, 1924: The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced.

Heat 1

Place Swimmer Time Qual.
1  Bob Skelton (USA) 2:56.0 QQ OR
2  Thor Henning (SWE) 3:02.4 QQ
3  Zoltán Bitskey (HUN) 3:05.4 qq
4  Ivan Stedman (AUS) 3:09.6
5  William Stoney (GBR) 3:10.3
6  Georges Vallerey (FRA) 3:11.2

Heat 2

Place Swimmer Time Qual.
1  Joseph De Combe (BEL) 3:02.0 QQ
2  Edward Maw (GBR) 3:07.0 QQ
3  Márton Sipos (HUN) 3:09.8
4  Arvo Aaltonen (FIN) 3:11.0
5  Marius Zwiller (FRA) 3:11.2

Heat 3

Place Swimmer Time Qual.
1  Bill Kirschbaum (USA) 3:01.0 QQ
2  Rudolf Piowatý (TCH) 3:10.8 QQ
3  Bo Johnsson (SWE) 3:12.2
4  Viljo Viklund (FIN) 3:12.4
5  Luciano Trolli (ITA) 3:23.0

Heat 4

Place Swimmer Time Qual.
1  Reginald Flint (GBR) 3:05.2 QQ
2  Frigyes Hollósi (HUN) 3:06.4 QQ
3  Henri Bouvier (FRA) 3:07.8
4  Gerlacus Moes (NED) 3:18.8
5  Emerico Biach (ITA) 3:26.8
6  Ivo Pavelić (YUG) 3:28.4

Heat 5

Place Swimmer Time Qual.
1  Bengt Linders (SWE) 3:03.4 QQ
2  Robert Wyss (SUI) 3:03.6 QQ
3  Clarrie Heard (NZL) 3:09.0
4  Tsunenobu Ishida (JPN) 3:09.2
5  Jaroslav Müller (TCH) 3:22.0
6  Mário Marques (POR) 3:32.4

Semifinals

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Wednesday July 16, 1924: The fastest two in each semi-final and the faster of the two third-placed swimmer advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Place Swimmer Time Qual.
1  Bob Skelton (USA) 3:00.2 QF
2  Bill Kirschbaum (USA) 3:02.6 QF
3  Robert Wyss (SUI) 3:04.2 qf
4  Frigyes Hollósi (HUN) 3:05.6
5  Reginald Flint (GBR) 3:06.8
6  Rudolf Piowatý (TCH) 3:11.8

Semifinal 2

Place Swimmer Time Qual.
1  Joseph De Combe (BEL) 3:00.2 QF
2  Bengt Linders (SWE) 3:01.4 QF
3  Thor Henning (SWE) 3:05.0
4  Edward Maw (GBR) 3:07.0
5  Zoltán Bitskey (HUN) 3:09.2

Final

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Thursday July 17, 1924:

Place Swimmer Time
1  Bob Skelton (USA) 2:56.6
2  Joseph De Combe (BEL) 2:59.2
3  Bill Kirschbaum (USA) 3:01.0
4  Bengt Linders (SWE) 3:02.2
5  Robert Wyss (SUI) 3:05.6

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1924 Paris Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Breaststroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  2. ^ Barney, David E., and Robert K. Barney. "A long night's journey into day: the Odyssey of the butterfly stroke in international swimming." Proceedings: International Symposium for Olympic Research, Oct. 2006, pp. 65+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A176818711/AONE?u=googlescholar&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=535b6e53. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.
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