Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place 24 October.[1] It was the third time the event was held, returning for the first time since 1904 (when the distance was measured in yards).
Men's 200 metre freestyle at the Games of the XIX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez | ||||||||||||
Date | 24 October | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 57 from 26 nations | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics | ||
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Freestyle | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | women | |
1500 m | men | |
Backstroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Breaststroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Butterfly | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Individual medley | ||
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
Freestyle relay | ||
4×100 m | men | women |
4×200 m | men | |
Medley relay | ||
4×100 m | men | women |
Competition format
The competition used a two-round (heats, final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 9 heats of between 5 and 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.
This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.
Results
Heats
Nelson set a new Olympic record in the first heat; it was short-lived, as Wenden broke it in the second.
Final
Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mike Wenden | Australia | 1:55.2 | OR | |
Don Schollander | United States | 1:55.8 | ||
John Nelson | United States | 1:58.1 | ||
4 | Ralph Hutton | Canada | 1:58.6 | |
5 | Alain Mosconi | France | 1:59.1 | |
6 | Bob Windle | Australia | 2:00.9 | |
7 | Semyon Belits-Geiman | Soviet Union | 2:01.5 |
References
- "Swimming at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2016.