| Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freestyle | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| 1500 m | men | |||
| Backstroke | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| Breaststroke | ||||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Butterfly | ||||
| 100 m | women | |||
| 200 m | men | |||
| Freestyle relay | ||||
| 4×100 m | women | |||
| 4×200 m | men | |||
The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place between December 1 and 4. 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 eight lengths of the pool.
Contents |
| Gold | Murray Rose Australia (AUS) |
| Silver | Tsuyoshi Yamanaka Japan (JPN) |
| Bronze | George Breen United States (USA) |
Five heats were held; the swimmers with the fastest eight times advanced to the Finals. The swimmers that advanced are highlighted.
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin O'Halloran | Australia | 4:36.9 |
| 2 | Koji Nonoshita | Japan | 4:37.4 |
| 3 | Angelo Romani | Italy | 4:37.6 |
| 4 | Bill Woolsey | United States | 4:38.2 |
| 5 | Silvio dos Santos | Brazil | 4:48.8 |
| 6 | Ulfiano Babol | Philippines | 4:53.4 |
| 7 | Wan Shiu Ming | Hong Kong | 5:02.6 |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Wardrop | Great Britain | 4:39.8 |
| 2 | Tony Briscoe | South Africa | 4:41.4 |
| 3 | George Onekea | United States | 4:41.6 |
| 4 | Hans Köhler | Germany | 4:43.5 |
| 5 | Habib Nasution | Indonesia | 4:44.0 |
| 6 | Per-Olof Östrand | Sweden | 4:45.9 |
| 7 | Gilberto Martínez | Colombia | 4:51.4 |
| 8 | Raúl Martin | Cuba | 4:58.2 |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Breen | United States | 4:35.7 |
| 2 | Peter Duncan | South Africa | 4:46.7 |
| 3 | Karri Käyhkö | Finland | 4:49.6 |
| 4 | Yoshiro Noda | Japan | 4:49.9 |
| 5 | Guy Montserrat | France | 4:52.6 |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Winram | Australia | 4:34.5 |
| 2 | Jean Boiteux | France | 4:37.9 |
| 3 | William Slater | Canada | 4:40.4 |
| 4 | Neil McKechnie | Great Britain | 4:42.6 |
| 5 | Boris Nik'it'ini | Soviet Union | 4:42.8 |
| 6 | Billy Steuart | South Africa | 4:43.0 |
| 7 | Bana Sailani | Philippines | 4:49.0 |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murray Rose | Australia | 4:31.7 |
| 2 | Tsuyoshi Yamanaka | Japan | 4:31.8 |
| 3 | Hans Zierold | Germany | 4:35.7 |
| 4 | Jenő Áts | Hungary | 4:47.6 |
| 5 | Jacques Collignon | France | 4:49.3 |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murray Rose | Australia | 4:27.3 | WR | |
| Tsuyoshi Yamanaka | Japan | 4:30.4 | ||
| George Breen | United States | 4:32.5 | ||
| 4 | Kevin O'Halloran | Australia | 4:32.9 | |
| 5 | Hans Zierold | Germany | 4:34.6 | |
| 6 | Gary Winram | Australia | 4:34.9 | |
| 7 | Koji Nonoshita | Japan | 4:38.2 | |
| 8 | Angelo Romani | Italy | 4:41.7 |
Key: WR = World record