Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Dates 26 July – 2 August 1952
Medal Events 11

The swimming events of the 1952 Olympic Games took place at the Helsinki Municipal Swimming Stadium. Construction had begun in 1939 with the 1940 Games in mind but the outbreak of war meant it was not completed until 1947. The capacity of the stadium was increased from 3,500 to 9,500 for the Games with the addition of a temporary stand. Despite the cool weather and the lack of a swimming tradition in Finland, attendances were good and the quality of the performances was high with new Olympic records in every event. 1952 marked the return of strong contingents from Germany and Japan to the Olympics and the first appearance of the Soviets

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
100 metres Freestyle, Men Olympic 26 – 27 July 1952 60 33
400 metres Freestyle, Men Olympic 28 – 30 July 1952 48 29
1,500 metres Freestyle, Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1952 37 22
4 x 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men Olympic 28 – 29 July 1952 74 17
100 metres Backstroke, Men Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1952 38 25
200 metres Breaststroke, Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1952 40 27
100 metres Freestyle, Women Olympic 26 – 28 July 1952 41 19
400 metres Freestyle, Women Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1952 33 17
4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1952 53 13
100 metres Backstroke, Women Olympic 29 – 31 July 1952 20 14
200 metres Breaststroke, Women Olympic 26 – 29 July 1952 34 19
319 (201/118) 48 (48/24)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 metres Freestyle, Men Clarke ScholesUSA Hiroshi SuzukiJPN Göran LarssonSWE
400 metres Freestyle, Men Jean BoiteuxFRA Ford KonnoUSA Per-Olof ÖstrandSWE
1,500 metres Freestyle, Men Ford KonnoUSA Shiro HashizumeJPN Tetsuo OkamotoBRA
4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Men United StatesUSA JapanJPN FranceFRA
100 metres Backstroke, Men Yoshi OyakawaUSA Gilbert BozonFRA Jack TaylorUSA
200 metres Breaststroke, Men John DaviesAUS Bo StassforthUSA Herbert KleinGER
100 metres Freestyle, Women Katalin SzőkeHUN Hannie TermeulenNED Judit TemesHUN
400 metres Freestyle, Women Valéria GyengeHUN Éva NovákHUN Evelyn KawamotoUSA
4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women HungaryHUN NetherlandsNED United StatesUSA
100 metres Backstroke, Women Joan HarrisonRSA Geertje WielemaNED Jean StewartNZL
200 metres Breaststroke, Women Éva SzékelyHUN Éva NovákHUN Elenor GordonGBR

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
United States USA 4 2 3 9
Hungary HUN 4 2 1 7
France FRA 1 1 1 3
Australia AUS 1 0 0 1
South Africa RSA 1 0 0 1
Japan JPN 0 3 0 3
Netherlands NED 0 3 0 3
Sweden SWE 0 0 2 2
Brazil BRA 0 0 1 1
Germany GER 0 0 1 1
Great Britain GBR 0 0 1 1
New Zealand NZL 0 0 1 1