| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Women

Date	8 – 11 August 1936
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmstadion, Reichssportfeld, Berlin
Participants	23 from 12 countries

Hideko Maehata of Japan entered the Olympic Games as a strong favourite to become the first Asian woman to claim an Olympic title. She had held the world record since 1933. Maehata was severely challenged in the final by a fourteen year old German by the name of Martha Geneger. For 150m the two women fought stroke-for-stroke for the lead but the superior stamina of the Japanese pulled her through for the victory. Inge Sørensen of Denmark, the bronze medallist, was twelve years and 24 days old and the youngest Olympic medallist in an individual event.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	223	Hideko Maehata	JPN	3:01.9 (1 h3)	3:03.1 (1 h1)	3:03.6 (1)	Gold
2	507	Martha Genenger	GER	3:02.9 (1 h2)	3:02.8 (1 h2)	3:04.2 (2)	Silver
3	95	Inge Sørensen	DEN	3:06.7 (1 h1)	3:06.0 (2 h1)	3:07.8 (3)	Bronze
=4	508	Hanni Hölzner	GER	3:11.0 (4 h1)	3:08.8 (3 h1)	3:09.5 (=4)
=4	177	Jopie Waalberg	NED	3:10.4 (3 h1)	3:09.7 (4 h1)	3:09.5 (=4)
6	144	Doris Storey	GBR	3:10.8 (2 h4)	3:09.8 (3 h2)	3:09.7 (6)
7	–	Jenny Kastein	NED	3:07.8 (2 h2)	3:09.2 (2 h2)	3:12.8 (7)
8	509	Trude Wollschläger	GER	3:08.5 (1 h4)	3:10.3 (5 h1)	–
9	335	Kerstin Isberg	SWE	3:08.7 (2 h1)	3:11.4 (4 h2)	–
10	–	Valborg Christensen	DEN	3:12.0 (2 h3)	3:14.1 (5 h2)	–
11	143	Peggy Gomm	GBR	3:15.7 (3 h3)	3:15.8 (6 h1)	–
12	–	Maria Lenk	BRA	3:17.2 (3 h4)	3:17.7 (7 h1)	–
13	224	Unoko Tsuboi	JPN	3:15.0 (3 h2)	3:18.4 (6 h2)	–
14	461	Dorothy Schiller	USA	3:17.4 (5 h1)	3:18.5 (7 h2)	–
15	104	Anja Lappalainen	FIN	3:19.1 (4 h2)	–	–
16	94	Edel Nielsen	DEN	3:21.3 (4 h4)	–	–
17	142	Vera Kingston	GBR	3:21.7 (6 h1)	–	–
18	459	Iris Cummings	USA	3:21.9 (4 h3)	–	–
19	176	Jo Stroomberg	NED	3:22.5 (5 h4)	–	–
20	–	Joan Langdon	CAN	3:24.3 (7 h1)	–	–
21	460	Anne Govednik	USA	3:25.3 (5 h2)	–	–
22	–	Eliška Boubelová	TCH	3:25.8 (5 h3)	–	–
23	366	Tenny Wyss	SUI	3:31.3 (6 h3)	–	–
DNS	292	Elfriede Freudenreich	AUT	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	293	Josefine Steiner	AUT	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	482	Dorothea Dickinson	USA	–	–	–

Round One

Date	8 August 1936 — 10:00
Format	Top three in each heat and the next two fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Hideko Maehata	JPN	3:01.9	QOR
2	–	Martha Genenger	GER	3:02.9	QOR
3	–	Inge Sørensen	DEN	3:06.7	Q
4	–	Jenny Kastein	NED	3:07.8	Q
5	–	Trude Wollschläger	GER	3:08.5	Q
6	–	Kerstin Isberg	SWE	3:08.7	Q
7	–	Jopie Waalberg	NED	3:10.4	Q
8	–	Doris Storey	GBR	3:10.8	Q
9	–	Hanni Hölzner	GER	3:11.0	q
10	–	Valborg Christensen	DEN	3:12.0	Q
11	–	Unoko Tsuboi	JPN	3:15.0	Q
12	–	Peggy Gomm	GBR	3:15.7	Q
13	–	Maria Lenk	BRA	3:17.2	Q
14	–	Dorothy Schiller	USA	3:17.4	q
15	–	Anja Lappalainen	FIN	3:19.1
16	–	Edel Nielsen	DEN	3:21.3
17	–	Vera Kingston	GBR	3:21.7
18	–	Iris Cummings	USA	3:21.9
19	–	Jo Stroomberg	NED	3:22.5
20	–	Joan Langdon	CAN	3:24.3
21	–	Anne Govednik	USA	3:25.3
22	–	Eliška Boubelová	TCH	3:25.8
23	–	Tenny Wyss	SUI	3:31.3
DNS	–	Elfriede Freudenreich	AUT	–
DNS	–	Josefine Steiner	AUT	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Inge Sørensen	DEN	3:06.7	Q
2	–	Kerstin Isberg	SWE	3:08.7	Q
3	–	Jopie Waalberg	NED	3:10.4	Q
4	–	Hanni Hölzner	GER	3:11.0	q
5	–	Dorothy Schiller	USA	3:17.4	q
6	–	Vera Kingston	GBR	3:21.7
7	–	Joan Langdon	CAN	3:24.3

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Martha Genenger	GER	3:02.9	QOR
2	–	Jenny Kastein	NED	3:07.8	Q
3	–	Unoko Tsuboi	JPN	3:15.0	Q
4	–	Anja Lappalainen	FIN	3:19.1
5	–	Anne Govednik	USA	3:25.3
DNS	–	Elfriede Freudenreich	AUT	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Hideko Maehata	JPN	3:01.9	QOR
2	–	Valborg Christensen	DEN	3:12.0	Q
3	–	Peggy Gomm	GBR	3:15.7	Q
4	–	Iris Cummings	USA	3:21.9
5	–	Eliška Boubelová	TCH	3:25.8
6	–	Tenny Wyss	SUI	3:31.3

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Trude Wollschläger	GER	3:08.5	Q
2	–	Doris Storey	GBR	3:10.8	Q
3	–	Maria Lenk	BRA	3:17.2	Q
4	–	Edel Nielsen	DEN	3:21.3
5	–	Jo Stroomberg	NED	3:22.5
DNS	–	Josefine Steiner	AUT	–

Semi-Finals

Date	9 August 1936 — 10:00
Format	Top three in each heat and the fastest fourth-place advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Martha Genenger	GER	3:02.8	Q
2	–	Hideko Maehata	JPN	3:03.1	Q
3	–	Inge Sørensen	DEN	3:06.0	Q
4	–	Hanni Hölzner	GER	3:08.8	Q
5	–	Jenny Kastein	NED	3:09.2	Q
6	–	Jopie Waalberg	NED	3:09.7	q
7	–	Doris Storey	GBR	3:09.8	Q
8	–	Trude Wollschläger	GER	3:10.3
9	–	Kerstin Isberg	SWE	3:11.4
10	–	Valborg Christensen	DEN	3:14.1
11	–	Peggy Gomm	GBR	3:15.8
12	–	Maria Lenk	BRA	3:17.7
13	–	Unoko Tsuboi	JPN	3:18.4
14	–	Dorothy Schiller	USA	3:18.5

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Hideko Maehata	JPN	3:03.1	Q
2	–	Inge Sørensen	DEN	3:06.0	Q
3	–	Hanni Hölzner	GER	3:08.8	Q
4	–	Jopie Waalberg	NED	3:09.7	q
5	–	Trude Wollschläger	GER	3:10.3
6	–	Peggy Gomm	GBR	3:15.8
7	–	Maria Lenk	BRA	3:17.7

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Martha Genenger	GER	3:02.8	Q
2	–	Jenny Kastein	NED	3:09.2	Q
3	–	Doris Storey	GBR	3:09.8	Q
4	–	Kerstin Isberg	SWE	3:11.4
5	–	Valborg Christensen	DEN	3:14.1
6	–	Unoko Tsuboi	JPN	3:18.4
7	–	Dorothy Schiller	USA	3:18.5

Final Round

Date	11 August 1936 — 15:50

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Hideko Maehata	JPN	3:03.6
2	–	Martha Genenger	GER	3:04.2
3	–	Inge Sørensen	DEN	3:07.8
=4	–	Hanni Hölzner	GER	3:09.5
=4	–	Jopie Waalberg	NED	3:09.5
6	–	Doris Storey	GBR	3:09.7
7	–	Jenny Kastein	NED	3:12.8