Olympedia – 200 metres Butterfly, Men

200 metres Butterfly, Men

Date	30 November – 1 December 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Park Swimming and Diving Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	19 from 14 countries

Date

30 November – 1 December 1956

Status

Olympic

Location

Olympic Park Swimming and Diving Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria

Participants

19 from 14 countries

The butterfly stroke had débuted at the Olympic Games in 1936 in Berlin as a new variant of breaststroke and by the Helsinki Games had proved to be so superior as to render the original technique worthless. The decision was then made to tighten the breaststroke rules and split butterfly into a new discipline.

American Bill Yorzyk proved himself to be a class above the rest and set world records in both heat and final. Yorzyk’s achievement is made more remarkable if you consider that he had not swum competitively until his first year of college. His coach at Springfield College, Red Silva, encouraged him to experiment with a “double-dolphin kick” which in only four years took him from novice to Olympic champion. Yorzyk retired prior to the 1960 Games but returned to the Olympic Games in 1964 as associate physician to the US delegation.

The silver medal went to 100 metre specialist Takashi Ishimoto of Japan with Hungary’s György Tumpek a very close third.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	86	Bill Yorzyk	USA	2:18.6 (1 h1)	2:19.3 (1)	Gold
2	98	Takashi Ishimoto	JPN	2:24.2 (1 h2)	2:23.8 (2)	Silver
3	94	György Tumpek	HUN	2:23.3 (1 h3)	2:23.9 (3)	Bronze
4	88	Jack Nelson	USA	2:29.4 (4 h2)	2:26.6 (4)
5	93	John Marshall	AUS	2:26.8 (2 h1)	2:27.2 (5)
6	–	Eulalio Ríos	MEX	2:28.1 (3 h2)	2:27.3 (6)
7	–	Brian Wilkinson	AUS	2:27.2 (2 h2)	2:29.7 (7)
8	–	Alexandru Popescu	ROU	2:29.9 (3 h1)	2:31.0 (8)
9	95	René Pirolley	FRA	2:30.1 (4 h1)	–
10	65	Jenő Áts	HUN	2:31.1 (5 h1)	–
11	96	Horst Weber	GER	2:34.4 (2 h3)	–
12	97	Graham Symonds	GBR	2:35.7 (3 h3)	–
13	100	Walter Ocampo	MEX	2:41.4 (6 h1)	–
14	130	Agapito Lozada	PHI	2:43.5 (4 h3)	–
15	–	George Park	CAN	2:47.2 (5 h3)	–
16	102	Shah Ghazi	PAK	2:48.0 (6 h3)	–
17	99	Fong Seow Hor	MAL	2:56.0 (7 h3)	–
18	85	Parsons Nabiula	PHI	3:03.2 (5 h2)	–
19	–	Shamsher Khan	IND	3:06.3 (6 h2)	–

Pos

Number

Competitor

NOC

Final

Bill Yorzyk

USA

2:18.6 (1 h1)

2:19.3 (1)

Gold

Takashi Ishimoto

JPN

2:24.2 (1 h2)

2:23.8 (2)

Silver

György Tumpek

HUN

2:23.3 (1 h3)

2:23.9 (3)

Bronze

Jack Nelson

USA

2:29.4 (4 h2)

2:26.6 (4)

John Marshall

AUS

2:26.8 (2 h1)

2:27.2 (5)

–

Eulalio Ríos

MEX

2:28.1 (3 h2)

2:27.3 (6)

–

Brian Wilkinson

AUS

2:27.2 (2 h2)

2:29.7 (7)

–

Alexandru Popescu

ROU

2:29.9 (3 h1)

2:31.0 (8)

René Pirolley

FRA

2:30.1 (4 h1)

–

Jenő Áts

HUN

2:31.1 (5 h1)

–

Horst Weber

GER

2:34.4 (2 h3)

–

Graham Symonds

GBR

2:35.7 (3 h3)

–

100

Walter Ocampo

MEX

2:41.4 (6 h1)

–

130

Agapito Lozada

PHI

2:43.5 (4 h3)

–

George Park

CAN

2:47.2 (5 h3)

–

102

Shah Ghazi

PAK

2:48.0 (6 h3)

–

Fong Seow Hor

MAL

2:56.0 (7 h3)

–

Parsons Nabiula

PHI

3:03.2 (5 h2)

–

Shamsher Khan

IND

3:06.3 (6 h2)

–

Date	30 November 1956 — 14:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Date

30 November 1956 — 14:00

Format

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	3	Bill Yorzyk	USA	2:18.6	QOR
2	4	György Tumpek	HUN	2:23.3	Q
3	5	Takashi Ishimoto	JPN	2:24.2	Q
4	4	John Marshall	AUS	2:26.8	Q
5	6	Brian Wilkinson	AUS	2:27.2	Q
6	4	Eulalio Ríos	MEX	2:28.1	Q
7	3	Jack Nelson	USA	2:29.4	Q
8	7	Alexandru Popescu	ROU	2:29.9	Q
9	5	René Pirolley	FRA	2:30.1
10	6	Jenő Áts	HUN	2:31.1
11	6	Horst Weber	GER	2:34.4
12	5	Graham Symonds	GBR	2:35.7
13	2	Walter Ocampo	MEX	2:41.4
14	8	Agapito Lozada	PHI	2:43.5
15	3	George Park	CAN	2:47.2
16	2	Shah Ghazi	PAK	2:48.0
17	7	Fong Seow Hor	MAL	2:56.0
18	2	Parsons Nabiula	PHI	3:03.2
19	7	Shamsher Khan	IND	3:06.3

Pos

Lane

Competitor

NOC

Time

Bill Yorzyk

USA

2:18.6

QOR

2:23.3

2:24.2

2:26.8

2:27.2

2:28.1

2:29.4

2:29.9

2:30.1

2:31.1

2:34.4

2:35.7

2:41.4

2:43.5

2:47.2

2:48.0

2:56.0

3:03.2

3:06.3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	3	Bill Yorzyk	USA	2:18.6	QOR
2	4	John Marshall	AUS	2:26.8	Q
3	7	Alexandru Popescu	ROU	2:29.9	Q
4	5	René Pirolley	FRA	2:30.1
5	6	Jenő Áts	HUN	2:31.1
6	2	Walter Ocampo	MEX	2:41.4

Pos

Lane

Competitor

NOC

Time

Bill Yorzyk

USA

2:18.6

QOR

2:26.8

2:29.9

2:30.1

2:31.1

2:41.4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	5	Takashi Ishimoto	JPN	2:24.2	Q
2	6	Brian Wilkinson	AUS	2:27.2	Q
3	4	Eulalio Ríos	MEX	2:28.1	Q
4	3	Jack Nelson	USA	2:29.4	Q
5	2	Parsons Nabiula	PHI	3:03.2
6	7	Shamsher Khan	IND	3:06.3

Pos

Lane

Competitor

NOC

Time

2:24.2

2:27.2

2:28.1

2:29.4

3:03.2

3:06.3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	4	György Tumpek	HUN	2:23.3	Q
2	6	Horst Weber	GER	2:34.4
3	5	Graham Symonds	GBR	2:35.7
4	8	Agapito Lozada	PHI	2:43.5
5	3	George Park	CAN	2:47.2
6	2	Shah Ghazi	PAK	2:48.0
7	7	Fong Seow Hor	MAL	2:56.0

Pos

Lane

Competitor

NOC

Time

2:23.3

2:34.4

2:35.7

2:43.5

2:47.2

2:48.0

2:56.0

Date	1 December 1956 — 20:55

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	4	Bill Yorzyk	USA	2:19.3
2	3	Takashi Ishimoto	JPN	2:23.8
3	5	György Tumpek	HUN	2:23.9
4	1	Jack Nelson	USA	2:26.6
5	6	John Marshall	AUS	2:27.2
6	7	Eulalio Ríos	MEX	2:27.3
7	2	Brian Wilkinson	AUS	2:29.7
8	8	Alexandru Popescu	ROU	2:31.0

Pos

Lane

Competitor

NOC

Time

2:19.3

2:23.8