| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Men

Date	21 – 22 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	36 from 23 countries

Australia’s Ian O’Brien had won this event in 1964 in world record time, and that time still stood until April 1968 when Vladimir Kosinsky of the Soviet Union bettered it. O’Brien was in Mexico City but did not qualify for the final. The home country placed their hopes on Felipe Muñoz, who was considered a long-shot to win, but hoped to challenge for a medal. Muñoz had the fastest qualifying time with 2:31.1, followed by the United States’ Brian Job with 2:31.5, far from Kosinsky’s world record of 2:27.4, but altitude made it difficult in all the 200 metres or longer races. Kosinsky led the final at the first turn, trailed by the GDR’s Egon Henninger and Job. Kosinsky kept the lead through 150 metres, but Henninger and Nikolay Pankin moved up close, although Job stayed in second place. Muñoz was in fifth but closing and the Mexican fans started going crazy as he gained on Kosinsky, passing Pankin off the final turn. Muñoz caught Kosinsky at 175 metres and pulled away only in the final metres to win, 2:28.7 to 2:29.2. It was Mexico’s first gold medal of the 1968 Olympics, and their first ever swimming gold medal. Brian Job held on for the bronze medal. Muñoz would return in 1972 and place fifth in the final of the 200 breast.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Felipe Muñoz	MEX	2:31.1 (1 h5)	2:28.7 (1)	Gold
2	Vladimir Kosinsky	URS	2:31.9 (1 h3)	2:29.2 (2)	Silver
3	Brian Job	USA	2:31.5 (1 h4)	2:29.9 (3)	Bronze
4	Nikolay Pankin	URS	2:33.1 (2 h4)	2:30.3 (4)
5	Yevgeny Mikhaylov	URS	2:32.8 (2 h5)	2:32.8 (5)
6	Egon Henninger	GDR	2:34.2 (2 h2)	2:33.2 (6)
7	Philip Long	USA	2:33.1 (1 h2)	2:33.6 (7)
8	Osamu Tsurumine	JPN	2:33.9 (3 h4)	2:34.9 (8)
9	Nobutaka Taguchi	JPN	2:35.5 (2 h3)	–
10	Klaus Katzur	GDR	2:36.2 (3 h5)	–
=11	Bill Mahony	CAN	2:36.4 (1 h1)	–
=11	Ladislau Koszta	ROU	2:36.4 (4 h4)	–
=13	Ian O'Brien	AUS	2:36.8 (2 h1)	–
=13	Theo Bolkart	FRG	2:36.8 (3 h1)	–
15	Ken Merten	USA	2:37.0 (3 h3)	–
16	Thomas Johnsson	SWE	2:38.0 (4 h5)	–
17	Osvaldo Boretto	ARG	2:38.8 (5 h4)	–
18	Thomas Aretz	FRG	2:39.0 (4 h1)	–
19	Stuart Roberts	GBR	2:39.1 (6 h4)	–
20	Liam Ball	IRL	2:39.8 (4 h3)	–
21	Slavko Kurbanović	YUG	2:39.9 (7 h4)	–
22	José Durán	ESP	2:40.3 (5 h3)	–
23	Michael Günther	FRG	2:40.7 (3 h2)	–
24	Józef Klukowski	POL	2:41.6 (6 h3)	–
25	Alberto Forelli	ARG	2:41.7 (4 h2)	–
26	José Sylvio Fiolo	BRA	2:42.1 (5 h1)	–
27	Roger Roberts	GBR	2:42.2 (5 h2)	–
=28	Gershon Shefa	ISR	2:42.6 (7 h3)	–
=28	Amman Jalmaani	PHI	2:42.6 (5 h5)	–
30	Nicolas Gilliard	SUI	2:44.0 (6 h1)	–
31	Yohan Kende	ISR	2:44.3 (8 h4)	–
32	Rafael Hernández	MEX	2:44.8 (7 h1)	–
33	Iván Gómina	COL	2:45.0 (6 h5)	–
34	Eduardo Moreno	MEX	2:46.7 (8 h1)	–
35	Leiknir Jónsson	ISL	2:48.8 (6 h2)	–
36	Abel Muñoz	ESA	3:02.8 (8 h3)	–
DNS	Leroy Goff	PHI	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	Eduardo Ramos	ESA	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	Massimo Sacchi	ITA	– (DNS h5)	–

Round One (21 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	3	Bill Mahony	CAN	1:16.7 (4) 1:19.7 (1)	2:36.4
2	6	Ian O'Brien	AUS	1:14.7 (1) 1:22.1 (3)	2:36.8
3	4	Theo Bolkart	FRG	1:15.1 (3) 1:21.7 (2)	2:36.8
4	5	Thomas Aretz	FRG	1:14.9 (2) 1:24.1 (5)	2:39.0
5	8	José Sylvio Fiolo	BRA	1:18.6 (7) 1:23.5 (4)	2:42.1
6	1	Nicolas Gilliard	SUI	1:18.0 (5) 1:26.0 (6)	2:44.0
7	7	Rafael Hernández	MEX	1:18.7 (8) 1:26.1 (7)	2:44.8
8	2	Eduardo Moreno	MEX	1:18.1 (6) 1:28.6 (8)	2:46.7
DNS	–	Leroy Goff	PHI	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	5	Philip Long	USA	1:13.3 (1) 1:19.8 (1)	2:33.1	Q
2	6	Egon Henninger	GDR	1:13.5 (2) 1:20.7 (2)	2:34.2	Q
3	3	Michael Günther	FRG	1:17.7 (5) 1:23.0 (3)	2:40.7
4	7	Alberto Forelli	ARG	1:15.8 (4) 1:25.9 (4)	2:41.7
5	4	Roger Roberts	GBR	1:15.0 (3) 1:27.2 (5)	2:42.2
6	2	Leiknir Jónsson	ISL	1:21.5 (6) 1:27.3 (6)	2:48.8

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	2	Vladimir Kosinsky	URS	1:13.5 (1) 1:18.4 (1)	2:31.9	Q
2	5	Nobutaka Taguchi	JPN	1:15.3 (2) 1:20.2 (2)	2:35.5
3	6	Ken Merten	USA	1:16.0 (3) 1:21.0 (3)	2:37.0
4	8	Liam Ball	IRL	1:16.5 (4) 1:23.3 (5)	2:39.8
5	1	José Durán	ESP	1:19.2 (7) 1:21.1 (4)	2:40.3
6	3	Józef Klukowski	POL	1:16.7 (5) 1:24.9 (6)	2:41.6
7	4	Gershon Shefa	ISR	1:17.5 (6) 1:25.1 (7)	2:42.6
8	7	Abel Muñoz	ESA	1:23.3 (8) 1:39.5 (8)	3:02.8

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	2	Brian Job	USA	1:13.4 (2) 1:18.1 (2)	2:31.5	Q
2	4	Nikolay Pankin	URS	1:16.2 (6) 1:16.9 (1)	2:33.1	Q
3	7	Osamu Tsurumine	JPN	1:14.9 (3) 1:19.0 (3)	2:33.9	Q
4	6	Ladislau Koszta	ROU	1:11.6 (1) 1:24.8 (7)	2:36.4
5	5	Osvaldo Boretto	ARG	1:16.5 (7) 1:22.3 (4)	2:38.8
6	8	Stuart Roberts	GBR	1:15.8 (4) 1:23.3 (5)	2:39.1
7	1	Slavko Kurbanović	YUG	1:15.9 (5) 1:24.0 (6)	2:39.9
8	3	Yohan Kende	ISR	1:18.6 (8) 1:25.7 (8)	2:44.3

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	3	Felipe Muñoz	MEX	1:13.4 (1) 1:17.7 (1)	2:31.1	Q
2	2	Yevgeny Mikhaylov	URS	1:14.1 (=2) 1:18.7 (2)	2:32.8	Q
3	5	Klaus Katzur	GDR	1:14.1 (=2) 1:22.1 (3)	2:36.2
4	7	Thomas Johnsson	SWE	1:15.8 (4) 1:22.2 (4)	2:38.0
5	6	Amman Jalmaani	PHI	1:18.5 (5) 1:24.1 (5)	2:42.6
6	4	Iván Gómina	COL	1:20.1 (6) 1:24.9 (6)	2:45.0
DNS	–	Eduardo Ramos	ESA	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Massimo Sacchi	ITA	– (–) –	–

Final (22 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	4	Felipe Muñoz	MEX	1:13.8 (5) 1:14.9 (1)	2:28.7
2	3	Vladimir Kosinsky	URS	1:12.3 (2) 1:16.9 (4)	2:29.2
3	5	Brian Job	USA	1:13.4 (4) 1:16.5 (3)	2:29.9
4	7	Nikolay Pankin	URS	1:14.5 (=7) 1:15.8 (2)	2:30.3
5	6	Yevgeny Mikhaylov	URS	1:14.3 (6) 1:18.5 (5)	2:32.8
6	8	Egon Henninger	GDR	1:12.6 (3) 1:20.6 (7)	2:33.2
7	2	Philip Long	USA	1:14.5 (=7) 1:19.1 (6)	2:33.6
8	1	Osamu Tsurumine	JPN	1:11.5 (1) 1:23.4 (8)	2:34.9