| | 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	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	Felipe Muñoz	MEX	2:31.1 (1 h5)	2:28.7 (1)	Gold
2	21022	Vladimir Kosinsky	URS	2:31.9 (1 h3)	2:29.2 (2)	Silver
3	15352	Brian Job	USA	2:31.5 (1 h4)	2:29.9 (3)	Bronze
4	21023	Nikolay Pankin	URS	2:33.1 (2 h4)	2:30.3 (4)
5	21026	Yevgeny Mikhaylov	URS	2:32.8 (2 h5)	2:32.8 (5)
6	23051	Egon Henninger	GDR	2:34.2 (2 h2)	2:33.2 (6)
7	15356	Philip Long	USA	2:33.1 (1 h2)	2:33.6 (7)
8	18141	Osamu Tsurumine	JPN	2:33.9 (3 h4)	2:34.9 (8)
9	18142	Nobutaka Taguchi	JPN	2:35.5 (2 h3)	–
10	23055	Klaus Katzur	GDR	2:36.2 (3 h5)	–
=11	13942	Bill Mahony	CAN	2:36.4 (1 h1)	–
=11	20121	Ladislau Koszta	ROU	2:36.4 (4 h4)	–
=13	13049	Ian O'Brien	AUS	2:36.8 (2 h1)	–
=13	12237	Theo Bolkart	FRG	2:36.8 (3 h1)	–
15	15358	Ken Merten	USA	2:37.0 (3 h3)	–
16	20406	Thomas Johnsson	SWE	2:38.0 (4 h5)	–
17	12809	Osvaldo Boretto	ARG	2:38.8 (5 h4)	–
18	12233	Thomas Aretz	FRG	2:39.0 (4 h1)	–
19	16757	Stuart Roberts	GBR	2:39.1 (6 h4)	–
20	17613	Liam Ball	IRL	2:39.8 (4 h3)	–
21	21693	Slavko Kurbanović	YUG	2:39.9 (7 h4)	–
22	15080	José Durán	ESP	2:40.3 (5 h3)	–
23	12240	Michael Günther	FRG	2:40.7 (3 h2)	–
24	19615	Józef Klukowski	POL	2:41.6 (6 h3)	–
25	12811	Alberto Forelli	ARG	2:41.7 (4 h2)	–
26	13547	José Sylvio Fiolo	BRA	2:42.1 (5 h1)	–
27	16758	Roger Roberts	GBR	2:42.2 (5 h2)	–
=28	–	Gershon Shefa	ISR	2:42.6 (7 h3)	–
=28	15884	Amman Jalmaani	PHI	2:42.6 (5 h5)	–
30	20567	Nicolas Gilliard	SUI	2:44.0 (6 h1)	–
31	17722	Yohan Kende	ISR	2:44.3 (8 h4)	–
32	18755	Rafael Hernández	MEX	2:44.8 (7 h1)	–
33	13971	Iván Gómina	COL	2:45.0 (6 h5)	–
34	18939	Eduardo Moreno	MEX	2:46.7 (8 h1)	–
35	17667	Leiknir Jónsson	ISL	2:48.8 (6 h2)	–
36	14936	Abel Muñoz	ESA	3:02.8 (8 h3)	–
DNS	15887	Leroy Goff	PHI	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	14938	Eduardo Ramos	ESA	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	17856	Massimo Sacchi	ITA	– (DNS h5)	–

Round One

Date	21 October 1968 — 10:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

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

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Bill Mahony	CAN	2:36.4	1:16.7 (4)	1:19.7 (1)
2	–	Ian O'Brien	AUS	2:36.8	1:14.7 (1)	1:22.1 (3)
3	–	Theo Bolkart	FRG	2:36.8	1:15.1 (3)	1:21.7 (2)
4	–	Thomas Aretz	FRG	2:39.0	1:14.9 (2)	1:24.1 (5)
5	–	José Sylvio Fiolo	BRA	2:42.1	1:18.6 (7)	1:23.5 (4)
6	–	Nicolas Gilliard	SUI	2:44.0	1:18.0 (5)	1:26.0 (6)
7	–	Rafael Hernández	MEX	2:44.8	1:18.7 (8)	1:26.1 (7)
8	–	Eduardo Moreno	MEX	2:46.7	1:18.1 (6)	1:28.6 (8)
DNS	–	Leroy Goff	PHI	–	– (–)	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Philip Long	USA	2:33.1	1:13.3 (1)	1:19.8 (1)	Q
2	–	Egon Henninger	GDR	2:34.2	1:13.5 (2)	1:20.7 (2)	Q
3	–	Michael Günther	FRG	2:40.7	1:17.7 (5)	1:23.0 (3)
4	–	Alberto Forelli	ARG	2:41.7	1:15.8 (4)	1:25.9 (4)
5	–	Roger Roberts	GBR	2:42.2	1:15.0 (3)	1:27.2 (5)
6	–	Leiknir Jónsson	ISL	2:48.8	1:21.5 (6)	1:27.3 (6)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Vladimir Kosinsky	URS	2:31.9	1:13.5 (1)	1:18.4 (1)	Q
2	–	Nobutaka Taguchi	JPN	2:35.5	1:15.3 (2)	1:20.2 (2)
3	–	Ken Merten	USA	2:37.0	1:16.0 (3)	1:21.0 (3)
4	–	Liam Ball	IRL	2:39.8	1:16.5 (4)	1:23.3 (5)
5	–	José Durán	ESP	2:40.3	1:19.2 (7)	1:21.1 (4)
6	–	Józef Klukowski	POL	2:41.6	1:16.7 (5)	1:24.9 (6)
7	–	Gershon Shefa	ISR	2:42.6	1:17.5 (6)	1:25.1 (7)
8	–	Abel Muñoz	ESA	3:02.8	1:23.3 (8)	1:39.5 (8)

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Brian Job	USA	2:31.5	1:13.4 (2)	1:18.1 (2)	Q
2	–	Nikolay Pankin	URS	2:33.1	1:16.2 (6)	1:16.9 (1)	Q
3	–	Osamu Tsurumine	JPN	2:33.9	1:14.9 (3)	1:19.0 (3)	Q
4	–	Ladislau Koszta	ROU	2:36.4	1:11.6 (1)	1:24.8 (7)
5	–	Osvaldo Boretto	ARG	2:38.8	1:16.5 (7)	1:22.3 (4)
6	–	Stuart Roberts	GBR	2:39.1	1:15.8 (4)	1:23.3 (5)
7	–	Slavko Kurbanović	YUG	2:39.9	1:15.9 (5)	1:24.0 (6)
8	–	Yohan Kende	ISR	2:44.3	1:18.6 (8)	1:25.7 (8)

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Felipe Muñoz	MEX	2:31.1	1:13.4 (1)	1:17.7 (1)	Q
2	–	Yevgeny Mikhaylov	URS	2:32.8	1:14.1 (=2)	1:18.7 (2)	Q
3	–	Klaus Katzur	GDR	2:36.2	1:14.1 (=2)	1:22.1 (3)
4	–	Thomas Johnsson	SWE	2:38.0	1:15.8 (4)	1:22.2 (4)
5	–	Amman Jalmaani	PHI	2:42.6	1:18.5 (5)	1:24.1 (5)
6	–	Iván Gómina	COL	2:45.0	1:20.1 (6)	1:24.9 (6)
DNS	–	Eduardo Ramos	ESA	–	– (–)	–
DNS	–	Massimo Sacchi	ITA	–	– (–)	–

Final Round

Date	22 October 1968 — 17:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	100 m	100-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Felipe Muñoz	MEX	2:28.7	1:13.8 (5)	1:14.9 (1)
2	–	Vladimir Kosinsky	URS	2:29.2	1:12.3 (2)	1:16.9 (4)
3	–	Brian Job	USA	2:29.9	1:13.4 (4)	1:16.5 (3)
4	–	Nikolay Pankin	URS	2:30.3	1:14.5 (=7)	1:15.8 (2)
5	–	Yevgeny Mikhaylov	URS	2:32.8	1:14.3 (6)	1:18.5 (5)
6	–	Egon Henninger	GDR	2:33.2	1:12.6 (3)	1:20.6 (7)
7	–	Philip Long	USA	2:33.6	1:14.5 (=7)	1:19.1 (6)
8	–	Osamu Tsurumine	JPN	2:34.9	1:11.5 (1)	1:23.4 (8)