The men's 400 metre breaststroke was a swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 event held as part of the swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics

At the 1912 Summer Olympics, nine swimming events were contested. Swimming events were held in a 100 m course built in Stockholm harbor. For the first time, women's events were part of the Olympic swimming program. The competitions were held from Saturday July 6, 1912 to Friday July 12, 1912...

 programme. It was the second appearance of the event, which had been introduced (as the 440 yard breaststroke) in 1904. The competition was held from Monday July 8, 1912 to Friday July 12, 1912.

Seventeen swimmers from ten nations competed.

The final of the event was a rematch between the five swimmers who had competed in the final of the 200 metre race

Swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 200 metre breaststroke was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the second appearance of the event, which had been introduced in 1908. Germany swept the medals in the event...

. Bathe

Walter Bathe

Walter Bathe was a German breaststroke swimmer, who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.Bathe was born in Probsthain, Silesia. He won two gold medals in 200 metre breaststroke as well as in 400 metre breaststroke.-External links:**...

 won once again (and indeed, set a new Olympic record each time he raced in both breaststroke events), with Henning

Thor Henning

Thor Henning was a Swedish breaststroke and freestyle swimmer. He won a total of four medals in swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics, 1920 Summer Olympics and 1924 Summer Olympics....

 providing a stiff challenge in the semifinals. Neither Lützow

Wilhelm Lützow

Wilhelm "Willy" Lützow was a German breaststroke swimmer, who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.In the 200 metre breaststroke competition he won the silver medal next to his teammate Walter Bathe. In the 400 metre breaststroke event he participated in the final, but was not able to finish the...

 nor Malisch were able to medal in the longer race, as Henning

Thor Henning

Thor Henning was a Swedish breaststroke and freestyle swimmer. He won a total of four medals in swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics, 1920 Summer Olympics and 1924 Summer Olympics....

 took silver and Courtman

Percy Courtman

Percy Courtman was an English breaststroke swimmer from Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics....

 finished third.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World Record		?
Olympic Record	7:23.6(*)	Georg Zacharias Georg Zacharias Georg Zacharias was a German backstroke and breaststroke swimmer who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics.He was born and died in Berlin....	St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...  (USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... )	September 7, 1904

(*) 440 yards (= 402.34 m)

In the first heat Thor Henning

Thor Henning

Thor Henning was a Swedish breaststroke and freestyle swimmer. He won a total of four medals in swimming at the 1912 Summer Olympics, 1920 Summer Olympics and 1924 Summer Olympics....

 set a new Olympic record with 6:52.4 minutes. Only to be improved in the second heat by Paul Malisch who swam 6:47.0 minutes. In the fourth heat Percy Courtman

Percy Courtman

Percy Courtman was an English breaststroke swimmer from Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics....

 improved the Olympic record with 6:43.8 minutes. And again one heat later in the fifth run Walter Bathe

Walter Bathe

Walter Bathe was a German breaststroke swimmer, who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.Bathe was born in Probsthain, Silesia. He won two gold medals in 200 metre breaststroke as well as in 400 metre breaststroke.-External links:**...

 swam 6:34.6. In the first semi-final Bathe and Henning bettered the record with 6:32.0 minutes. Bathe was able to improve the record in the final with 6:29.6 minutes.

Quarterfinals

Monday July 8, 1912: The top two in each heat advanced along with the fastest loser overall.

Heat 1

Oszkár Demján

Oszkár Demján

Oszkár Demján was a Hungarian breaststroke swimmer who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.He was born in Budapest and died in Sianky....

was disqualified, because he touched the wall with only one hand at the second turn.

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		6:52.4	QS OR
2		7:07.8	QS
—		DNF
—		(6:35.8)	DSQ

Heat 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		6:47.0	QS OR
2		7:03.0	QS
3		7:17.0
—		(7:07.0)	DSQ

Heat 3

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		6:49.8	QS
2		6:52.6	QS
3		7:04.0	qs
4		7:07.8

Heat 4

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		6:43.8	QS OR
2		6:48.8	QS
3		7:12.6

Heat 5

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		6:34.6	QS OR
2		7:28.6	QS

Semifinals

Thursday July 11, 1912: The top two from each heat and the faster of the two third place swimmers advanced.

Semifinal 1

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		6:32.0	QF OR
2		6:32.0	QF =OR
3		6:36.6	qf
4		6:59.8
—		DNF
—		DNS

Semifinal 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		6:44.6	QF
2		6:47.6	QF
3		6:56.8
4		7:02.4
—		DNF

Final

Friday July 12, 1912:

Final
Place	Swimmer	Time
1		6:29.6 OR
2		6:35.6
3		6:36.4
4		6:37.0
—		DNF