The men's 200 metre butterfly

Butterfly stroke

The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with both arms moving simultaneously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as the "dolphin kick"...

event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place on November 30 and December 1. This 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 used the butterfly stroke

Butterfly stroke

The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with both arms moving simultaneously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as the "dolphin kick"...

. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Medalists

Heats

Three heats were held. The swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the Finals. The swimmers that advanced are highlighted.

Heat One

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1	Bill Yorzyk	United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	2:18.6
2	John Marshall	Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	2:26.8
3	Alexandru Popescu	Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...	2:29.9
4	René Pirolley	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	2:30.1
5	Jenő Áts	Hungary Hungary Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...	2:31.1
6	Walter Ocampo	Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...	2:41.4

Heat Two

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1	Takashi Ishimoto	Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	2:24.2
2	Brian Wilkinson	Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	2:27.2
3	Eulalio Ríos	Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...	2:28.1
4	Jack Nelson	United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	2:29.4
5	Palsons Naibula	Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...	3:03.2
6	Shamsher Khan	India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...	3:06.3

Heat Three

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1	György Tumpek	Hungary Hungary Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...	2:23.3
2	Horst Weber	Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	2:34.4
3	Graham Symonds	Great Britain Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...	2:35.7
4	Agapito Lozada Agapito Lozada Agapito Lozada was a Filipino swimmer. He competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics.-References:...	Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...	2:43.5
5	George Park	Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	2:47.2
6	Shah Ghazi	Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...	2:48.0
7	Fong Seow Hor	Malaya Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...	2:56.0

Final

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
	William Yorzyk William Yorzyk William Albert Yorzyk is a former butterfly swimmer from the United States. At the 1956 Summer Olympics he was the first to win the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly competition....		2:19.3
	Takashi Ishimoto Takashi Ishimoto was a butterfly swimmer from Japan. He won the silver medal in the men's 200 m butterfly at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. In the late 1950s, he broke the world record in the men's 100m butterfly several times.-References:*...		2:23.8
	György Tumpek György Tumpek György Tumpek is a Hungarian swimmer and Olympic medalist. He was born in Budapest. He participated at the 1956 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 200 metre butterfly.-References:...		2:23.9
4	Jack Nelson		2:26.6
5	John Marshall John Marshall (swimmer) John Birnie Marshall was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1940s and 1950s who won a silver and bronze medal in the 1500 m and 400 m freestyle respectively at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London...		2:27.2
6	Eulalio Ríos Alemán Eulalio Ríos Alemán Eulalio Ríos Alemán was a Mexican Olympic swimmer.- Family :He was born to a poor family in a village near Xalapa, Veracruz, and from a young age trained to swim against the current of a brook that passed near his house, in Hueyapan de Ocampo, to the south of Catemaco on the way to...		2:27.3
7	Brian Wilkinson		2:29.7
8	Alexandru Popescu		2:31.0