Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XV Olympiad
Venue	Helsinki Swimming Stadium
Date	26 July (heats) 27 July (semifinals) 29 July (final)
Competitors	34 from 19 nations
Winning time	2:51.7 (OR)
Medalists
Éva Székely  Hungary Éva Novák-Gerard  Hungary Elenor Gordon  Great Britain
← 1948 1956 →

The women's 200 metre breaststroke was a thrilling swimming event at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Swimmers raced 200 meters, which is like swimming four lengths of a 50-meter Olympic pool. They used the breaststroke style.

This event took place from July 26 to 29 at the Helsinki Swimming Stadium. It was the sixth time this event was part of the Olympic Games, first appearing in 1924. A total of 33 swimmers from 19 different countries competed.

Setting New Records in Breaststroke

Before the 1952 Olympics, there were already world and Olympic records for the women's 200-meter breaststroke. A world record is the fastest time ever recorded anywhere. An Olympic record is the fastest time recorded at the Olympic Games.

Here were the records before the competition started:

World record	Éva Novák-Gerard (HUN)	2:48.5 s	Moscow, Soviet Union	5 May 1951
Olympic record	Nel van Vliet (NED)	2:57.2 s	London, United Kingdom	31 July 1948

During the 1952 competition, swimmers broke the Olympic record three times! This shows how fast and exciting the races were.

Date	Round	Name	Nationality	Time	OR	WR
26 July	Heat 1	Éva Novák-Gerard	Hungary	2:54.0	OR
27 July	Semifinal 2	Éva Székely	Hungary	2:54.0	OR
29 July	Final	Éva Székely	Hungary	2:51.7	OR

Interestingly, Hungarian swimmer Éva Székely used the butterfly stroke during this event. At that time, it was allowed in breaststroke races. However, for the 1956 Summer Olympics, the rules changed. The 200-meter breaststroke event only allowed the traditional breaststroke. A new 100-meter butterfly event was then created for swimmers who preferred that style.

How the Competition Worked

The competition had three main stages: heats, semifinals, and the final. Swimmers had to perform well in each stage to move on to the next.

Heats: The First Round

The heats were the first races. Swimmers competed in different groups, and the fastest ones moved on to the semifinals. "Q" means they qualified for the next round, and "OR" means they set a new Olympic Record. "DSQ" means disqualified.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Novák-Gerard, ÉvaÉva Novák-Gerard	Hungary	2:54.0	Q, OR
2	4	Székely, ÉvaÉva Székely	Hungary	2:55.1	Q
3	5	Hansen, JytteJytte Hansen	Denmark	2:57.7	Q
4	3	Gordon, ElenorElenor Gordon	Great Britain	2:58.6	Q
5	3	Killermann, KláraKlára Killermann	Hungary	2:59.1	Q
6	5	Garritsen, NelNel Garritsen	Netherlands	2:59.4	Q
7	2	Bonnier, LiesLies Bonnier	Netherlands	3:00.6	Q
8	5	Eklund, Ulla-BrittUlla-Britt Eklund	Sweden	3:01.2	Q
9	5	Havrysh, MariyaMariya Havrysh	Soviet Union	3:01.6	Q
10	1	Happe, UrsulaUrsula Happe	Germany	3:02.7	Q
10	3	Sakamoto, KazukoKazuko Sakamoto	Japan	3:02.7	Q
12	4	Vergauwen, RaymondeRaymonde Vergauwen	Belgium	3:02.8	Q
13	2	Lyons, NancyNancy Lyons	Australia	3:04.4	Q
14	4	Wrigley, JeanJean Wrigley	Great Britain	3:04.5	Q
15	1	Bruins, RikaRika Bruins	Netherlands	3:04.7	Q
16	4	Mäkelä, KaijaKaija Mäkelä	Finland	3:04.7	Q
17	2	Harris, ValerieValerie Harris	Great Britain	3:04.6
18	5	Aoki, MasayoMasayo Aoki	Japan	3:05.6
19	3	Lusien, OdetteOdette Lusien	France	3:06.7
20	1	Kostina, VeraVera Kostina	Soviet Union	3:07.3
21	4	Hedegaard Jensen, KirstenKirsten Hedegaard Jensen	Denmark	3:07.5
22	3	Ward Petersen, EileenEileen Ward Petersen	Denmark	3:09.3
23	2	Zenziveyeva, RozaRoza Zenziveyeva	Soviet Union	3:10.5
24	1	Albert, IlseIlse Albert	Austria	3:12.5
25	1	Peters, GailGail Peters	United States	3:13.3
26	4	Strong, IreneIrene Strong	Canada	3:13.5
27	5	Sehorn, DellaDella Sehorn	United States	3:13.7
28	1	Knabenhans, MargritMargrit Knabenhans	Switzerland	3:17.4
29	2	Cornell, JudyJudy Cornell	United States	3:17.7
30	2	Kwok, IreneIrene Kwok	Hong Kong	3:19.2
31	5	Kobi, LiselotteLiselotte Kobi	Switzerland	3:22.0
32	4	Nazir, DollyDolly Nazir	India	3:37.9
33	3	Saha, AratiArati Saha	India	3:40.8
34	2	Mróz, AleksandraAleksandra Mróz	Poland	—	DSQ

Semifinals: Getting Closer to the Final

The top swimmers from the heats moved on to the semifinals. Here, they competed again to earn a spot in the final race. Éva Székely set another Olympic Record in her semifinal heat!

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2	Székely, ÉvaÉva Székely	Hungary	2:54.0	Q, OR
2	1	Novák-Gerard, ÉvaÉva Novák-Gerard	Hungary	2:55.8	Q
3	1	Killermann, KláraKlára Killermann	Hungary	2:56.5	Q
4	2	Gordon, ElenorElenor Gordon	Great Britain	2:57.8	Q
5	1	Havrysh, MariyaMariya Havrysh	Soviet Union	2:58.6	Q
6	2	Garritsen, NelNel Garritsen	Netherlands	2:59.5	Q
7	1	Hansen, JytteJytte Hansen	Denmark	2:59.5	Q
8	2	Eklund, Ulla-BrittUlla-Britt Eklund	Sweden	2:59.6	Q
9	1	Bonnier, LiesLies Bonnier	Netherlands	3:00.3
10	1	Bruins, RikaRika Bruins	Netherlands	3:02.4
11	2	Vergauwen, RaymondeRaymonde Vergauwen	Belgium	3:02.6
12	2	Wrigley, JeanJean Wrigley	Great Britain	3:03.2
13	2	Happe, UrsulaUrsula Happe	Germany	3:03.8
14	1	Sakamoto, KazukoKazuko Sakamoto	Japan	3:04.2
15	1	Lyons, NancyNancy Lyons	Australia	3:05.6
16	2	Mäkelä, KaijaKaija Mäkelä	Finland	3:06.2

The Big Final Race

The final race was held on July 29. Eight swimmers competed for the Olympic medals. It was a very close and exciting finish!

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Székely, ÉvaÉva Székely	Hungary	2:51.7	OR
	Novák-Gerard, ÉvaÉva Novák-Gerard	Hungary	2:54.4
	Gordon, ElenorElenor Gordon	Great Britain	2:57.6
4	Killermann, KláraKlára Killermann	Hungary	2:57.6
5	Hansen, JytteJytte Hansen	Denmark	2:57.8
6	Havrysh, MariyaMariya Havrysh	Soviet Union	2:58.9
7	Eklund, Ulla-BrittUlla-Britt Eklund	Sweden	3:01.8
8	Garritsen, NelNel Garritsen	Netherlands	3:02.1

Éva Székely from Hungary won the gold medal, setting a new Olympic record! Her fellow Hungarian, Éva Novák-Gerard, won the silver medal. The bronze medal went to Elenor Gordon from Great Britain. It was a fantastic display of swimming talent at the 1952 Summer Olympics!