# Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place between 31 July and 2 August at the Swimming Stadium. This swimming event used the breaststroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

## Medalists

| Gold | John Davies Australia |
| Silver | Bowen Stassforth United States |
| Bronze | Herbert Klein Germany |

## Results
### Heats

16 fastest swimmer advanced to semifinals.
Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Monte Nitzkowski | United States | 2:40.6 |
| 2 | Pierre Joly dit Dumesnil | France | 2:43.4 |
| 3 | Marek Petrusewicz | Poland | 2:44.0 |
| 4 | Juha Tikka | Finland | 2:46.3 |
| 5 | Brian Barnes | Great Britain | 2:48.6 |
| 6 | René Kohn | Luxembourg | 2:59.3 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | John Davies | Australia | 2:39.7 |
| 2 | Jiro Nagasawa | Japan | 2:40.4 |
| 3 | Nikola Trojanović | Yugoslavia | 2:42.4 |
| 4 | Bengt Rask | Sweden | 2:45.3 |
| 5 | Ludovicus Schoenmaekers | Belgium | 2:46.5 |
| 6 | Yury Kurchashov | Soviet Union | 2:47.3 |
| 7 | Alfons Oehy | Switzerland | 2:54.8 |
| 8 | Muhammad Bashir | Pakistan | 3:01.3 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Ľudovít Komadel | Czechoslovakia | 2:38.9 | |
| 2 | Orlando Cossani | Argentina | 2:39.6 | |
| 3 | Takayoshi Kajikawa | Japan | 2:39.6 | |
| 4 | Walter Ocampo | Mexico | 2:44.8 | |
| 5 | Octavio Mobiglia | Brazil | 2:46.1 | |
| 6 | Giorgio Grilz | Italy | – | disqualified |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Bowen Stassforth | United States | 2:39.3 |
| 2 | David Hawkins | Australia | 2:41.2 |
| 3 | George Portelance | Canada | 2:42.5 |
| 4 | Pyotr Skripchenkov | Soviet Union | 2:47.3 |
| 5 | Blago Barbieri | Yugoslavia | 2:47.3 |
| 6 | Knud Gleie | Denmark | 2:51.4 |
| 7 | Vladimír Skovajsa | Czechoslovakia | 2:53.3 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Jerry Holan | United States | 2:36.8 |
| 2 | Maurice Lusien | France | 2:40.9 |
| 3 | Nobuyasu Hirayama | Japan | 2:41.5 |
| 4 | Adhemar Grijó Filho | Brazil | 2:47.6 |
| 5 | Habib Suharko | Indonesia | 2:51.3 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Herbert Klein | Germany | 2:37.0 |
| 2 | Daan Buijze | Netherlands | 2:41.9 |
| 3 | Vladimir Borisenko | Soviet Union | 2:43.2 |
| 4 | Aulis Kähkönen | Finland | 2:43.8 |
| 5 | Manuel Sanguily | Cuba | 2:44.5 |
| 6 | Vlastimil Linhart | Czechoslovakia | 2:48.0 |
| 7 | Awad Moukhtar Halloudah | Egypt | 2:50.5 |
| 8 | Eduardo Barbeiro | Portugal | 3:04.6 |

### Semifinals

Eight fastest swimmers advanced to final.
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | John Davies | Australia | 2:36.8 |
| 2 | Ľudovít Komadeľ | Czechoslovakia | 2:38.8 |
| 3 | Nobuyasu Hirayama | Japan | 2:39.1 |
| 4 | Gerald Holan | United States | 2:39.2 |
| 5 | Monte Nitzkowski | United States | 2:41.4 |
| 6 | Daan Buijze | Netherlands | 2:42.6 |
| 7 | Orlando Cossani | Argentina | 2:43.1 |
| 8 | George Portelance | Canada | 2:43.8 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Herbert Klein | Germany | 2:37.0 |
| 2 | Takayoshi Kajikawa | Japan | 2:37.3 |
| 3 | Bowen Stassforth | United States | 2:38.7 |
| 4 | Jiro Nagasawa | Japan | 2:39.0 |
| 5 | Maurice Lusien | France | 2:39.1 |
| 6 | David Hawkins | Australia | 2:39.8 |
| 7 | Nikola Trojanović | Yugoslavia | 2:41.8 |
| 8 | Vladimir Borisenko | Soviet Union | 2:46.2 |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| | John Davies | Australia | 2:34.4 | OR |
| | Bowen Stassforth | United States | 2:34.7 | |
| | Herbert Klein | Germany | 2:35.9 | |
| 4 | Nobuyasu Hirayama | Japan | 2:37.4 | |
| 5 | Takayoshi Kajikawa | Japan | 2:38.6 | |
| 6 | Jiro Nagasawa | Japan | 2:39.1 | |
| 7 | Maurice Lusien | France | 2:39.8 | |
| 8 | Ľudovít Komadeľ | Czechoslovakia | 2:40.1 | |
Key: OR = Olympic record