# Swimming at the 1936 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 1936 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventh appearance of the event, which was established in 1908. The competition was held from Thursday to Saturday, 13 to 15 August 1936.
Twenty-five swimmers from eleven nations competed. Several of the swimmers used butterfly-swimming strokes; the butterfly stroke was only developed in the early 1930s and was still regarded as a variant of breaststroke in 1936.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Tetsuo Hamuro Japan | Erwin Sietas Germany | Reizo Koike Japan |

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 2:37.2 | Jack Kasley | New Haven (USA) | 28 March 1936 |
| Olympic Record | 2:44.9 | Reizo Koike | Los Angeles (USA) | 12 August 1932 |
In the first heat of the first round Tetsuo Hamuro set a new Olympic record with 2:42.5 minutes. He bettered his own Olympic record in the final with 2:41.5 minutes.

## Results
### Heats

Thursday 13 August 1936: The fastest three in each heat and the fastest from across the heats advanced to the semi-finals.

#### Heat 1

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Tetsuo Hamuro (JPN) | 2:42.5 | QQ OR |
| 2 | Erwin Sietas (GER) | 2:44.6 | QQ |
| 3 | Ray Kaye (USA) | 2:48.5 | QQ |
| 4 | Jikirum Adjaluddin (PHI) | 2:50.2 | qq |
| 5 | Julius Edgar Arp (BRA) | 3:02.6 | |

#### Heat 2

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Saburo Ito (JPN) | 2:45.8 | QQ |
| 2 | Jochen Balke (GER) | 2:46.4 | QQ |
| 3 | Jack Kasley (USA) | 2:54.4 | QQ |
| 4 | Erik Skou (DEN) | 2:57.6 | |
| 5 | Percy Belvin (BER) | 3:09.8 | |
| 6 | Albert Puddy (CAN) | 3:10.2 | |

#### Heat 3

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | John Higgins (USA) | 2:48.8 | QQ |
| 2 | Arsad Alpad (PHI) | 2:52.6 | QQ |
| 3 | Finn Jensen (DEN) | 2:55.7 | QQ |
| 4 | Antônio Luiz dos Santos (BRA) | 2:56.8 | |
| 5 | Mohamed Hassanein (EGY) | 2:58.9 | |
| — | Jorge Berroeta (CHI) | DSQ | |

#### Heat 4

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Leonard Spence (BER) | 2:52.0 | QQ |
| 2 | Gerald Clawson (CAN) | 2:54.7 | QQ |
| 3 | Felix Erbert (TCH) | 2:55.7 | QQ |
| — | Carlos Reed (CHI) | DSQ | |

#### Heat 5

| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Reizo Koike (JPN) | 2:43.8 | QQ |
| 2 | Teófilo Yldefonso (PHI) | 2:47.4 | QQ |
| 3 | Arthur Heina (GER) | 2:48.5 | QQ |
| 4 | Hans Malmström (DEN) | 2:56.5 | |

### Semifinals

Wednesday 14 August 1936: The fastest three in each semi-final and the fastest fourth-placed advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Reizo Koike (JPN) | 2:44.5 | QQ |
| 2 | Jochen Balke (GER) | 2:45.4 | QQ |
| 3 | Saburo Ito (JPN) | 2:45.5 | QQ |
| 4 | Ray Kaye (USA) | 2:49.2 | |
| 5 | Jikirum Adjaluddin (PHI) | 2:54.0 | |
| 6 | Arsad Alpad (PHI) | 2:54.6 | |
| 7 | Finn Jensen (DEN) | 2:54.8 | |
| 8 | Gerald Clawson (CAN) | 2:55.6 | |
Semifinal 2
| Place | Swimmer | Time | Qual. |
| 1 | Tetsuo Hamuro (JPN) | 2:43.4 | QQ |
| 2 | John Higgins (USA) | 2:44.0 | QQ |
| 3 | Erwin Sietas (GER) | 2:44.8 | QQ |
| 4 | Teófilo Yldefonso (PHI) | 2:46.8 | qq |
| 5 | Arthur Heina (GER) | 2:47.3 | |
| 6 | Jack Kasley (USA) | 2:53.4 | |
| 7 | Felix Erbert (TCH) | 2:53.5 | |
| — | Leonard Spence (BER) | DSQ | |

### Final

Saturday 15 August 1936:
| Place | Swimmer | Time |
| 1 | Tetsuo Hamuro (JPN) | 2:41.5 |
| 2 | Erwin Sietas (GER) | 2:42.9 |
| 3 | Reizo Koike (JPN) | 2:44.2 |
| 4 | John Higgins (USA) | 2:45.2 |
| 5 | Saburo Ito (JPN) | 2:47.6 |
| 6 | Jochen Balke (GER) | 2:47.8 |
| 7 | Teófilo Yldefonso (PHI) | 2:51.1 |