# Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 1968 Summer Olympics was held from 21 to 22 October 1968 at the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Vladimir Kosinsky (URS) | 2:27.4 | Tallinn, Soviet Union | 3 April 1968 |
| Olympic record | Ian O'Brien (AUS) | 2:27.8 | Tokyo, Japan | 15 October 1964 |

## Competition format

The competition consists of two rounds: heats and a final. The swimmers with the best eight times in the heats advance to the final.

## Schedule

All times are Central Time Zone (UTC-6)
| Date | Time | Round |
| 21 October | 10:00 | Heats |
| 22 October | 17:00 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

Heat 1
| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time |
| 1 | 3 | Bill Mahony | Canada | 2:36.4 |
| 2 | 6 | Ian O'Brien | Australia | 2:36.8 |
| 2 | 4 | Theo Bolkart | West Germany | 2:36.8 |
| 4 | 5 | Thomas Aretz | West Germany | 2:39.0 |
| 5 | 8 | José Sylvio Fiolo | Brazil | 2:42.1 |
| 6 | 1 | Nicolas Gilliard | Switzerland | 2:44.0 |
| 7 | 7 | Rafael Hernández Rojas | Mexico | 2:44.8 |
| 8 | 2 | Eduardo Moreno | Mexico | 2:46.7 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | 5 | Philip Long | United States | 2:33.1 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Egon Henninger | East Germany | 2:34.2 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Michael Günther | West Germany | 2:40.7 | |
| 4 | 7 | Alberto Forelli | Argentina | 2:41.7 | |
| 5 | 4 | Roger Roberts | Great Britain | 2:42.2 | |
| 6 | 2 | Leiknir Jónsson | Iceland | 2:48.8 | |
Heat 3
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | 2 | Vladimir Kosinsky | Soviet Union | 2:31.9 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Nobutaka Taguchi | Japan | 2:35.5 | |
| 3 | 6 | Ken Merten | United States | 2:37.0 | |
| 4 | 8 | Liam Ball | Ireland | 2:39.8 | |
| 5 | 1 | José Durán | Spain | 2:40.3 | |
| 6 | 3 | Józef Klukowski | Poland | 2:41.6 | |
| 7 | 4 | Gershon Shefa | Israel | 2:42.6 | |
| 8 | 7 | Abel Muñoz | El Salvador | 3:02.8 | |
Heat 4
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | 2 | Brian Job | United States | 2:31.5 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Nikolay Pankin | Soviet Union | 2:33.1 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Osamu Tsurumine | Japan | 2:33.9 | |
| 4 | 6 | Ladislau Koszta | Romania | 2:36.4 | |
| 5 | 5 | Osvaldo Boretto | Argentina | 2:38.8 | |
| 6 | 8 | Stuart Roberts | Great Britain | 2:39.1 | |
| 7 | 1 | Slavko Kurbanović | Yugoslavia | 2:39.9 | |
| 8 | 3 | Yohan Kende | Israel | 2:44.3 | |
Heat 5
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | 3 | Felipe Muñoz | Mexico | 2:31.1 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Yevhen Mykhailov | Soviet Union | 2:32.8 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Klaus Katzur | East Germany | 2:36.2 | |
| 4 | 7 | Thomas Johnsson | Sweden | 2:38.0 | |
| 5 | 6 | Amman Jalmaani | Philippines | 2:42.6 | |
| 6 | 4 | Ivan Gomina | Colombia | 2:45.0 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Country | Time |
| | 4 | Felipe Muñoz | Mexico | 2:28.7 |
| | 3 | Vladimir Kosinsky | Soviet Union | 2:29.2 |
| | 5 | Brian Job | United States | 2:29.9 |
| 4 | 7 | Nikolay Pankin | Soviet Union | 2:30.3 |
| 5 | 6 | Yevgeny Mikhaylov | Soviet Union | 2:32.8 |
| 6 | 8 | Egon Henninger | East Germany | 2:33.2 |
| 7 | 2 | Philip Long | United States | 2:33.6 |
| 8 | 1 | Osamu Tsurumine | Japan | 2:34.9 |