# Swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke

The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between August 26 and August 30.

## Medalists

| Gold | Bill Mulliken United States |
| Silver | Yoshihiko Osaki Japan |
| Bronze | Wieger Mensonides Netherlands |

## Results
### Heats

Six heats were held; the swimmers with the sixteen fastest times advanced to the Semifinals. Because there were three swimmers with a time of 2:42.4, a swim-off was held to determine the two that would advance.
Key
* Advanced to Semifinal
* See Swim-Off
* Did Not Advance

#### Heat One

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Bill Mulliken | United States | 2:38.0 |
| 2 | Georgy Prokopenko | Soviet Union | 2:39.2 |
| 3 | Gerard Rowlinson | Great Britain | 2:45.0 |
| 4 | Engin Ünal | Turkey | 2:49.0 |
| 5 | Antonio Saloso | Philippines | 2:53.3 |
| - | László Felkai | Hungary | DQ |
| - | Gerald Brauner | Austria | DQ |

#### Heat Two

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Arkadiy Holovchenko | Soviet Union | 2:41.0 |
| 2 | Đorđe Perišić | Yugoslavia | 2:41.1 |
| 3 | Christopher Walkden | Great Britain | 2:41.5 |
| 4 | Mihai Mitrofan | Romania | 2:41.8 |
| 5 | Farid Zablith Filho | Brazil | 2:48.6 |
| 6 | Roland Boullanger | France | 2:54.4 |
| 7 | Nicolas Wildhaber | Switzerland | 2:58.7 |

#### Heat Three

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Wieger Mensonides | Netherlands | 2:39.0 |
| 2 | Roberto Lazzari | Italy | 2:41.2 |
| 3 | Konrad Enke | Germany | 2:44.6 |
| 4 | Richard Audoly | France | 2:46.5 |
| 5 | Pierpaolo Spangaro | Italy | 2:53.8 |
| 6 | Tony Williams | Sri Lanka | 2:59.8 |

#### Heat Four

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Isao Masuda | Japan | 2:41.2 |
| 2 | Terry Gathercole | Australia | 2:41.7 |
| 3 | Pekka Lairola | Finland | 2:43.3 |
| 4 | Bernt Nilsson | Sweden | 2:45.7 |
| 5 | Steve Rabinovitch | Canada | 2:47.2 |
| 6 | Laurel Lee | Chinese Taipei | 2:52.8 |
| 7 | Werner Risi | Switzerland | 2:56.6 |

#### Heat Five

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Paul Hait | United States | 2:40.8 |
| 2 | Andrzej Kłopotowski | Poland | 2:41.4 |
| 3 | György Kunsági | Hungary | 2:42.2 |
| 4 | Egon Henninger | Germany | 2:42.4 |
| 5 | Vítězslav Svozil | Czechoslovakia | 2:42.4 |
| 6 | Emilio Díaz | Spain | 2:52.9 |
| 7 | Trương Ke Nhon | South Vietnam | 2:53.0 |
| - | Erny Schweitzer | Luxembourg | DQ |

#### Heat Six

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Yoshihiko Osaki | Japan | 2:39.1 |
| 2 | Gilbert Desmit | Belgium | 2:42.4 |
| 3 | Tommie Lindström | Sweden | 2:42.8 |
| 4 | William Burton | Australia | 2:43.9 |
| 5 | Guillermo Alsina | Spain | 2:51.4 |
| 6 | Gershon Shefa | Israel | 2:51.7 |
| 7 | Nikolaos Zakharopoulos | Greece | 2:56.4 |

#### Swim-Off

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Egon Henninger | Germany | 2:39.5 |
| 2 | Gilbert Desmit | Belgium | 2:41.1 |
| 3 | Vítězslav Svozil | Czechoslovakia | 2:41.7 |

### Semifinals

Two heats were held; the fastest eight swimmers advanced to the Finals. Those that advanced are highlighted.

#### Semifinal One

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Bill Mulliken | United States | 2:37.2 |
| 2 | Yoshihiko Osaki | Japan | 2:38.2 |
| 3 | Egon Henninger | Germany | 2:38.5 |
| 4 | Roberto Lazzari | Italy | 2:40.3 |
| 5 | Arkady Golovchenko | Soviet Union | 2:40.9 |
| 6 | Mihai Mitrofan | Romania | 2:41.6 |
| 7 | Christopher Walkden | Great Britain | 2:41.7 |
| 8 | Đorđe Perišić | Yugoslavia | 2:44.2 |

#### Semifinal Two

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Terry Gathercole | Australia | 2:39.1 |
| 2 | Wieger Mensonides | Netherlands | 2:39.3 |
| 3 | Paul Hait | United States | 2:39.6 |
| 4 | Andrzej Kłopotowski | Poland | 2:40.8 |
| 5 | Georgy Prokopenko | Soviet Union | 2:41.0 |
| 6 | Gilbert Desmit | Belgium | 2:41.8 |
| 7 | Isao Masuda | Japan | 2:42.3 |
| 8 | György Kunsági | Hungary | 2:42.4 |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| | Bill Mulliken | United States | 2:37.4 |
| | Yoshihiko Osaki | Japan | 2:38.0 |
| | Wieger Mensonides | Netherlands | 2:39.7 |
| 4 | Egon Henninger | United Team of Germany | 2:40.1 |
| 5 | Roberto Lazzari | Italy | 2:40.1 |
| 6 | Terry Gathercole | Australia | 2:40.2 |
| 7 | Andrzej Kłopotowski | Poland | 2:41.2 |
| 8 | Paul Hait | United States | 2:41.4 |