The men's 200 metre breaststroke

Breaststroke

The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...

was a swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 event held as part of the swimming at the 1928 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the 1928 Summer Olympics

At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, eleven swimming events were contested, six for men and five for women. The competitions were held from Saturday August 4, 1928 to Saturday August 11, 1928.There were 182 participants from 28 countries competing...

 programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event, which was established in 1908. The competition was held from Monday August 6, 1928 to Wednesday August 8, 1928.

Twenty-one swimmers from 13 nations competed.

Medalists

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1928 Summer Olympics.

World Record	2:48.0	Erich Rademacher Erich Rademacher Erich Rademacher was a German swimmer and water polo player and breaststroke swimmer who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics and in the 1932 Summer Olympics....	Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...  (BEL Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... )	March 11, 1927
Olympic Record	2:56.0	Robert Skelton	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...  (FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... )	July 15, 1924

In the third heat Erich Rademacher

Erich Rademacher

Erich Rademacher was a German swimmer and water polo player and breaststroke swimmer who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics and in the 1932 Summer Olympics....

 set a new Olympic record with 2:52.0 minutes. In the fourth heat Yoshiyuki Tsuruta bettered the record to 2:50.0 minutes. Tsuruta improved the record in the semi-finals with 2:49.2 minutes and in the final with 2:48.8 minutes.

Heats

Monday August 6, 1928: The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced. As there was a tie for second place in the fifth heat both swimmers advanced instead of a third placed.

Heat 1

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		2:56.6	QQ
2		2:57.4	QQ
3		3:00.0
4
5

Heat 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		2:56.4	QQ
2		2:56.6	QQ
3		2:57.4	qq
4
5		2:58.6

Heat 3

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		2:52.0	QQ OR
2		3:04.2	QQ
3		3:05.0
4
—		DNF

Heat 4

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		2:50.0	QQ OR
2		3:02.6	QQ
3		3:04.0
4
5
6

Semifinals

Tuesday August 7, 1928: The fastest three in each semi-final advanced.

Semifinal 1

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		2:49.2	QF OR
2		2:53.0	QF
3		2:53.2	QF
4
5

Semifinal 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		2:56.6	QF
2		2:57.2	QF
3		2:57.8	QF
4

Final

Wednesday August 8, 1928:

Place	Swimmer	Time
1		2:48.8 OR
2		2:50.6
3		2:56.4
4		2:56.6
5		2:56.8
6		2:57.2