Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics

At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, swimmers from around the world came together to compete in 13 exciting events. Seven of these events were for men, and six were for women, with athletes from 33 different countries participating. A special highlight was the introduction of the butterfly stroke as a new, separate event, adding extra excitement to the competition.

Australia showed amazing skill and strength, winning more gold medals than any other country. They took home 8 out of the 13 possible gold medals and ended up with a total of 14 medals. This showed just how strong Australian swimmers were during these Olympics. The swimming competitions were a wonderful display of talent and sportsmanship, making the 1956 Games memorable for many years to come.

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia	8	4	2	14
2	United States	2	4	5	11
3	Japan	1	4	0	5
4	Great Britain	1	0	1	2
	United Team of Germany	1	0	1	2
6	Hungary	0	1	1	2
7	Soviet Union	0	0	2	2
8	South Africa	0	0	1	1
Totals (8 entries)		13	13	13	39

Medalists

Men's events

Women's events

The 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne featured exciting swimming competitions. There were 13 swimming events in total, with seven for men and six for women. Swimmers from 33 countries participated, making it a global event. One new and interesting part of these Olympics was that the butterfly stroke was held as its own separate event for the very first time.

Participating nations

There were 235 swimmers from 33 different countries who took part in the swimming events at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

•  Australia (26)
•  Belgium (6)
•  Brazil (4)
•  Canada (8)
•  Colombia (3)
•  Cuba (2)
•  Czechoslovakia (2)
•  Denmark (2)
•  Finland (1)
•  France (16)
•  United Team of Germany (18)
•  Great Britain (18)
•  Hong Kong (2)
•  Hungary (16)
•  India (2)
•  Indonesia (3)
•  Israel (1)
•  Italy (7)
•  Japan (19)
•  Kenya (1)
•  Luxembourg (1)
•  Malaya (2)
•  Mexico (4)
•  New Zealand (5)
•  Pakistan (3)
•  Philippines (8)
•  Poland (1)
•  Romania (2)
•  South Africa (8)
•  Sweden (5)
•  Soviet Union (10)
•  United States (28)
•  Yugoslavia (1)