At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, eighteen swimming events were contested, ten for men and eight for women. There were a total of 405 participants from 42 countries competing. For the first time, the 4 × 100 metres freestyle relay for men and the 400 metres individual medley for both men and women were contested. Olympic records were broken in all events and the world record was broken in ten events. This competition also marked the debut of electronic touchpads for timing.
15-year-old Sharon Stouder won four medals, three of them gold.
Events Swimming at the 1964 Olympics featured a total of 18 events (10 for men and 8 for women). On the men's side, the 100 metre backstroke was removed, but the 200 metre backstroke, 4× 100 metre freestyle relay, and the 400 metre individual medley was added. On the women's side, the 400 metre individual medley was added. The following events were contested (all pool events are long course, and distances are in meters):
Freestyle: 100, 200, 400, and 1500 (men's); 100, 400 (women's) Backstroke: 100 and 200; Breaststroke: 100 and 200; Butterfly: 100 and 200; Individual medley: 200 and 400; Relays: 4 × 100 free, 4 × 200 free, 4 × 100 medley (men's); 4 × 100 free, 4 × 100 medley (women's)
Participating nations 405 swimmers from 42 nations competed.
Medal table
Medal summary Men's events 100 m freestyle 53.4 (OR) 53.5 54.0 400 m freestyle 4:12.2 (WR) 4:14.9 4:15.1 1500 m freestyle 17:01.7 (OR) 17:03.0 17:07.7 200 m backstroke 2:10.3 (WR) 2:10.5 2:13.1 200 m breaststroke 2:27.8 (WR) 2:28.2 2:29.6 200 m butterfly 2:06.6 (WR) 2:07.5 2:09.3 400 m individual medley 4:45.4 (WR) 4:47.1 4:51.0 4 × 100 m freestyle relaySteve ClarkMike AustinGary IlmanDon Schollander 3:33.2 (WR)Horst LöfflerFrank WiegandUwe JacobsenHans-Joachim Klein 3:37.2David DicksonPeter DoakJohn RyanBob Windle 3:39.1 4 × 200 m freestyle relaySteve ClarkRoy SaariGary IlmanDon Schollander 7:52.1 (WR)Horst-Günther GregorGerhard HetzFrank WiegandHans-Joachim Klein 7.59.3Makoto FukuiKunihiro IwasakiToshio ShojiYukiaki Okabe 8:03.8 4 × 100 m medley relayThompson MannBill CraigFred SchmidtSteve Clark 3:58.4 (WR)Ernst-Joachim KüppersEgon HenningerHorst-Günther GregorHans-Joachim Klein 4:01.6Peter ReynoldsIan O'BrienKevin BerryDavid Dickson 4:02.3
Women's events 100 m freestyle 59.5 (OR) 59.9 1:00.8 400 m freestyle 4:43.3 (OR) 4:44.6 4:47.2 100 m backstroke 1:07.7 (WR) 1:07.9 1:08.0 200 m breaststroke 2:46.4 (OR) 2:47.6 2:48.6 100 m butterfly 1:04.7 (WR) 1:05.6 1:06.0 400 m individual medley 5:18.7 (OR) 5:24.1 5:24.2 4 × 100 metre freestyle relaySharon StouderDonna de VaronaLillian WatsonKathy Ellis 4:03.8 (WR)Robyn ThornJanice MurphyLynette BellDawn Fraser 4:06.9Pauline van der WildtToos BeumerWinnie van WeerdenburgErica Terpstra 4:12.0 4 × 100 metre medley relayCathy FergusonCynthia GoyetteSharon StouderKathy Ellis 4:33.9 (OR)Corrie WinkelKlenie BimoltAda KokErica Terpstra 4:37.0Tatyana SavelyevaSvetlana BabaninaTatyana DevyatovaNatalya Ustinova 4:39.2
Gallery of the medalists Some of the Olympic medalists in Tokyo:
References