Australia at the 1956 Summer Olympics explained

Noc:	AUS
Nocname:	Australian Olympic Committee
Games:	Summer Olympics
Year:	1956
Location:	Melbourne/Stockholm
Competitors:	294 (250 men, 44 women)
Flagbearer:	Mervyn Wood (rower)
Rank:	3
Gold:	13
Silver:	8
Bronze:	14
Appearances:	auto
See also:	1906 Intercalated Games (1908–1912)

Australia was the host nation for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. However, due to Australian quarantine restrictions the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden. 294 competitors, 250 men and 44 women, took part in 140 events in 18 sports.^[1]

Medalists

Gold

• Betty Cuthbert – athletics, women's 100 metres
• Betty Cuthbert – athletics, women's 200 metres
• Shirley Strickland – athletics, women's 80 m Hurdles
• Norma Croker, Betty Cuthbert, Fleur Wenham, and Shirley Strickland – athletics, women's 4 × 100 m Relay
• Joey Browne and Anthony Marchant - Cycling, men's 2000 m Tandem
• Jon Henricks - Swimming, men's 100 m Freestyle
• Murray Rose - Swimming, men's 400 m Freestyle
• Murray Rose - Swimming, men's 1500 m Freestyle
• David Theile - Swimming, men's 100 m Backstroke
• John Devitt, Jon Henricks, Kevin O'Halloran, and Murray Rose - Swimming, men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
• Dawn Fraser - Swimming, women's 100 m Freestyle
• Lorraine Crapp - Swimming, women's 400 m Freestyle
• Lorraine Crapp, Dawn Fraser, Faith Leech, and Sandra Morgan - Swimming, women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay

Silver

• Graham Gipson, Kevan Gosper, Leon Gregory, and David Lean – athletics, men's 4 × 400 m Relay
• Chilla Porter – athletics, men's High Jump
• Stuart Mackenzie – rowing, men's Single Sculls
• John Devitt - Swimming, men's 100 m Freestyle
• John Monckton - Swimming, men's 100 m Backstroke
• Lorraine Crapp - Swimming, women's 100 m Freestyle
• Dawn Fraser - Swimming, women's 400 m Freestyle
• John Scott and Roland Tasker - Sailing, men's Sharpie 12 m²

Bronze

• Hector Hogan – athletics, men's 100 metres
• John Landy – athletics, men's 1500 metres
• Allan Lawrence – athletics, men's 10.000 metres
• Norma Thrower – athletics, women's 80 m Hurdles
• Marlene Mathews – athletics, women's 100 metres
• Marlene Mathews – athletics, women's 200 metres
• Kevin Hogarth - Boxing, men's Welterweight
• Walter Brown and Dennis Green – canoeing, men's K2 10,000 m Kayak Pairs
• Dick Ploog - Cycling, men's 1000 m Sprint (Scratch)
• Murray Riley and Mervyn Wood – rowing, men's Double Sculls
• Michael Aikman, Angus Benfield, David Boykett, Bryan Doyle, Harold Hewitt, Jim Howden, Walter Howell, Garth Manton, and Adrian Monger – rowing, men's Eights
• Gary Chapman - Swimming, men's 100 m Freestyle
• Faith Leech - Swimming, women's 100 m Freestyle
• Douglas Buxton, Devereaux Mytton, Ernest Wagstaff and Jock Sturrock - Sailing, men's 5½ Meter Class

Athletics

See main article: Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Men

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Ted Allsopp	20 km walk	1:35:43.0	10
50 km walk	DSQ
James Bailey	800 m	1:51.1	1 Q	1:51.4	7	Did not advance
Jim Bailey	1500 m	DNS		Did not advance
Ron Blackney	3000 m steeplechase	9:16.0	10	DNF
Bill Butchart	800 m	1:51.6	3 Q	1:53.8	4 Q	1:52.0	8
Gavin Carragher	100 m	11.36	4	Did not advance
John Chittick	110 m hurdles	15.18	5	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Ronald Crawford	20 km walk	1:39:35.0	13
50 km walk	5:22:36.0	13
Kenneth Doubleday	110 m hurdles	14.98	5	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Graham Gipson	200 m	22.06	3	Did not advance
400 m	47.87	2 Q	47.45	4	Did not advance
Geoff Goodacre	400 m hurdles	52.5	3	Did not advance
John Goodman	400 m	48.73	4	Did not advance
Kevan Gosper	400 m	48.07	1 Q	46.83	1 Q	46.45	4	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Hec Hogan	100 m	10.72	1 Q	10.78	1 Q	10.62	3 Q	10.77
200 m	21.97	2 Q	21.90	4	Did not advance
Bob Joyce	110 m hurdles	15.02	6	Did not advance
Don Keane	20 km walk	Did not advance						1:33:52.0	6
Ray Land	100 m	11.05	2 Q	11.15	6	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	John Landy	1500 m	3:48.6	3 Q	3:42.0
5000 metres	DNS		Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Allan Lawrence	5000 metres	14:14.67	1 Q	DNS
10000 metres	28:53.6
David Lean	400 m hurdles	51.4	2 Q	51.4	2 Q	51.8	5
Mervyn Lincoln	1500 m	3:45.4	1 Q	3:51.9	12
Donald MacMillan	800 m	1:53.4	4	Did not advance
Keith Ollerenshaw	Marathon	2:48:12	25
Ross Parker	400 m hurdles	53.5	1 Q	52.6	6	Did not advance
Les Perry	Marathon	DNF
David Power	10000 metres	29:49.6	7
Neil Robbins	3000 m steeplechase	8:55.62	5 Q	8:50.36	7
John Russell	Marathon	2:41:44	18
Ray Smith	50 km walk	4:56:08.0	6
Dave Stephens	10000 metres	NT	20
Albie Thomas	5000 metres	14:14.41	1 Q	14:05.03	5
Graham Thomas	3000 m steeplechase	9:09.80	10	DNF
Douglas Winston	200 m	22.20	3	Did not advance
Gavin Carragher Edward McGlynn Ray Land Hector Hogan	4×100 m relay	40.72	1 Q	40.72	4	Did not advance
Leon Gregory Graham Gipson Kevan Gosper David Lean John Goodman	4×400 m relay	3:10.57	2 Q	3:06.19

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
James Achurch	Javelin throw	57.09	21	Did not advance
Vesmonis Balodis	Discus throw	44.24	20	Did not advance
Ian Bruce	Long jump	6.91	23	Did not advance
Martin Crowe	Hammer throw	48.43	21	Did not advance
Peter Denton	Pole vault	3.85	18	Did not advance
Barry Donath	Shot put	16.57	4 Q	16.52	9
Neville Gadsen	Hammer throw	48.84	20	Did not advance
Bob Grant	Javelin throw	65.76	16	Did not advance
Ronald Gray	Triple jump	14.46	25	Did not advance
Robert Hanlin	Shot put	15.62	11 Q	16.08	11
Hugh Jack	Long jump	6.90	24	Did not advance
Charlie Morris	Hammer throw	49.35	19	Did not advance
Mike Moroney	Long jump	7.09	19	Did not advance
Brian Oliver	Triple jump	14.74	23	Did not advance
Bruce Peever	Pole vault	3.85	17	Did not advance
Chilla Porter	High jump	1.92	4 Q	2.10
Maurice Rich	Triple jump	14.26	27	Did not advance
Colin Ridgway	align=left rowspan=2	High jump	1.92	16 Q	2.00	7
John Vernon	1.82	24	Did not advance

Combined events – Decathlon

Athlete	Event	100 m				400 m					1500 m	Final	Rank
Ian Bruce	Result	11.7	6.62	12.30	1.83	51.3	15.9	36.62	3.40	51.38	4:50.4	6025	11
Points	678	672	609	806	751	612	536	476	554	331
John Cann	Result	10.9	6.57	12.18	1.70	49.3	15.6	38.76	2.70	57.89	4:49.2	6278	10
Points	948	659	598	656	900	673	592	226	686	340
Pat Leane	Result	11.4	6.79	13.26	1.86	51.0	16.4	38.86	3.50	58.83	4:56.8	6427	9
Points	768	722	696	845	772	523	595	516	706	284

Women

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Gloria Cooke	80 m hurdles	11.4	3 Q	11.1	3 Q	11.4	6
align=left rowspan=2	Betty Cuthbert	100 m	11.4 OR	1 Q	12.0	2 Q	11.5
200 m	23.5	1 Q	23.6	1 Q	23.4
Norma Croker	200 m	24.9	2 Q	24.3	3 Q	24.0	4
align=left rowspan=2	Marlene Mathews-Willard	100 m	11.5	1 Q	11.6	1 Q	11.7
200 m	24.0	1 Q	24.3	2 Q	23.8
align=left rowspan=2	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	100 m	11.7	3	Did not advance
80 m hurdles	10.8	1 Q	10.8	1 Q	10.7
Norma Thrower	80 m hurdles	10.8 OR	1 Q	11.0	2 Q	11.0
Norma Croker Betty Cuthbert Fleur Mellor Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	4×100 m relay	44.9 WR	1 Q	44.5 WR

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Carole Bernoth	High jump	1.58	14 Q	1.60	14
Nancy Borwick	Long jump	5.80	5 Q	5.82	8
Mary Breen	Shot put	11.28	18	Did not advance
Janice Cooper	High jump	1.58	18 Q	1.55	15
Shirley Cotton	Discus throw	40.76	17	Did not advance
June Heath	align=left rowspan=2	Javelin throw	38.10	19	Did not advance
Heather Innes	38.72	18	Did not advance
Lois Jackman	Discus throw	42,21	13 Q	40.84	13
Margaret Johnson	Long jump	5.59	16	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Valerie Dawn Lawrence	Shot put	13.43	10 Q	13.12	13
Discus throw	36.61	21	Did not advance
Michele Mason	High jump	1.58	7 Q	1.67	6
Erica Willis	Long jump	5.64	14	Did not advance
Margaret Woodlock	Shot put	11.70	17	Did not advance
Maureen Wright	Javelin throw	38.81	17	Did not advance

Basketball

See main article: Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Men's Team Competition

Preliminary round

Group D

Classification 9–15

Group 1

Classification matches

Team Roster

• • Peter Demos
  • Geoff Heskett
  • Peter Bumbers
  • Stan Dargis
  • Inga Freidenfelds
  • Colin Burdett
  • George Dancis
  • Peter Sutton
  • Algis Ignatavicius
  • Merv Moy
  • Ken Finch
  • Bruce Flick
• Head coach: Ken Watson

Boxing

See main article: Boxing at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	1 Round	2 Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Warner Batchelor	Flyweight		W P	L P	Did not advance		5
Robert Bath	Bantamweight	W P	L P	Did not advance
Noel Hazard	Featherweight		L P	Did not advance
William Griffiths	Lightweight		L P	Did not advance
Max Carlos	Light Welterweight		L P	Did not advance
Kevin Hogarth	Welterweight	W P		W P	L P
Peter Read	Light Middleweight	L P	Did not advance
Howard Richter	Middleweight	L P	Did not advance
Anthony Madigan	Light Heavyweight	L P	Did not advance

Canoeing

See main article: Canoeing at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Sprint

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Bryan Harper	C-1 1000 m	5:37.6	7
C-1 10000 m	1:02:12.1	9
align=left rowspan=2	William Jones Thomas Ohman	C-2 1000 m	5:04.6	2 Q	5:03.0	5
C-2 10000 m	56:18.6	7
Barry Stuart	K-1 1000 m	4:30.1	3 Q	4:30.7	9
Max Baldwin	K-1 10000 m	51:49.7	9
align=left rowspan=2	Walter Brown Dennis Green	K-2 1000 m	4:03.0	1 Q	3:59.1	7
K-2 10000 m	43:43.2

Women

Cycling

See main article: Cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Road

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
John O'Sullivan	align=left rowspan=4	Men's road race	5:36:58	41
Jim Nevin	5:47:02	44
align=left rowspan=1	Jim Nestor	DNF
align=left rowspan=1	Jack Trickey	DNF
John O'Sullivan Jim Nevin Jim Nestor Jack Trickey	Team road race	DNF

Track

1000m time trial

Sprint

Tandem

Pursuit

Diving

See main article: Diving at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Preliminaries		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Total
align=left	Ronald Faulds	align=left	3 m springboard	68.84	20	Did not advance
align=left	Barry Holmes	align=left rowspan=1	10m platform	58.01	22	Did not advance
align=left	Joseph McCann	align=left	3 m springboard	69.18	19	Did not advance
align=left	Francis Murphy	align=left rowspan=2	10m platform	66.29	17	Did not advance
align=left	William Tully	65.49	18	Did not advance
align=left	Arthur Winther	align=left	3 m springboard	71.04	17	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Preliminaries		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Total
align=left rowspan=2	Rosalyn Barton	align=left	3 m springboard	58.50	15	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=1	10m platform	41.96	15	Did not advance
align=left	Pat Howard	align=left rowspan=2	3 m springboard	53.89	17	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Barbara McAulay	60.19	13	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	10m platform	45.67	14	Did not advance
align=left	Adele Price	35.28	18	Did not advance

Fencing

See main article: Fencing at the 1956 Summer Olympics. 21 fencers, 18 men and 3 women, represented Australia in 1956.

MenRanks given are within the pool.

Fencer	Event	Elimination round		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Laurence Harding-Smith	align=center rowspan=3	Men's épée			align=center colspan=5	did not advance	align=center colspan=1
Ivan Lund			align=center colspan=5	did not advance	align=center colspan=1
Richard Stone			align=center colspan=5	did not advance	align=center colspan=1
Brian McCowage	align=center rowspan=3	Men's foil			align=center colspan=5	did not advance	align=center colspan=1
David McKenzie			align=center colspan=5	did not advance	align=center colspan=1
Michael Sichel			align=center colspan=5	did not advance	align=center colspan=1
Leslie Fadgyas	align=center rowspan=3	Men's sabre		3 Q		7	align=center colspan=3	did not advance	align=center colspan=1	25
Graham McKenzie		4 Q		7	align=center colspan=3	did not advance	align=center colspan=1	24
Sandor Szoke		6	align=center colspan=5	did not advance	align=center colspan=1	30
James Wolfensohn Ivan Lund Keith Hackshall Hilbert Van Dijk	Team épée	L 3-9 L 5-11 L	4	align=center colspan=5	did not advance	9
Ray Buckingham Brian McCowage Rod Steel David McKenzie Michael Sichel Tom Cross	Team foil	L 3-13 L 8-8	3	align=center colspan=5	did not advance	8
Leslie Fadgyas Alexander Martonffy Emeric Santo Leslie Kovacs Sandor Szoke	Team sabre	L 1-9 L 2-14	3	align=center colspan=5	did not advance	8

WomenRanks given are within the pool.

Fencer	Event	Elimination round		Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Joy Hardon	align=center rowspan=3	Women's foil		8	align=center colspan=3	did not advance	align=center colspan=1	23
Lois Joseph		8	align=center colspan=3	did not advance	align=center colspan=1	22
Denise O'Brien		7	align=center colspan=3	did not advance	align=center colspan=1	19

Football

See main article: Association football at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Men's team squads

Head coach: Richard Telfer

width=4%	No.	width=4%	Pos.	width=23%	Player	width=12%	DoB	width=4%	Age	width=4%	Caps	width=21%	Club	width=6%	Tournament games	width=6%	Tournament goals	width=4%	Minutes played	width=4%	Sub off	width=4%	Sub on	width=4%	Cards yellow/red
1			November 23, 1929	26	5		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
2			August 25, 1929	27	1	Auburn	2	0	180	0	0
3			November 11, 1933	22	2		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
4					0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
5			September 24, 1935	21	0		2	0	180	0	0
6			1925	31	0	Wallsend FC	2	0	180	0	0
7					0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
8			November 1, 1931	25	1		2	0	180	0	0
9			February 16, 1925	31	0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
10					0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
11			March 14, 1922	34	5		2	0	180	0	0
12			October 31, 1934	21	1		2	0	180	0	0
13			January 31, 1931	25	3		2	1	180	0	0
14			July 1, 1928	28	0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
15			April 2, 1930	26	3		2	0	180	0	0
16			May 30, 1932	24	0		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
17			May 5, 1936	20	0	Wallsend FC	2	2	180	0	0
18			August 2, 1931	25	1		0	0	0	0	0	0/0
19			January 21, 1936	20	0		2	1	180	0	0
20			November 11, 1931	25	6		2	0	180	0	0

Gymnastics

See main article: Gymnastics at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Hockey

See main article: Field hockey at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Preliminary round

Pool B

--------

Play–off match

Men's Team Competition

• Team Roster
  • Alan Barblett
  • Geoffrey Bennett
  • Brian Booth
  • Kevin Carton
  • Kenneth Clarke
  • Ian Dick
  • John Dwyer
  • Maurice Foley
  • Louis Hailey
  • Glen Jobson
  • Dennis Kemp
  • Keith Leeson
  • Donald Mecklem
  • Eric Pearce
  • Gordon Pearce
  • Melville Pearce
  • Kenneth Reid
  • Raymond Whiteside

Modern pentathlon

See main article: Modern pentathlon at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Three male pentathletes represented Australia in 1956.

Individual

• Neville Sayers
• Sven Coomer
• George Nicoll

Team

• Neville Sayers
• Sven Coomer
• George Nicoll

Rowing

See main article: Rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Australia had 26 male rowers participate in all seven rowing events in 1956.^[2]

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Stuart Mackenzie	Single sculls	7:28.8	2 Q	9:19.5	2 Q	8:07.7
Murray Riley Mervyn Wood	Double sculls	7:01.2	3 R	8:12.2	1 Q	7:37.4
Peter Raper Maurice Grace	Coxless pair	7:37.2	2 Q	8:48.2	2 Q	8:22.2	4
Robert Duncan Bruce Dickson John Cockbill	Coxed pair	8:15.9	2 Q	9:37.7	3	Did not advance
John Harrison Peter Evatt Geoff Williamson Dave Anderson	Coxless four	6:52.7	3 R	8:10.4	1 Q	8:22.4	4	Did not advance
Gordon Cowey Kevin McMahon Reg Libbis Mick Allen John Jenkinson	Coxed four	7:01.9	2 Q	7:59.8	2 Q	7:31.1	4
Michael Aikman David Boykett Angus Benfield Jim Howden Garth Manton Walter Howell Adrian Monger Bryan Doyle Harold Hewitt	Eight	6:05.8	1 Q	6:55.6	2 Q	6:39,2

Sailing

See main article: Sailing at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Open

Athlete	Event	Race							Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Colin Ryrie	Finn	4	13	11	DNF	7	14	5	2965	10
Rolly Tasker John Scott	12m² Sharpie	1	2	2	1	2	2	DSQ	6086
Robert French Jack Downey	Star	8	9	12	6	11	9	11	1409	9
Graham Horace Drane Brian Carolan Jim Carolan	Dragon	2	10	14	4	4	4	9	3769	5
Jock Sturrock Devereaux Mytton Douglas Buxton	5.5 Metre	4	4	2	4	1	3	4	4022

Shooting

See main article: Shooting at the 1956 Summer Olympics. Twelve shooters represented Australia in 1956.

Men

Athlete	Event	Final
		Score	Rank
Colin Anderson	100m running deer	357	10
John Bryant	Trap	176	9
Norman Goff	300 m rifle	1010	17
Noel Hall	100m running deer	339	11
Rodney Johnson	50 m pistol	506	27
Johnnie Maitland	25 m pistol	526	28
Clement Mudford	Trap	164	20
Peter Papps	25 m pistol	469	35
Norman Rule	50 m rifle, three positions	1114	34
	50 m rifle, prone	594	22
Don Tolhurst	50 m rifle, three positions	1131	27
	50 m rifle, prone	596	10
Len Tolhurst	50 m pistol	541	8
Ian Wrigley	300 m rifle	1021	16

Swimming

See main article: Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
align=left rowspan=1	Gary Chapman	align=left rowspan=2	100 metre freestyle	57.8	1 Q	56.9	2 Q	56.7
align=left rowspan=1	John Devitt	57.2	1 Q	56.4	2 Q	55.8
align=left rowspan=1	Murray Garretty	1500 metre freestyle	18:27.4	1 Q	18:26.5	4
align=left rowspan=1	Terry Gathercole	200 metre breaststroke	2:40.2	2 Q	2:38.7	4
align=left rowspan=1	Kevin O'Halloran	400 metre freestyle	4:36.9	1 Q	4:32.9	4
align=left rowspan=1	John Hayres	100 metre backstroke	1:04.4	2 Q	1:05.0	2 Q	1:05.0	5
align=left rowspan=1	Jon Henricks	100 metre freestyle	57.3	1 Q	55.7	1 Q	55.4 WR
align=left rowspan=1	John Marshall	200 metre butterfly	2:26.8	2 Q	2:27.2	5
align=left rowspan=1	John Monckton	100 metre backstroke	1:03.4	1 Q	1:04.1	1 Q	1:03.2
align=left rowspan=2	Murray Rose	400 metre freestyle	4:31.7	1 Q	4:27.3 WR
1500 metre freestyle	18:04.1	1 Q	17:58.9
align=left rowspan=1	David Theile	100 metre backstroke	1:04.3	1 Q	1:04.8	2 Q	1:02.2 WR
align=left rowspan=2	Gary Winram	400 metre freestyle	4:34.5	1 Q	4:34.9	6
1500 metre freestyle	18:35.7	1 Q	19:06.2	8
align=left rowspan=1	Brian Wilkinson	200 metre butterfly	2:27.2	2 Q	2:29.7	7
align=left rowspan=1	Kevin O'Halloran John Devitt Murray Rose Jon Henricks Gary Chapman Murray Garretty Graham Hamilton	4x100 m freestyle relay	8:40.2	3 Q	8:23.6 WR

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
align=left rowspan=1	Beverley Bainbridge	100 metre butterfly	1:14.4	1 Q	1:15.2	5
align=left rowspan=1	Gergaynia Beckett	100 metre backstroke	1:14.8	2 Q	1:14.7	8
align=left rowspan=2	Lorraine Crapp	100 metre freestyle	1:03.4	2 Q OR	1:03.1	2 Q	1:02.4
400 metre freestyle	5:00.2	1 Q	4:54.6 CR
align=left rowspan=1	Barbara Evans	200 metre breaststroke	3:03.6	12	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Dawn Fraser	100 metre freestyle	1:02.4	1 Q OR	1:03.0	1 Q	1:02.0 WR
400 metre freestyle	5:02.5	1 Q	5:02.5
align=left rowspan=1	Maureen Giles	100 metre butterfly	1:19.4	5	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=1	Patricia Huntingford	100 metre backstroke	1:16.0	5	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=1	Faith Leech	100 metre freestyle	1:04.9	3 Q	1:05.2	3 Q	1:05.1
align=left rowspan=1	Sandra Morgan	400 metre freestyle	5:07.8	2 Q	5:14.3	6
align=left rowspan=1	Pam Singleton	100 metre backstroke	1:17.0	6	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=1	Dawn Fraser Faith Leech Sandra Morgan Lorraine Crapp Margaret Gibson Elizabeth Fraser	4x100 m freestyle relay	4:25.0	1 Q	4:17.1 WR

Water polo

See main article: Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Preliminary round

The preliminary round consisted of a round-robin tournament held in three groups. Each team played the other teams in its group once.

Group A

Nation	Pld.	Win	Loss	Tie	GF	GA	Points
	3	3	0	0	15	5	6
	3	2	1	0	9	6	4
	3	1	2	0	9	9	2
	3	0	3	0	3	16	0

28 November

• 14:00 - Romania def. Australia, 4-2

29 November

• 22:15 - Yugoslavia def. Australia, 9-1

30 November

• 16:00 - Soviet Union def. Australia, 3-0

Consolation

Rank	Nation	Pld.	Win	Loss	Tie	GF	GA	Points
7		3	3	0	0	21	9	6
8		3	2	1	0	21	8	4
9		3	1	2	0	7	11	2
10		3	0	3	0	8	29	0

• Great Britain def. Australia, 5-2
• Australia def. Singapore, 3-2
• Romania def. Australia, 4-2

Weightlifting

See main article: Weightlifting at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Men

Athlete	Event	Military Press		Snatch		Clean & jerk		Total	Rank
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Charles Henderson	align=left	56 kg	72.5	15	85	9	115	10	272.5	13
Keith Caple	align=left	60 kg	87.5	19	90	17	110	17	287.5	16
Vern Barberis	67.5 kg	105	13	105	10	137.5	9	347.5	11
Fred Baugh	75 kg	107.5	11	95	15	122.5	13	325	13
John Powell	82.5 kg	120	8	117.5	7	145	8	382.5	8
Leonard Treganowan	90 kg	122.5	8	117.5	8	150	9	390	8

Wrestling

See main article: Wrestling at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Australia at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417044353/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/AUS/summer/1956/ . dead . 2020-04-17 . 2010-10-12 . sports-reference.com.
2. Australia Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417101754/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/AUS/summer/1956/ROW/ . dead . 17 April 2020 . 28 February 2018.