The men's 200 metre breaststroke was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1936 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the seventh appearance of the event, which was established in 1908. The competition was held from Thursday to Saturday, 13 to 15 August 1936.
Twenty-five swimmers from eleven nations competed. Several of the swimmers used butterfly-swimming strokes; the butterfly stroke was only developed in the early 1930s and was still regarded as a variant of breaststroke in 1936.
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 2:37.2 |  Jack Kasley | New Haven (USA) | 28 March 1936 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Record | 2:44.9 |  Reizo Koike | Los Angeles (USA) | 12 August 1932 |
In the first heat of the first round Tetsuo Hamuro set a new Olympic record with 2:42.5 minutes. He bettered his own Olympic record in the final with 2:41.5 minutes.
Thursday 13 August 1936: The fastest three in each heat and the fastest from across the heats advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat 1
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:42.5 | QQ OR | ||||
| 2 | 2:44.6 | |||||
| 3 | 2:48.5 | |||||
| 4 | 2:50.2 | |||||
| 5 | 3:02.6 |
Heat 2
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:45.8 | |||||
| 2 | 2:46.4 | |||||
| 3 | 2:54.4 | |||||
| 4 | 2:57.6 | |||||
| 5 | 3:09.8 | |||||
| 6 | 3:10.2 |
Heat 3
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:48.8 | |||||
| 2 | 2:52.6 | |||||
| 3 | 2:55.7 | |||||
| 4 | 2:56.8 | |||||
| 5 | 2:58.9 | |||||
| — | DSQ |
Heat 4
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:52.0 | |||||
| 2 | 2:54.7 | |||||
| 3 | 2:55.7 | |||||
| — | DSQ |
Heat 5
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:43.8 | |||||
| 2 | 2:47.4 | |||||
| 3 | 2:48.5 | |||||
| 4 | 2:56.5 |
Wednesday 14 August 1936: The fastest three in each semi-final and the fastest fourth-placed advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:44.5 | |||||
| 2 | 2:45.4 | |||||
| 3 | 2:45.5 | |||||
| 4 | 2:49.2 | |||||
| 5 | 2:54.0 | |||||
| 6 | 2:54.6 | |||||
| 7 | 2:54.8 | |||||
| 8 | 2:55.6 |
Semifinal 2
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:43.4 | |||||
| 2 | 2:44.0 | |||||
| 3 | 2:44.8 | |||||
| 4 | 2:46.8 | |||||
| 5 | 2:47.3 | |||||
| 6 | 2:53.4 | |||||
| 7 | 2:53.5 | |||||
| — | DSQ |
Saturday 15 August 1936:
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:41.5 | |||
| 2 | 2:42.9 | |||
| 3 | 2:44.2 | |||
| 4 | 2:45.2 | |||
| 5 | 2:47.6 | |||
| 6 | 2:47.8 | |||
| 7 | 2:51.1 |