| Event: | Women's 200 metre breaststroke |
| Games: | 1952 Summer |
| Venue: | Helsinki Swimming Stadium |
| Date: | 26 July (heats) 27 July (semifinals) 29 July (final) |
| Competitors: | 34 |
| Nations: | 19 |
| Win Value: | 2:51.7 (OR) |
| Gold: | Éva Székely |
| Goldnoc: | HUN |
| Silver: | Éva Novák-Gerard |
| Silvernoc: | HUN |
| Bronze: | Elenor Gordon |
| Bronzenoc: | GBR |
| Prev: | 1948 |
The women's 200 metre breaststroke event, included in the swimming competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics, took place on 26–29 July, at the Helsinki Swimming Stadium. In this event, swimmers covered four lengths of the 50-metre (160 ft) Olympic-sized pool employing the breaststroke. It was the sixth appearance of the event, which first appeared at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. A total of 33 competitors from 19 nations participated in the event.[1]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were:
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | OR | WR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 July | Heat 1 | 2:54.0 | OR | ||||
| 27 July | Semifinal 2 | 2:54.0 | OR | ||||
| 29 July | Final | 2:51.7 | OR |
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2:54.0 | Q, OR[3] | |||
| 2 | 4 | 2:55.1 | Q | |||
| 3 | 5 | 2:57.7 | Q | |||
| 4 | 3 | 2:58.6 | Q | |||
| 5 | 3 | 2:59.1 | Q | |||
| 6 | 5 | 2:59.4 | Q | |||
| 7 | 2 | 3:00.6 | Q | |||
| 8 | 5 | 3:01.2 | Q | |||
| 9 | 5 | 3:01.6 | Q | |||
| 10 | 1 | 3:02.7 | Q | |||
| 10 | 3 | 3:02.7 | Q | |||
| 12 | 4 | 3:02.8 | Q | |||
| 13 | 2 | 3:04.4 | Q | |||
| 14 | 4 | 3:04.5 | Q | |||
| 15 | 1 | 3:04.7 | Q | |||
| 16 | 4 | 3:04.7 | Q | |||
| 17 | 2 | 3:04.6 | ||||
| 18 | 5 | 3:05.6 | ||||
| 19 | 3 | 3:06.7 | ||||
| 20 | 1 | 3:07.3 | ||||
| 21 | 4 | 3:07.5 | ||||
| 22 | 3 | 3:09.3 | ||||
| 23 | 2 | 3:10.5 | ||||
| 24 | 1 | 3:12.5 | ||||
| 25 | 1 | 3:13.3 | ||||
| 26 | 4 | 3:13.5 | ||||
| 27 | 5 | 3:13.7 | ||||
| 28 | 1 | 3:17.4 | ||||
| 29 | 2 | 3:17.7 | ||||
| 30 | 2 | 3:19.2 | ||||
| 31 | 5 | 3:22.0 | ||||
| 32 | 4 | 3:37.9 | ||||
| 33 | 3 | 3:40.8 | ||||
| 34 | 2 | — | DSQ |
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2:54.0 | Q, OR | |||
| 2 | 1 | 2:55.8 | Q | |||
| 3 | 1 | 2:56.5 | Q | |||
| 4 | 2 | 2:57.8 | Q | |||
| 5 | 1 | 2:58.6 | Q | |||
| 6 | 2 | 2:59.5 | Q | |||
| 7 | 1 | 2:59.5 | Q | |||
| 8 | 2 | 2:59.6 | Q | |||
| 9 | 1 | 3:00.3 | ||||
| 10 | 1 | 3:02.4 | ||||
| 11 | 2 | 3:02.6 | ||||
| 12 | 2 | 3:03.2 | ||||
| 13 | 2 | 3:03.8 | ||||
| 14 | 1 | 3:04.2 | ||||
| 15 | 1 | 3:05.6 | ||||
| 16 | 2 | 3:06.2 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:51.7 | OR | ||||
| 2:54.4 | |||||
| 2:57.6 | |||||
| 4 | 2:57.6 | ||||
| 5 | 2:57.8 | ||||
| 6 | 2:58.9 | ||||
| 7 | 3:01.8 | ||||
| 8 | 3:02.1 |