Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle

This was the third appearance of the 200 metre freestyle event. It was first contested in 1900. It would be contested a second time, though at 220 yards, in 1904. After that, the event did not return until 1968; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games.{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/5866 |work=Olympedia |title=200 metres Freestyle, Men |access-date=18 June 2021}}

Unsurprisingly, none of the competitors from the 1904 Games returned. Don Schollander was the heavy favourite in the event, having broken the world record five times since Tokyo 1964 (the last Games without the 200 metre freestyle on the programme). Schollander had won four Olympic gold medals in 1964, including anchoring the gold medal 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay. Michael Wenden of Australia had won the 100 metre freestyle (in which Schollander did not compete) earlier at the 1968 Olympics and was looking for a double.

19 of the 26 competing nations were making their debut in the event. Australia and the United States were the only two nations to have previously competed in both 1900 and 1904; France, Great Britain, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Sweden were making their second appearance after competing in 1900 only.

The competition used a two-round (heats, final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 9 heats of between 5 and 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

The standing world and Olympic records prior to this competition were as follows. Clark's Olympic record was set as the first leg in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay final.

{{World Olympic Record

| world_athlete = {{flagathlete|Don Schollander|USA}}

| world_mark = 1:54.3

| world_place = Long Beach, United States

| world_date = 30 August 1968

| olympic_athlete = {{flagIOCathlete|Steve Clark|USA|1964 Summer}}

| olympic_mark = 2:00.0

| olympic_place = Tokyo, Japan

| olympic_date = 18 October 1964

}}

John Nelson set a new Olympic record at 1:59.5 in the first heat; Michael Wenden immediately broke it with 1:59.3 in the second. In the fourth and eighth heats, Don Schollander and Ralph Hutton tied the old record (behind Nelson and Wenden's new efforts).

Five of the finalists came in below the new record; Wenden finished first to improve his Olympic record to 1:55.2.

All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

Nelson set a new Olympic record in the first heat; it was short-lived, as Wenden broke it in the second.

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{{Footer Olympic Champions 200 m Freestyle Men}}

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Men's freestyle 200 metre

Category:200 metre freestyle at the Olympics

Category:Men's events at the 1968 Summer Olympics