Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

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Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Rowdy Gaines 1983.jpg
Rowdy Gaines (1983)
Venue McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium
Date31 July 1984 (heats & final)
Competitors68 from 45 nations
Winning time49.80 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Rowdy Gaines
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Mark Stockwell
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Bronze medal icon.svg Per Johansson
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
  1980
1988  

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1984 Summer Olympics was held in the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on July 31, 1984. [1] There were 68 competitors from 45 nations. [2] Nations were limited to two swimmers each, down from three in prior Games. The event was won by Rowdy Gaines of the United States, the nation's third victory in four Games—with only the boycotted 1980 Olympics missing. Overall, it was the eleventh victory for an American in the men's 100 metre freestyle, most of any nation. Mark Stockwell of Australia took silver. Swedish swimmer Per Johansson repeated as bronze medalist, only the seventh man to earn multiple medals in the event.

Background

This was the 19th appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres. [2]

One of the eight finalists from the 1980 Games returned: bronze medalist Per Johansson of Sweden. The reigning gold medalist, and 1982 world champion, Jörg Woithe of East Germany, was absent due to the Soviet-led boycott. World runner-up Rowdy Gaines had missed the 1980 Games due to the American-led boycott at the peak of his ability; four years later, he was still favored. Johansson had taken third at worlds. [2]

With a large field and a reduced maximum per nation, many nations new to the event were able to compete. The Bahamas, Bahrain, the People's Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Fiji, Honduras, the Netherlands Antilles, San Marino, Suriname, Swaziland, and Uganda each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 18th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

This freestyle swimming competition used a new A/B final format. The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and finals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the A final, competing for medals through 8th place. The swimmers with the next 8 times in the semifinals competed in the B final for 9th through 16th place. Swim-offs were used as necessary to determine advancement.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Rowdy Gaines  (USA)49.36 Austin, United States 3 April 1981
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Jim Montgomery  (USA)49.99 Montreal, Canada 25 July 1976

The following records were established during the competition:

DateRoundSwimmerNationTimeRecord
31 JulyFinal A Rowdy Gaines Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.80 OR

Schedule

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

DateTimeRound
Tuesday, 31 July 19849:10
16:35
16:40
Heats
Final A
Final B

Results

Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A, while the next eight to final B. [3]

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
164 Mark Stockwell Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 50.27Q
294 Mike Heath Flag of the United States.svg  United States 50.39Q
384 Rowdy Gaines Flag of the United States.svg  United States 50.41Q
453 Per Johansson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 50.57Q
563 Dano Halsall Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 50.91Q
614 Alberto Mestre Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 50.99Q
723 Dirk Korthals Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 51.02Q
834 Stéphan Caron Flag of France.svg  France 51.13Q
975 Hans Kroes Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 51.19q
95 Thomas Lejdström Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden q
1144 Michael Delany Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 51.22q, WD
1224 Stéfan Voléry Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 51.24q
1383 Edsard Schlingemann Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 51.33q
1465 Peter Rohde Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 51.40q, NR
1533 Ang Peng Siong Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 51.66q
1643 David Lowe Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 51.68q
1785 Fabrizio Rampazzo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 51.71q
1835 Cyro Delgado Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 51.74
1974 Fernando Cañales Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 51.75
2073 Alexander Schowtka Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 51.78
2113 Paul Easter Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 51.83
2293 David Churchill Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 51.85
2366 Ramiro Estrada Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 52.07
2425 Franz Mortensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 52.22
2515 Alexander Pilhatsch Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 52.25
2686 Marco Colombo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 52.34
2736 Antonio Portela Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 52.47 NR
2845 Ronald Menezes Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 52.49
2955 Blair Hicken Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 52.74
3042 Michael Miao Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei 52.76 NR
3156 Mu Lati Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 52.82
3292 Shen Jianqiang Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 52.84
3346 Shigeo Ogata Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 52.96 NR
3493 Mohamed Youssef Flag of Egypt (1972-1984).svg  Egypt 53.19 NR
3562 Kemal Sadri Özün Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 53.39
3616 Li Khai-kam Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 53.48
3754 Sean Nottage Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas 53.66
3882 Fabián Ferrari Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 53.69
3926 Satoshi Sumida Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 53.83
4032 Hilton Woods Flag of the Netherlands Antilles (1959-1986).svg  Netherlands Antilles 53.92
4187 Lukman Niode Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia 54.10
4212 Oon Jin Gee Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 54.17
4352 Gökhan Attaroğlu Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 54.22
4472 Fernando Rodríguez Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 54.61
4596 Deryck Marks Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 54.63
27 William Wilson Flag of the Philippines (1936-1985, 1986-1998).svg  Philippines 54.63
4737 Erik Rosskopf Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands 54.80
4877 César Sánchez Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 54.94
4967 Anthony Nesty Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname 54.99
5057 Ahmed Said Flag of Egypt (1972-1984).svg  Egypt 55.01
5122 Evert Johan Kroon Flag of the Netherlands Antilles (1959-1986).svg  Netherlands Antilles 55.20
5276 Gordon Scarlett Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 55.34
5347 Collier Woolard Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands 55.67
5451 Samuela Tupou Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 55.85
5517 Ingi Jónsson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 56.31
5671 Jean-Luc Adorno Flag of Monaco.svg  Monaco 56.38
5781 Warren Sorby Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 56.75
5831 Rodrigo Leal Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 56.80
5961 Khaled Al-Assaf Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait 56.91
6041 Ernesto-José Degenhart Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 57.20
6188 Hamad Bader Flag of Bahrain (1972-2002).svg  Bahrain 58.16
6278 Trevor Ncala Flag of Swaziland.svg  Swaziland 58.22
6398 Michele Piva Flag of San Marino (before 2011).svg  San Marino 59.26
6458 Rodolfo Torres Flag of Honduras (before 2022).svg  Honduras 1:00.92
6568 Domingos Chivavele Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique 1:01.38
6621 Percy Sayegh Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 1:01.88
6711 Rami Kantari Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 1:01.96
6891 Daniel Mulumba Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 1:07.86

Finals

Final B

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
97 Ang Peng Siong Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 51.09 NR
103 Stéfan Voléry Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 51.42
111 David Lowe Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 51.48
128 Fabrizio Rampazzo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 51.56
134 Hans Kroes Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 51.64
5 Thomas Lejdström Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 51.64
156 Edsard Schlingemann Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 51.74
162 Peter Rohde Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 51.98

Final A

The Australian team protested the final, arguing that the start had not been fair. The Americans had experience with the starter and knew he had a tendency toward a quick trigger. The Australian protest was disallowed. [2]

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg3 Rowdy Gaines Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.80 OR
Silver medal icon.svg4 Mark Stockwell Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 50.24 OC
Bronze medal icon.svg6 Per Johansson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 50.31
45 Mike Heath Flag of the United States.svg  United States 50.41
52 Dano Halsall Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 50.50 NR
67 Alberto Mestre Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 50.70 NR
8 Stéphan Caron Flag of France.svg  France 50.70 NR
81 Dirk Korthals Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 50.93

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References

  1. "Swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference . Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  3. "Los Angeles 1984: Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Los Angeles 1984 . LA84 Foundation. pp. 502–503. Retrieved March 6, 2017.