Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Venue	Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Dates	18 – 25 September 1988
No. of events	31
←  1984 1992  →

The 1988 Summer Olympics took place in Seoul, South Korea. The swimming competition, held from September 18 to September 25, was notable for the seven medals, including five golds, won by Matt Biondi, the six golds won by Kristin Otto, and the three individual golds won by Janet Evans. 633 participants from 77 countries were competing. ^{[1] [2]}

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	East Germany  (GDR)	11	8	9	28
2	United States  (USA)	8	6	4	18
3	Hungary  (HUN)	4	2	0	6
4	Soviet Union  (URS)	2	2	5	9
5	Australia  (AUS)	1	1	1	3
	Bulgaria  (BUL)	1	1	1	3
	Great Britain  (GBR)	1	1	1	3
	West Germany  (FRG)	1	1	1	3
9	Japan  (JPN)	1	0	0	1
	Suriname  (SUR)	1	0	0	1
11	China  (CHN)	0	3	1	4
12	Canada  (CAN)	0	1	1	2
	Romania  (ROU)	0	1	1	2
14	Costa Rica  (CRC)	0	1	0	1
	Denmark  (DEN)	0	1	0	1
	Netherlands  (NED)	0	1	0	1
	Sweden  (SWE)	0	1	0	1
18	France  (FRA)	0	0	2	2
	New Zealand  (NZL)	0	0	2	2
20	Italy  (ITA)	0	0	1	1
	Poland  (POL)	0	0	1	1
	Spain  (ESP)	0	0	1	1
Totals (22 entries)		31	31	32	94

Events

The swimming program for 1988 included two new events, the men's and women's 50 m freestyle, bringing the total number of events to 31.

The following events were contested:

• Freestyle: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m (women), 1500 m (men)
• Backstroke: 100 m, 200 m
• Breaststroke: 100 m, 200 m
• Butterfly: 100 m, 200 m
• Individual Medley: 200 m, 400 m
• Relay: 4 × 100 m free, 4 × 200 m free (men); 4 × 100 m medley

Competition schedule

All dates are in 1988.

date	Morning session	Afternoon session
Sept.18	no competition	women's 100 freestyle (prelims) men's 100 breaststroke (prelims) women's 400 I.M. (prelims) men's 200 freestyle (prelims)
Sept.19	women's 100 freestyle (finals) men's 100 breaststroke (finals) women's 400 I.M. (finals) men's 200 freestyle (finals)
Sept.20	men's 100 butterfly (prelims) women's 200 freestyle (prelims) men's 400 I.M. (prelims) women's 200 breaststroke (prelims) men's 4 × 200 Freestyle Relay (prelims)
Sept.21		men's 100 butterfly (finals) women's 200 freestyle (finals) men's 400 I.M. (finals) women's 200 breaststroke (finals) men's 4 × 200 Freestyle Relay (finals)
Sept.22	women's 400 freestyle (prelims) men's 100 freestyle (prelims) women's 100 backstroke (prelims) men's 200 backstroke (prelims) women's 4 × 100 Free Relay	women's 400 freestyle (finals) men's 100 freestyle (finals) women's 100 backstroke (finals) men's 200 backstroke (finals) women's 4 × 100 Freestyle Relay (finals)
Sept.23	men's 400 freestyle (prelims) women's 100 butterfly (prelims) men's 200 breaststroke (prelims) women's 100 breaststroke (prelims) men's 4 × 100 Freestyle Relay (prelims) women's 800 freestyle (prelims)	men's 400 freestyle (final) women's 100 butterfly (finals) men's 200 breaststroke (finals) women's 100 breaststroke (finals) men's 4 × 100 Freestyle Relay (finals)
Sept.24	men's 200 butterfly (prelims) women's 200 I.M. (prelims) men's 50 freestyle (prelims) men's 100 backstroke (prelims) women's 4 × 100 Medley Relay (prelims) men's 1500 freestyle (prelims)	women's 200 I.M. (finals) men's 200 butterfly (finals) men's 50 freestyle (finals) women's 800 freestyle (finals) men's 100 backstroke (finals) women's 4 × 100 medley relay (finals)
Sept.25	women's 200 butterfly (prelims) men's 200 I.M. (prelims) women's 50 freestyle (prelims) men's 4 × 100 medley relay (prelims) women's 200 backstroke (prelims)	men's 200 I.M. (finals) women's 200 butterfly (finals) women's 50 freestyle (finals) men's 1500 freestyle (finals) women's 200 backstroke (finals) men's 4 × 100 medley relay (finals)

Medal summary

Men’s events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
50 m freestyle details	Matt Biondi   United States	22.14 WR	Tom Jager   United States	22.36	Gennadiy Prigoda   Soviet Union	22.71
100 m freestyle details	Matt Biondi   United States	48.63 OR	Chris Jacobs   United States	49.08	Stéphan Caron   France	49.62
200 m freestyle details	Duncan Armstrong   Australia	1:47.25 WR	Anders Holmertz   Sweden	1:47.89	Matt Biondi   United States	1:47.99
400 m freestyle details	Uwe Dassler   East Germany	3:46.95 WR	Duncan Armstrong   Australia	3:47.15 OC	Artur Wojdat   Poland	3:47.34
1500 m freestyle details	Vladimir Salnikov   Soviet Union	15:00.40	Stefan Pfeiffer   West Germany	15:02.69	Uwe Dassler   East Germany	15:06.15
100 m backstroke details	Daichi Suzuki   Japan	55.05 AS	David Berkoff   United States	55.18	Igor Polyansky   Soviet Union	55.20
200 m backstroke details	Igor Polyansky   Soviet Union	1:59.37	Frank Baltrusch   East Germany	1:59.60	Paul Kingsman   New Zealand	2:00.48 NR
100 m breaststroke details	Adrian Moorhouse   Great Britain	1:02.04 NR	Károly Güttler   Hungary	1:02.05	Dmitry Volkov   Soviet Union	1:02.20
200 m breaststroke details	József Szabó   Hungary	2:13.52 ER	Nick Gillingham   Great Britain	2:14.12	Sergio López Miró   Spain	2:15.21 NR
100 m butterfly details	Anthony Nesty   Suriname	53.00 OR	Matt Biondi   United States	53.01	Andy Jameson   Great Britain	53.30
200 m butterfly details	Michael Gross   West Germany	1:56.94 OR	Benny Nielsen   Denmark	1:58.24 NR	Anthony Mosse   New Zealand	1:58.28
200 m individual medley details	Tamás Darnyi   Hungary	2:00.17 WR	Patrick Kühl   East Germany	2:01.61	Vadim Yaroshchuk   Soviet Union	2:02.40
400 m individual medley details	Tamás Darnyi   Hungary	4:14.75 WR	David Wharton   United States	4:17.36	Stefano Battistelli   Italy	4:18.01
4 × 100 m freestyle relay details	United States  (USA) Chris Jacobs Troy Dalbey Tom Jager Matt Biondi Doug Gjertsen* Brent Lang* Shaun Jordan*	3:16.53 WR	Soviet Union  (URS) Gennadiy Prigoda Yuri Bashkatov Nikolai Yevseyev Vladimir Tkachenko Raimundas Mažuolis* Oleksiy Boryslavskiy*	3:18.33 ER	East Germany  (GDR) Dirk Richter Thomas Flemming Lars Hinneburg Steffen Zesner	3:19.82
4 × 200 m freestyle relay details	United States  (USA) Troy Dalbey Matt Cetlinski Doug Gjertsen Matt Biondi Craig Oppel* Dan Jorgensen*	7:12.51 (WR)	East Germany  (GDR) Uwe Daßler Sven Lodziewski Thomas Flemming Steffen Zesner Lars Hinneburg*	7:13.68	West Germany  (FRG) Erik Hochstein Thomas Fahrner Rainer Henkel Michael Gross Peter Sitt* Stefan Pfeiffer*	7:14.35
4 × 100 m medley relay details	United States  (USA) David Berkoff Richard Schroeder Matt Biondi Chris Jacobs Jay Mortenson* Tom Jager*	3:36.93	Canada  (CAN) Mark Tewksbury Victor Davis Tom Ponting Sandy Goss	3:39.28	Soviet Union  (URS) Igor Polyansky Dmitry Volkov Vadim Yaroshchuk Gennadiy Prigoda Sergey Zabolotnov* Valeriy Lozik* Konstantin Petrov* Nikolay Yevseyev*	3:39.96

* Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

Women’s events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
50 m freestyle details	Kristin Otto   East Germany	25.49 (OR)	Yang Wenyi   China	25.64	Jill Sterkel   United States	25.71
					Katrin Meissner   East Germany
100 m freestyle details	Kristin Otto   East Germany	54.93	Zhuang Yong   China	55.47	Catherine Plewinski   France	55.49
200 m freestyle details	Heike Friedrich   East Germany	1:57.65 (OR)	Silvia Poll   Costa Rica	1:58.67	Manuela Stellmach   East Germany	1:59.01
400 m freestyle details	Janet Evans   United States	4:03.85 (WR)	Heike Friedrich   East Germany	4:05.94	Anke Möhring   East Germany	4:06.62
800 m freestyle details	Janet Evans   United States	8:20.20 (OR)	Astrid Strauß   East Germany	8:22.09	Julie McDonald   Australia	8:22.93
100 m backstroke details	Kristin Otto   East Germany	1:00.89	Krisztina Egerszegi   Hungary	1:01.56	Cornelia Sirch   East Germany	1:01.57
200 m backstroke details	Krisztina Egerszegi   Hungary	2:09.29 (OR)	Katrin Zimmermann   East Germany	2:10.61	Cornelia Sirch   East Germany	2:11.45
100 m breaststroke details	Tanya Dangalakova   Bulgaria	1:07.95 (OR)	Antoaneta Frenkeva   Bulgaria	1:08.74	Silke Hörner   East Germany	1:08.83
200 m breaststroke details	Silke Hörner   East Germany	2:26.71 (WR)	Huang Xiaomin   China	2:27.49	Antoaneta Frenkeva   Bulgaria	2:28.34
100 m butterfly details	Kristin Otto   East Germany	59.00 (OR)	Birte Weigang   East Germany	59.45	Hong Qian   China	59.52
200 m butterfly details	Kathleen Nord   East Germany	2:09.51	Birte Weigang   East Germany	2:09.91	Mary T. Meagher   United States	2:10.80
200 m individual medley details	Daniela Hunger   East Germany	2:12.59 (OR)	Yelena Dendeberova   Soviet Union	2:13.31	Noemi Lung   Romania	2:14.85
400 m individual medley details	Janet Evans   United States	4:37.76	Noemi Lung   Romania	4:39.46	Daniela Hunger   East Germany	4:39.76
4 × 100 m freestyle relay details	East Germany  (GDR) Kristin Otto Katrin Meissner Daniela Hunger Manuela Stellmach Sabina Schulze* Heike Friedrich*	3:40.63	Netherlands  (NED) Marianne Muis Mildred Muis Conny van Bentum Karin Brienesse Diana van der Plaats*	3:43.39	United States  (USA) Mary Wayte Mitzi Kremer Laura Walker Dara Torres Paige Zemina* Jill Sterkel*	3:44.25
4 × 100 m medley relay details	East Germany  (GDR) Kristin Otto Silke Hörner Birte Weigang Katrin Meissner Cornelia Sirch* Manuela Stellmach*	4:03.74	United States  (USA) Beth Barr Tracey McFarlane Janel Jorgensen Mary Wayte Betsy Mitchell* Mary T. Meagher* Dara Torres*	4:07.90	Canada  (CAN) Lori Melien Allison Higson Jane Kerr Andrea Nugent Keltie Duggan* Patricia Noall*	4:10.49

* Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

Participating nations

633 swimmers from 77 nations competed. ^[1]

•   Angola  (8)
•   Argentina  (2)
•   Australia  (25)
•   Austria  (6)
•   Bahamas  (1)
•   Bangladesh  (2)
•   Barbados  (1)
•   Belgium  (7)
•   Bermuda  (1)
•   Bolivia  (1)
•   Brazil  (15)
•   Bulgaria  (8)
•   Canada  (31)
•   China  (24)
•   Chinese Taipei  (8)
•   Colombia  (1)
•   Costa Rica  (8)
•   Czechoslovakia  (6)
•   Denmark  (15)
•   East Germany  (26)
•   Egypt  (5)
•   Fiji  (5)
•   Finland  (1)
•   France  (25)
•   Great Britain  (38)
•   Greece  (4)
•   Guam  (4)
•   Guatemala  (1)
•   Honduras  (3)
•   Hong Kong  (10)
•   Hungary  (13)
•   Iceland  (6)
•   India  (1)
•   Indonesia  (2)
•   Ireland  (5)
•   Israel  (1)
•   Italy  (21)
•   Japan  (23)
•   Kuwait  (2)
•   Lebanon  (4)
•   Luxembourg  (2)
•   Malaysia  (2)
•   Mexico  (10)
•   Mozambique  (2)
•   Netherlands  (11)
•   Netherlands Antilles  (1)
•   Norway  (2)
•   New Zealand  (7)
•   Panama  (1)
•   Peru  (2)
•   Philippines  (4)
•   Poland  (5)
•   Portugal  (12)
•   Puerto Rico  (3)
•   Romania  (5)
•   San Marino  (2)
•   Senegal  (2)
•   Singapore  (5)
•   South Korea  (15)
•   Soviet Union  (27)
•   Spain  (11)
•   Sri Lanka  (2)
•   Suriname  (1)
•   Swaziland  (2)
•   Sweden  (18)
•   Switzerland  (10)
•   Trinidad and Tobago  (1)
•   Tunisia  (1)
•   Turkey  (2)
•   United Arab Emirates  (6)
•   United States  (44)
•   Virgin Islands  (6)
•   Uruguay  (1)
•   Vietnam  (2)
•   West Germany  (29)
•   Yugoslavia  (3)
•   Zimbabwe  (4)

References

1. "Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
2. "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2023-12-17.