Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke

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Men's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1988-0721-038, Frank Baltruch.jpg
Silver medalist Frank Baltrusch (earlier in 1988)
Venue Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Date22 September 1988 (heats & finals)
Competitors44 from 32 nations
Winning time1:59.37
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Igor Polyansky Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Silver medal icon.svg Frank Baltrusch Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany
Bronze medal icon.svg Paul Kingsman Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
  1984
1992  

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 22 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea. [1] There were 44 competitors from 32 nations. [2] Each nation had been limited to two swimmers in the event since 1984. The event was won by Igor Polyansky of the Soviet Union. Frank Baltrusch of East Germany took silver, while Paul Kingsman of New Zealand earned bronze. The medals were the first in the men's 200 metre backstroke for the Soviet Union and New Zealand; East Germany had not medaled in the event since Roland Matthes won gold in 1968 and 1972. For the first time, the United States competed and did not earn at least silver.

The award ceremony did not go smoothly. Kingsman was erroneously introduced as being from the Soviet Union. When his nationality was corrected to New Zealand, it was also announced that the New Zealand national anthem would be played. This had to be corrected as well, and the Soviet anthem (for the winner, Polyansky) was played. [2]

Background

This was the eighth appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event. It was first held in 1900. The event did not return until 1964; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. From 1904 to 1960, a men's 100 metre backstroke was held instead. In 1964, only the 200 metres was held. Beginning in 1968 and ever since, both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held. [2]

None of the 8 finalists from the 1984 Games returned. The medalists at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships had been Igor Polyansky of the Soviet Union, Frank Baltrusch of East Germany, and Frank Hoffmeister of West Germany. All three competed in Seoul. Polyansky was also the world record holder, having set it in a Soviet-East German dual meet in 1985. He was the heavy favourite in the event, with his only loss since 1985 being the European championship (to fellow Soviet Sergei Zabolotnov). [2]

Costa Rica, Guam, Iceland, Lebanon, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe each made their debut in the event. Australia and Great Britain each made their seventh appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

Competition format

The competition used a two-round (heats and 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. A "consolation final" had been added in 1984. There were 6 heats of up to 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. The next 8 (9th through 16th) competed in a consolation final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Records

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

World recordFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Igor Polyansky  (URS)1:58.14 Erfurt, East Germany 3 March 1985
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Rick Carey  (USA)1:58.99 Los Angeles, United States 31 July 1984

Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 22 September 198810:00
20:00
Finals

Results

Heats

The eight fastest swimmers advanced to Final A, while the next eight went to Final B. [3]

RankHeatSwimmerNationTimeNotes
16 Sergei Zabolotnov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:01.27QA
25 Frank Baltrusch Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:01.49QA
34 Dirk Richter Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:01.54QA
46 Igor Polyansky Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:01.70QA
54 Dan Veatch Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:01.73QA
66 Jens-Peter Berndt Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:01.77QA
76 Paul Kingsman Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:02.20QA
85 Rogério Romero Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 2:02.26QA
94 Georgi Mihalev Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 2:02.71QB
106 Tamás Deutsch Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:03.17QB
115 Martín López-Zubero Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2:03.33QB
124 Frank Hoffmeister Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:03.34QB
135 Daichi Suzuki Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:03.36QB
145 Stefano Battistelli Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:03.63QB, WD
154 Steve Bigelow Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:03.64QB
163 Gary Binfield Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:03.79QB
174 Sean Murphy Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:03.81QB, WD
185 Mark Tewksbury Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:04.02QB
193 Alejandro Alvizuri Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 2:04.29
203 John Davey Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:04.70
216 David Holderbach Flag of France.svg  France 2:04.83
223 Ernesto Vela Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:05.08
6 Simon Upton Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:05.08
245 Eðvarð Þór Eðvarðsson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 2:05.61
253 Richard Gheel Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:05.71
266 Lars Sørensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2:05.73
272 Stephen Cullen Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:06.98
284 Pavel Vokoun Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 2:07.24
292 Patrick Ferland Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 2:07.77
303 Lin Laijiu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:08.28
312 David Lim Fong Jock Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 2:08.65
323 Shigemori Maruyama Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:09.16
332 Wladimir Ribeiro Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 2:11.48
342 Horst Niehaus Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica 2:12.83
352 Eric Greenwood Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica 2:15.42
362 Patrick Sagisi Flag of Guam.svg  Guam 2:15.82
371 Brett Halford Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2:17.84
381 Pablo Barahona Flag of Honduras (before 2022).svg  Honduras 2:21.61
391 Mohamed Abdullah Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 2:29.64
401 Mohamed Bin Abid Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 2:36.21
411 Rami Kantari Flag of Lebanon (1943-1995).svg  Lebanon 2:40.29
2 Park Dong-pil Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg  South Korea DSQ
3 Charalambos Papanikolaou Flag of Greece.svg  Greece DSQ
5 Tamás Darnyi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary DSQ

Finals

The finals were held in the evening of 22 September. [4]

Final B

RankLaneSwimmerNationTime
96 Frank Hoffmeister Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:01.65
107 Steve Bigelow Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:02.95
113 Martín López-Zubero Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2:03.70
128 Mark Tewksbury Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:03.79
134 Georgi Mihalev Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 2:04.24
145 Tamás Deutsch Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:04.42
152 Daichi Suzuki Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:04.67
161 Gary Binfield Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:04.90

Final A

Zabalotnov led at the halfway mark. Polyansky took the lead during the third length, with Baltrusch and Kingsman also passing Zabolotnov. [2]

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg6 Igor Polyansky Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:59.37
Silver medal icon.svg5 Frank Baltrusch Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:59.60
Bronze medal icon.svg1 Paul Kingsman Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:00.48 NR
44 Sergei Zabolotnov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:00.52
53 Dirk Richter Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:01.67
67 Jens-Peter Berndt Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:01.84
72 Dan Veatch Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:02.26
88 Rogério Romero Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 2:02.28

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Backstroke". Sports Reference . Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "200 metres Backstroke, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  3. "Seoul 1988: Swimming – Men's 200m Backstroke Heats" (PDF). Seoul 1988 . LA84 Foundation. p. 407. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  4. "Seoul 1988: Swimming – Men's 200m Backstroke Finals" (PDF). Seoul 1988 . LA84 Foundation. pp. 407–408. Retrieved 27 March 2017.