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

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Men's 200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Anders Holmertz (cropped).jpg
Silver medalist Anders Holmertz (2009)
Venue Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Dates18 September 1988 (heats)
19 September 1988 (finals)
Competitors63 from 41 nations
Winning time1:47.25 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Duncan Armstrong Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Silver medal icon.svg Anders Holmertz Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
Bronze medal icon.svg Matt Biondi Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1984
1992  

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 18–19 September at the Olympic Park Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea. [1] There were 63 competitors from 41 nations, with each nation having up to two swimmers. [2]

Australia's Duncan Armstrong set a new world record to win the Olympic title in the event. Swimming in lane six and coming from third at the final turn, he edged out a vastly experienced field for the gold medal in 1:47.25. His time also sliced 0.19 seconds off the global standard set by West Germany's Michael Gross at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. [3]

Sweden's Anders Holmertz overtook U.S. swimmer Matt Biondi about midway through the final stretch, but could not catch Armstrong near the wall to finish with a silver in 1:47.89. It was Sweden's first medal in the men's 200 metre freestyle. Leading almost the entire race, Biondi faded down the stretch to break the 1:48 barrier and take the bronze at 1:47.99. [4] [5]

Poland's Artur Wojdat, a top qualifier on the morning preliminaries, dropped off the podium to a fourth-place time in 1:48.40. Meanwhile, Gross missed a chance to defend his Olympic title with a fifth-place finish in 1:48.59. [5]

Background

This was the eighth 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. [2]

Two of the 8 finalists from the 1984 Games returned: gold medalist Michael Gross and bronze medalist Thomas Fahrner, both of West Germany. Gross was the two-time reigning World Champion as well, with wins in the 1982 and 1986 World Aquatics Championships. American Matt Biondi had taken bronze at the 1986 World Championships; he was a strong challenger even though his best races were at 100 metres. 1987 European champion Anders Holmertz of Sweden was also among the podium favourites; Duncan Armstrong of Australia was not a pre-race favourite. [2]

Belgium, Guam, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates each made their debut in the event. Australia made its eighth appearance, the only nation to have competed in all prior editions of the event.

Competition format

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 8 heats of up to 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. The 1984 event had also introduced a consolation or "B" final; the swimmers placing 9th through 16th in the heats competed in this "B" final for placing. 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.

Records

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

World recordFlag of Germany.svg  Michael Gross  (FRG)1:47.44 Los Angeles, United States 29 July 1984
Olympic recordFlag of Germany.svg  Michael Gross  (FRG)1:47.44 Los Angeles, United States 29 July 1984

The following records were established during the competition:

DateRoundSwimmerNationTimeRecord
19 SeptemberFinal A Duncan Armstrong Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:47.25 WR

Schedule

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

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 18 September 19889:00Heats
Monday, 19 September 198812:00Finals

Results

Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q). [6]

RankHeatSwimmerNationTimeNotes
17 Artur Wojdat Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:48.02QA, NR
27 Matt Biondi Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.39QA
38 Michael Gross Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:48.55QA
48 Duncan Armstrong Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:48.86QA
58 Troy Dalbey Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.96QA
67 Thomas Fahrner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:49.02QA
77 Steffen Zesner Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:49.13QA
86 Anders Holmertz Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:49.28QA
98 Roberto Gleria Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:49.51QB
108 Thomas Flemming Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:49.52QB
116 Stéphan Caron Flag of France.svg  France 1:49.66QB, WD
126 Giorgio Lamberti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:50.47QB, WD
136 Aleksey Kuznetsov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:50.84QB
146 Mariusz Podkościelny Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:50.95QB
156 Tom Stachewicz Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:51.02QB
165 Shigeo Ogata Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 1:51.14QB
177 Franz Mortensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1:51.15QB
186 Paul Howe Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:51.22QB
197 Carlos Scanavino Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 1:51.42
206 Alberto Bottini Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:51.45
217 Tommy Werner Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:51.96
228 Iurie Başcatov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:52.04
238 Cristiano Michelena Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:52.32
244 Patrick Dybiona Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:52.67
254 Stéfan Voléry Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:52.94
264 Rodrigo González Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 1:52.99
275 Michael Green Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:53.03
285 Magnús Ólafsson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 1:53.05
285 Daniel Serra Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 1:53.05
305 Júlio César Rebolal Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 1:53.16
315 Jan Larsen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1:53.61
324 Ignacio Escamilla Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 1:53.63
335 Jean-Marie Arnould Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:53.73
345 Zoltán Szilágyi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:53.75
357 Ludovic Depickère Flag of France.svg  France 1:53.81
364 Salvador Vassallo Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 1:53.82
378 Norbert Ágh Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:54.72
384 Yves Clausse Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 1:54.90
394 Xie Jun Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 1:55.04
403 René Concepcion Flag of the Philippines (1936-1985, 1986-1998).svg  Philippines 1:55.58
413 Alexander Placheta Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1:56.11
424 Vaughan Smith Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 1:56.13
432 David Lim Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 1:56.44
442 Joseph Eric Buhain Flag of the Philippines (1936-1985, 1986-1998).svg  Philippines 1:56.84
452 Kwon Sang-won Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg  South Korea 1:56.88
462 Oon Jin Gee Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 1:57.28
473 Moustafa Amer Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 1:57.50
483 Richard Sam Bera Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia 1:57.60
493 Jonathan Sakovich Flag of Guam.svg  Guam 1:57.72
503 Stephen Cullen Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 1:57.90
512 Arthur Li Kai Yien Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 1:58.10
523 Hakan Eskioğlu Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 1:58.45
533 Jeffrey Ong Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 1:58.62
542 Kwon Soon-kun Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg  South Korea 1:58.95
551 Wu Ming-hsun Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei 2:00.43
562 Tsang Yi Ming Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 2:01.02
572 Richard Gheel Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 2:01.73
581 Hans Foerster Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands 2:01.94
591 Kristan Singleton Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands 2:06.45
601 Jason Chute Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 2:09.05
611 Mohamed Bin Abid Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 2:09.43
621 Ahmad Faraj Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 2:13.21
631 Émile Lahoud Flag of Lebanon (1943-1995).svg  Lebanon 2:16.39

Finals

There were two finals, one for the top 8 swimmers and one for the next 8 (9th through 16th). [7]

Final B

RankLaneSwimmerNationTime
94 Roberto Gleria Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:49.28
105 Thomas Flemming Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:50.18
112 Tom Stachewicz Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:50.83
123 Aleksey Kuznetsov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:51.03
131 Franz Mortensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1:51.44
146 Mariusz Podkościelny Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:51.63
157 Shigeo Ogata Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 1:51.89
168 Paul Howe Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:51.99

Final A

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg6 Duncan Armstrong Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:47.25 WR
Silver medal icon.svg8 Anders Holmertz Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:47.89
Bronze medal icon.svg5 Matt Biondi Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.99
44 Artur Wojdat Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 1:48.40
53 Michael Gross Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:48.59
61 Steffen Zesner Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:48.77
72 Troy Dalbey Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.86
87 Thomas Fahrner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:49.19

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference . Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "200 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  3. Neff, Craig (26 September 1988). "Her Golden Moment: Janet Evans made winning the U.S.'s first gold medal look easy". Sports Illustrated . CNN. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  4. Robb, Sharon (19 September 1988). "Evans Earns First U.S. Gold But Biondi Must Settle For Bronze in 200-meter Freestyle". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. 1 2 Dodds, Tracey (19 September 1988). "The Seoul Games / Day 3 : Evans Wins First Gold, Sets American Record". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  6. "Seoul 2000: Swimming – Men's 200m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Seoul 1988 . LA84 Foundation. pp. 402–403. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  7. "Seoul 2000: Swimming – Men's 200m Freestyle Finals" (PDF). Seoul 1988 . LA84 Foundation. p. 403. Retrieved 19 August 2013.