Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle

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Men's 200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Swimming pictogram.svg
Swimming pictogram
Venue Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Dates25 July 2021 (heats)
26 July 2021 (semifinals)
27 July 2021 (final)
Competitors39 from 30 nations
Winning time1:44.22 NR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Thomas Dean Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Silver medal icon.svg Duncan Scott Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Bronze medal icon.svg Fernando Scheffer Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
  2016
2024  

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. [1] There were 39 competitors from 30 nations, with the ultimate numbers determined through the ongoing selection process, including universality places. [2]

Background

It was the event's 16th appearance, having been held in 1900 and 1904 and then at every edition since 1968.

The only finalist from the 2016 Games to return was fifth-place finisher Townley Haas of the United States, who did not make the final this time. Reigning Olympic champion and two-time reigning World Champion Sun Yang of China missed the Games due to a doping ban. [3]

Summary

Great Britain's Tom Dean put up a monumental effort for the Olympic mid-distance freestyle title in a race against his compatriot Duncan Scott. Swimming beside the early-leader in Korea's Hwang Sun-woo, Dean was second at the 50 m metre mark before falling to third at the last turn with Scott fifth. However, by the final 25 m, the race for gold came down to Dean and Scott, with the former taking the win in a British record of 1:44.22. Scott, the British record holder heading into the Games, finished an agonising 0.04 seconds behind to take the silver in a new personal best of 1:44.26. The pair's 1-2 finish represented the first British quinella in a pool event since the London Games in 1908.

Swimming out of lane 8, Brazil's Fernando Scheffer was in second at the final turn. While Scheffer was overtaken by Dean and Scott, he held on to win bronze in a South American record of 1:44.66. In lane 1, Romania's 16-year old David Popovici charged in the final lap though he could not reel in Scheffer, missing the podium by 0.02 seconds to come fourth. ROC's Martin Malyutin (1:45.01) was just outside the 1:44 barrier to come fifth, while the U.S.' 400 free Bronze medallist Kieran Smith (1:45.12) placed sixth.

World Junior record holder Hwang (1:45.26) was under world record pace at the halfway mark and led at the final turn, but faded in the closing stages to come seventh. Lithuania's Danas Rapšys was more than a second off his best time, finishing in 1:45.78 to round out the finalists.

Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 1:47.02. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 1:50.23. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place. [2]

Competition format

The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. A swim-off were used to break a tie for advancement to the next round. [4]

Records

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

World recordFlag of Germany.svg  Paul Biedermann  (GER)1:42.00 Rome, Italy 28 July 2009 [5] [6]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Michael Phelps  (USA)1:42.96 Beijing, China 12 August 2008 [7]

No new records were set during the competition.

Schedule

The event was moved to a three-day schedule, with each round on separate, consecutive days. [1] All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 25 July 202119:17Heats
Monday, 26 July 202110:37Semifinals
Tuesday, 27 July 202110:43Final

Results

Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals. [8]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
135 Hwang Sun-woo Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 1:44.62Q, WJ , NR
242 Fernando Scheffer Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1:45.05Q, SA
334 Thomas Dean Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:45.24Q
421 David Popovici Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 1:45.32Q
544 Duncan Scott Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:45.37Q
645 Martin Malyutin Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:45.50Q
737 Stefano Ballo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:45.80Q
852 Thomas Neill Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:45.81Q
954 Danas Rapšys Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 1:45.84Q
1036 Townley Haas Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:45.86Q
1158 Kregor Zirk Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 1:46.10Q, NR
1231 Nándor Németh Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:46.19Q
1353 Kieran Smith Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:46.20Q
1423 Velimir Stjepanović Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 1:46.26Q
1532 Antonio Djakovic Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:46.37Q
1641 Stefano Di Cola Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:46.67Q
1755 Katsuhiro Matsumoto Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:46.69WSO
57 Lukas Märtens Flag of Germany.svg  Germany LSO
1925 Jacob Heidtmann Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:46.73
2048 Jordan Pothain Flag of France.svg  France 1:46.75
2143 Ji Xinjie Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 1:46.86
2256 Elijah Winnington Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:46.99
2347 Robin Hanson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:47.02
2433 Ivan Girev Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:47.11
51 Murilo Sartori Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1:47.11
2628 Alexei Sancov Flag of Moldova (3-2).svg  Moldova 1:47.46
2724 Denis Loktev Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 1:47.68
2838 Jonathan Atsu Flag of France.svg  France 1:47.75
2927 Alex Sobers Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados 1:48.09 NR
3046 Dominik Kozma Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:48.87
3116 Dimitrios Markos Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 1:49.16
3222 Welson Sim Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 1:49.24
3315 Mikel Schreuders Flag of Aruba.svg  Aruba 1:49.43
3426 Baturalp Ünlü Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 1:49.75
3513 Joaquín Vargas Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 1:49.93 NR
3612 Mokhtar Al-Yamani Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen 1:49.97
3714 Wesley Roberts Flag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands 1:50.41
3817 James Freeman Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana 1:52.87
3911 Audai Hassouna Flag of Libya.svg  Libya 1:56.27
Swim-off
RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
14 Katsuhiro Matsumoto Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1:46.06
25 Lukas Märtens Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:46.40

Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final. [9]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
123 Duncan Scott Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:44.60Q
221 Kieran Smith Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:45.07Q
322 Danas Rapšys Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 1:45.32Q
425 Thomas Dean Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:45.34Q
513 Martin Malyutin Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:45.45Q
624 Hwang Sun-woo Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 1:45.53Q
715 David Popovici Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 1:45.68Q
814 Fernando Scheffer Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1:45.71Q
916 Thomas Neill Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:45.74
1026 Stefano Ballo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:45.84
1128 Antonio Djakovic Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:45.92
1212 Townley Haas Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:46.07
1327 Kregor Zirk Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 1:46.67
1418 Stefano Di Cola Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:47.19
1517 Nándor Németh Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:47.20
1611 Velimir Stjepanović Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 1:47.62

Final

200m freestyle final [10]

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg6 Thomas Dean Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:44.22 NR
Silver medal icon.svg4 Duncan Scott Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:44.26
Bronze medal icon.svg8 Fernando Scheffer Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1:44.66 SA
41 David Popovici Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 1:44.68 NR
52 Martin Malyutin Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 1:45.01
65 Kieran Smith Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:45.12
77 Hwang Sun-woo Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 1:45.26
83 Danas Rapšys Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 1:45.78

References

  1. 1 2 "Tokyo 2020: Swimming Schedule". Tokyo 2020 . Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 . FINA . Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  3. "China's Sun Yang has doping ban reduced but will still miss Tokyo Olympics". CNN. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  4. "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  5. Dillman, Lisa (29 July 2009). "Suit case: German ends Phelps' reign". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  6. Jeffery, Nicole (29 July 2009). "Paul Biedermann beats Michael Phelps in 200m freestyle". The Courier-Mail . Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  7. "Phelps breaks 200 free world record by nearly a second". ESPN. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  8. "Heats results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  9. "Semifinals results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  10. "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.