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

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]

Men's 200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Silver medalist Anders Holmertz (2009)
VenueJamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Dates18 September 1988 (heats)
19 September 1988 (finals)
Competitors63 from 41 nations
Winning time1:47.25 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Duncan Armstrong  Australia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Anders Holmertz  Sweden
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Matt Biondi  United States
← 1984
1992 →

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

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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

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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

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

World record   Michael Gross (FRG) 1:47.44 Los Angeles, United States 29 July 1984
Olympic record   Michael Gross (FRG) 1:47.44 Los Angeles, United States 29 July 1984

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Round Swimmer Nation Time Record
19 September Final A Duncan Armstrong   Australia 1:47.25 WR

Schedule

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

Date Time Round
Sunday, 18 September 1988 9:00 Heats
Monday, 19 September 1988 12:00 Finals

Results

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Heats

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

Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 7 Artur Wojdat   Poland 1:48.02 QA, NR
2 7 Matt Biondi   United States 1:48.39 QA
3 8 Michael Gross   West Germany 1:48.55 QA
4 8 Duncan Armstrong   Australia 1:48.86 QA
5 8 Troy Dalbey   United States 1:48.96 QA
6 7 Thomas Fahrner   West Germany 1:49.02 QA
7 7 Steffen Zesner   East Germany 1:49.13 QA
8 6 Anders Holmertz   Sweden 1:49.28 QA
9 8 Roberto Gleria   Italy 1:49.51 QB
10 8 Thomas Flemming   East Germany 1:49.52 QB
11 6 Stéphan Caron   France 1:49.66 QB, WD
12 6 Giorgio Lamberti   Italy 1:50.47 QB, WD
13 6 Aleksey Kuznetsov   Soviet Union 1:50.84 QB
14 6 Mariusz Podkościelny   Poland 1:50.95 QB
15 6 Tom Stachewicz   Australia 1:51.02 QB
16 5 Shigeo Ogata   Japan 1:51.14 QB
17 7 Franz Mortensen   Denmark 1:51.15 QB
18 6 Paul Howe   Great Britain 1:51.22 QB
19 7 Carlos Scanavino   Uruguay 1:51.42
20 6 Alberto Bottini   Switzerland 1:51.45
21 7 Tommy Werner   Sweden 1:51.96
22 8 Iurie Başcatov   Soviet Union 1:52.04
23 8 Cristiano Michelena   Brazil 1:52.32
24 4 Patrick Dybiona   Netherlands 1:52.67
25 4 Stéfan Voléry   Switzerland 1:52.94
26 4 Rodrigo González   Mexico 1:52.99
27 5 Michael Green   Great Britain 1:53.03
28 5 Magnús Ólafsson   Iceland 1:53.05
28 5 Daniel Serra   Spain 1:53.05
30 5 Júlio César Rebolal   Brazil 1:53.16
31 5 Jan Larsen   Denmark 1:53.61
32 4 Ignacio Escamilla   Mexico 1:53.63
33 5 Jean-Marie Arnould   Belgium 1:53.73
34 5 Zoltán Szilágyi   Hungary 1:53.75
35 7 Ludovic Depickère   France 1:53.81
36 4 Salvador Vassallo   Puerto Rico 1:53.82
37 8 Norbert Ágh   Hungary 1:54.72
38 4 Yves Clausse   Luxembourg 1:54.90
39 4 Xie Jun   China 1:55.04
40 3 René Concepcion   Philippines 1:55.58
41 3 Alexander Placheta   Austria 1:56.11
42 4 Vaughan Smith   Zimbabwe 1:56.13
43 2 David Lim   Singapore 1:56.44
44 2 Joseph Eric Buhain   Philippines 1:56.84
45 2 Kwon Sang-won   South Korea 1:56.88
46 2 Oon Jin Gee   Singapore 1:57.28
47 3 Moustafa Amer   Egypt 1:57.50
48 3 Richard Sam Bera   Indonesia 1:57.60
49 3 Jonathan Sakovich   Guam 1:57.72
50 3 Stephen Cullen   Ireland 1:57.90
51 2 Arthur Li Kai Yien   Hong Kong 1:58.10
52 3 Hakan Eskioğlu   Turkey 1:58.45
53 3 Jeffrey Ong   Malaysia 1:58.62
54 2 Kwon Soon-kun   South Korea 1:58.95
55 1 Wu Ming-hsun   Chinese Taipei 2:00.43
56 2 Tsang Yi Ming   Hong Kong 2:01.02
57 2 Richard Gheel   Ireland 2:01.73
58 1 Hans Foerster   Virgin Islands 2:01.94
59 1 Kristan Singleton   Virgin Islands 2:06.45
60 1 Jason Chute   Fiji 2:09.05
61 1 Mohamed Bin Abid   United Arab Emirates 2:09.43
62 1 Ahmad Faraj   United Arab Emirates 2:13.21
63 1 Émile Lahoud   Lebanon 2:16.39

Finals

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

Final B

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time
9 4 Roberto Gleria   Italy 1:49.28
10 5 Thomas Flemming   East Germany 1:50.18
11 2 Tom Stachewicz   Australia 1:50.83
12 3 Aleksey Kuznetsov   Soviet Union 1:51.03
13 1 Franz Mortensen   Denmark 1:51.44
14 6 Mariusz Podkościelny   Poland 1:51.63
15 7 Shigeo Ogata   Japan 1:51.89
16 8 Paul Howe   Great Britain 1:51.99

Final A

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
  6 Duncan Armstrong   Australia 1:47.25 WR
  8 Anders Holmertz   Sweden 1:47.89
  5 Matt Biondi   United States 1:47.99
4 4 Artur Wojdat   Poland 1:48.40
5 3 Michael Gross   West Germany 1:48.59
6 1 Steffen Zesner   East Germany 1:48.77
7 2 Troy Dalbey   United States 1:48.86
8 7 Thomas Fahrner   West Germany 1:49.19

References

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  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. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b 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.
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