Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1992 Summer Olympics took place on 28 July at the Piscines Bernat Picornell in Barcelona, Spain.[1] There were 44 competitors from 34 nations.[2] Each nation had been limited to two swimmers in the event since 1984. The event was won by Martín López-Zubero of Spain. Vladimir Selkov of the Unified Team took silver, while Stefano Battistelli of Italy earned bronze. It was the first medal in the men's 200 metre backstroke for each nation (though the Soviet Union, from the former republics of which the Unified Team was formed, had taken gold in 1988).

Men's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXV Olympiad
Silver medalist Vladimir Selkov (unknown date) starting a backstroke race
VenuePiscines Bernat Picornell
Date28 July 1992 (heats & finals)
Competitors44 from 34 nations
Winning time1:58.47 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Martín López-Zubero  Spain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Vladimir Selkov  Unified Team
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Stefano Battistelli  Italy
← 1988
1996 →

Background

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This was the ninth 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]

Two of the 8 finalists from the 1988 Games returned: fifth-place finisher Dirk Richter of East Germany (now competing for Germany) and eighth-place finisher Rogério Romero of Brazil. The medalists at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships had been Martín López-Zubero of Spain, Stefano Battistelli of Italy, and Vladimir Selkov of the Soviet Union. All three competed in Barcelona (with Selkov now representing the Unified Team). López-Zubero was also the world record holder, having broken it twice in 1991. He was the favourite in the event, with European championships in both 100 metres and 200 metres in 1991 to go along with his World title and world record.[2]

Colombia, Estonia, Fiji, Israel, Kuwait, Norway, Paraguay, and Turkey each made their debut in the event; some former Soviet republics competed as the Unified Team. Australia and Great Britain each made their eighth appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

Competition format

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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

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

World record   Martín López-Zubero (ESP) 1:56.57 Tuscaloosa, United States 23 November 1991
Olympic record   Rick Carey (USA) 1:58.99 Los Angeles, United States 31 July 1984

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Round Swimmer Nation Time Record
28 July Final A Martín López-Zubero   Spain 1:58.47 OR

Schedule

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All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 28 July 1992 12:00
19:30
Heats
Finals

Results

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Heats

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

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 6 4 Martín López-Zubero   Spain 1:59.22 QA
2 6 3 Tino Weber   Germany 1:59.40 QA
3 6 5 Stefano Battistelli   Italy 1:59.56 QA
4 6 7 Stefaan Maene   Belgium 1:59.64 QA, NR
5 5 6 Vladimir Selkov   Unified Team 1:59.81 QA
6 4 4 Tripp Schwenk   United States 1:59.92 QA
7 5 5 Hajime Itoi   Japan 1:59.95 QA
8 4 3 Tamás Deutsch   Hungary 2:00.50 QA
9 3 1 Rodolfo Falcón   Cuba 2:00.52 QB, NR
10 5 3 Dirk Richter   Germany 2:00.94 QB, WD
11 5 4 Royce Sharp   United States 2:00.97 QB, WD
12 5 2 Rogério Romero   Brazil 2:00.99 QB
13 3 5 Yasuhiro Vandewalle   Belgium 2:01.46 QB
14 4 2 Kevin Draxinger   Canada 2:01.73 QB
15 5 1 Raymond Brown   Canada 2:01.81 QB
16 5 7 Manuel Guzmán   Puerto Rico 2:01.84 QB
17 3 7 Georgi Mihalev   Bulgaria 2:02.24 QB
18 4 6 Luca Bianchin   Italy 2:02.65 QB
19 3 2 Marcel Blažo   Czechoslovakia 2:02.81
20 2 2 Alejandro Alvizuri   Peru 2:03.10 NR
4 7 Keita Soraoka   Japan 2:03.10
22 6 6 David Holderbach   France 2:03.11
23 4 1 Rastislav Bizub   Czechoslovakia 2:03.30
24 4 8 Adam Ruckwood   Great Britain 2:03.54
25 3 4 Jorge Pérez   Spain 2:03.68
26 2 3 Alejandro Bermúdez   Colombia 2:04.46
27 3 3 Olivér Ágh   Hungary 2:04.52
28 2 5 Simon Percy   New Zealand 2:05.53
29 2 4 Ji Sang-jun   South Korea 2:05.56
30 2 6 Ilmar Ojase   Estonia 2:05.76
31 6 1 Thomas Sopp   Norway 2:05.91
32 5 8 Matthew O'Connor   Great Britain 2:05.94
33 4 5 Derya Büyükuncu   Turkey 2:06.01
34 2 7 Miguel Arrobas   Portugal 2:06.02
35 6 2 Toby Haenen   Australia 2:06.79
36 3 6 Lars Sørensen   Denmark 2:06.80
37 2 1 Eran Groumi   Israel 2:07.91
38 1 6 Gary Tan   Singapore 2:11.36
39 1 5 Marcos Prono   Paraguay 2:15.25
40 1 3 Sultan Al-Otaibi   Kuwait 2:19.02
41 1 2 Salvador Jiménez   Honduras 2:20.15
42 1 7 Carl Probert   Fiji 2:22.54
1 1 Abdullah Sultan   United Arab Emirates DSQ
1 4 Raymond Papa   Philippines DSQ
6 8 Jani Sievinen   Finland DNS

Finals

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The finals were held on the evening of 28 July.[4]

Final B

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time
9 4 Rodolfo Falcón   Cuba 2:00.22, NR
10 5 Rogério Romero   Brazil 2:01.02
11 8 Luca Bianchin   Italy 2:01.70
12 6 Kevin Draxinger   Canada 2:01.79
13 7 Manuel Guzmán   Puerto Rico 2:01.87
14 3 Yasuhiro Vandewalle   Belgium 2:02.45
15 2 Raymond Brown   Canada 2:03.01
1 Georgi Mihalev   Bulgaria DSQ

Final A

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Selkov went out first and led for most of the first three lengths. Itoi took the lead at the third turn. López-Zubero and Battistelli finished strong, with the former taking the lead with 25 metres to go; the latter caught Itoi but not Selkov.[2]

Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
  4 Martín López-Zubero   Spain 1:58.47 OR
  2 Vladimir Selkov   Unified Team 1:58.87
  3 Stefano Battistelli   Italy 1:59.40
4 1 Hajime Itoi   Japan 1:59.52
5 7 Tripp Schwenk   United States 1:59.73
6 5 Tino Weber   Germany 1:59.78
7 8 Tamás Deutsch   Hungary 2:00.06
8 6 Stefaan Maene   Belgium 2:00.91

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Backstroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "200 metres Backstroke, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Barcelona 1992: Swimming – Men's 200m Backstroke Heats" (PDF). Barcelona 1992. LA84 Foundation. p. 362. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Barcelona 1992: Swimming – Men's 200m Backstroke Finals" (PDF). Barcelona 1992. LA84 Foundation. p. 363. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
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