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

The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] It was the event's twelfth appearance, having been first held in 1968 and 1972 and then at every edition since 1984.

Men's 200 metre individual medley
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
VenueTokyo Aquatics Centre
Dates28 July 2021 (heats)
29 July 2021 (semifinals)
30 July 2021 (final)
Competitors45 from 33 nations
Winning time1:55.00 AS
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Wang Shun  China
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Duncan Scott  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jérémy Desplanches  Switzerland
← 2016
2024 →

Summary

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China's defending bronze medallist Wang Shun came from behind to win Asia's first title in the event. Leading after the halfway mark but eclipsed by the U.S.' Michael Andrew after the breaststroke leg, Wang used a scintillating final freestyle leg to touch first in an Asian record of 1:55.00. With the performance, Wang became the third fastest performer in the event behind the famed U.S. duo of Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps.

Great Britain's Duncan Scott similarly charged home in the freestyle leg but could not catch Wang, settling for his second silver at these Games in 1:55.28. Fourth after the breaststroke leg, Switzerland's Jérémy Desplanches (1:56.17) edged out the home favourite Daiya Seto (1:56.22) on the home straight by 5-hundredths of a second for bronze. Meanwhile, after failing to make the final in the longer medley event days earlier, the reigning World champion Seto again fell short of the podium, taking fourth.

Coming into the Olympics as the fastest swimmer in the world in 2021 by 0.76 seconds, the U.S.' Michael Andrew used his typical "fly-and-die" strategy to establish a one second lead on the field at the 150 m mark. However, Andrew faded dramatically over the freestyle lap, splitting 30.69 to finish fifth in 1:57.31 - two seconds behind his personal best time from trials. Japan's defending silver medallist Kosuke Hagino (1:57.40) could not repeat his podium finish from five years earlier, taking sixth in his last Olympics performance. Though Hungarian legend László Cseh (1:57.68) was second after the butterfly leg, he was soon overtaken by the field to finish in seventh. With this event being his only one at these Games, Cseh announced his retirement from competitive swimming after the race. New Zealand's Lewis Clareburt (1:57.70), finalist in the longer medley event days earlier, rounded out the championship field.

Notably, the U.S.' 4-time defending champion Michael Phelps did not contest the event following his retirement in 2016.

Records

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

World record   Ryan Lochte (USA) 1:54.00 Shanghai, China 28 July 2011 [2][3]
Olympic record   Michael Phelps (USA) 1:54.23 Beijing, China 15 August 2008 [4]

Qualification

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The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 1:59.67. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 2:03.26. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is 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 can also use their universality place.[5]

Competition format

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The competition consists of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advance to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.[6]

Schedule

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All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)[1]

Date Time Round
28 July 2021 19:54 Heats
29 July 2021 12:08 Semifinals
30 July 2021 11:16 Final

Results

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Heats

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The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.[7]

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 6 4 Michael Andrew   United States 1:56.40 Q
2 6 3 Jérémy Desplanches   Switzerland 1:56.89 Q
3 6 1 Lewis Clareburt   New Zealand 1:57.27 Q, NR
4 5 3 Chase Kalisz   United States 1:57.38 Q
5 6 2 Kosuke Hagino   Japan 1:57.39 Q
6 5 Duncan Scott   Great Britain Q
7 5 5 Wang Shun   China 1:57.42 Q
8 5 6 Alberto Razzetti   Italy 1:57.46 Q
9 4 4 Mitch Larkin   Australia 1:57.50 Q
10 4 7 László Cseh   Hungary 1:57.51 Q
11 4 5 Hugo González   Spain 1:57.61 Q
12 3 7 Tomoe Zenimoto Hvas   Norway 1:57.64 Q, NR
13 4 3 Philip Heintz   Germany 1:57.72 Q
14 5 2 Andrey Zhilkin   ROC 1:57.94 Q
15 4 2 Matthew Sates   South Africa 1:58.08 Q
16 5 4 Daiya Seto   Japan 1:58.15 Q
17 4 1 Finlay Knox   Canada 1:58.29
18 5 1 Léon Marchand   France 1:58.30
19 6 7 Caio Pumputis   Brazil 1:58.36
20 6 6 Hubert Kós   Hungary 1:58.47
21 4 8 Gabriel Lopes   Portugal 1:58.56
22 3 4 Brendon Smith   Australia 1:58.57
23 3 6 Jacob Heidtmann   Germany 1:58.80
24 5 8 Andreas Vazaios   Greece 1:58.84
25 2 5 Vinicius Lanza   Brazil 1:58.92
26 4 6 Qin Haiyang   China 1:58.95
3 1 Ron Polonsky   Israel
28 6 8 Alexis Santos   Portugal 1:59.32
29 3 5 Maxim Stupin   ROC 1:59.39
30 2 1 Arjan Knipping   Netherlands 1:59.44 NR
2 4 Gal Cohen Groumi   Israel
32 3 8 Bernhard Reitshammer   Austria 1:59.56
33 3 3 Danas Rapšys   Lithuania 1:59.90
34 5 7 Joe Litchfield   Great Britain 2:00.11
35 2 6 Apostolos Papastamos   Greece 2:00.38
36 2 7 Tomas Peribonio   Ecuador 2:00.62
37 3 2 Wang Hsing-hao   Chinese Taipei 2:00.72
38 2 2 José Ángel Martínez   Mexico 2:01.34
39 2 8 Jarod Arroyo   Puerto Rico 2:01.92
40 1 3 Tyler Christianson   Panama 2:02.70 NR
41 1 6 Munzer Kabbara   Lebanon 2:03.08 NR
42 2 3 Raphaël Stacchiotti   Luxembourg 2:03.17
43 1 4 Keanan Dols   Jamaica 2:04.29
44 1 5 Christoph Meier   Liechtenstein 2:04.34
45 1 2 Tasi Limtiaco   Federated States of Micronesia 2:07.69

Semifinals

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

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 2 6 Wang Shun   China 1:56.22 Q
2 1 3 Duncan Scott   Great Britain 1:56.69 Q
3 1 8 Daiya Seto   Japan 1:56.86 Q
4 2 4 Michael Andrew   United States 1:57.08 Q
5 1 4 Jérémy Desplanches   Switzerland 1:57.38 Q
6 2 3 Kosuke Hagino   Japan 1:57.47 Q
7 2 5 Lewis Clareburt   New Zealand 1:57.55 Q
8 1 2 László Cseh   Hungary 1:57.64 Q
9 1 6 Alberto Razzetti   Italy 1:57.70
10 2 2 Mitch Larkin   Australia 1:57.80
11 2 7 Hugo González   Spain 1:57.96
12 1 5 Chase Kalisz   United States 1:58.03
13 2 1 Philip Heintz   Germany 1:58.13
14 2 8 Matthew Sates   South Africa 1:58.75
15 1 1 Andrey Zhilkin   ROC 1:59.05
16 1 7 Tomoe Zenimoto Hvas   Norway 2:00.21

Final

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[9]

Rank Lane Name Nation Time Notes
  4 Wang Shun   China 1:55.00 AS
  5 Duncan Scott   Great Britain 1:55.28 NR
  2 Jérémy Desplanches   Switzerland 1:56.17 NR
4 3 Daiya Seto   Japan 1:56.22
5 6 Michael Andrew   United States 1:57.31
6 7 Kosuke Hagino   Japan 1:57.49
7 8 László Cseh   Hungary 1:57.68
8 1 Lewis Clareburt   New Zealand 1:57.70

References

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  1. ^ a b "Tokyo 2020: Swimming Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Ryan Lochte sets world record in 200 IM". ESPN. 28 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. ^ "FINA World Championships, Swimming: Ryan Lochte Sets First Post Techsuit-Era World Record". Swimming World Magazine. 28 July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  4. ^ Crouse, Karen (15 August 2008). "Phelps Moves 200 Meters Closer to His Goal". New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  6. ^ "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Heats results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Semifinals results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.