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

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Men's 200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Anders Holmertz (cropped).jpg
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 →

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 18–19 September at the Jamsil Indoor 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 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[]

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[]

Heats[]

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[]

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

Final B[]

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[]

Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 Duncan Armstrong  Australia 1:47.25 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 8 Anders Holmertz  Sweden 1:47.89
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 Matt Biondi  United States 1:47.99 AM
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[]

  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. 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. 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.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""