World record progression 200 metres butterfly

The first world record in the men's 200 metres butterfly in long course (50 metres) swimming was recognised by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in 1959. The women's official acknowledged top time came one year earlier. In the short course (25  metres) swimming events the world's governing body recognizes world records since March 3, 1991.

Graphic data for World Record Progression in Men and Women Swimming 50m-100m-200m Long and Short Course Butterfly-Backstroke-Breaststroke-Freestyle

Men

Long course

Time	Swimmer	Date	Place
2:19.0	Michael Troy	July 11, 1959	Los Altos, United States
2:16.4	Michael Troy	July 11, 1959	Los Altos, United States
2:15.0	Michael Troy	July 10, 1960	Evansville, United States
2:13.4	Michael Troy	July 23, 1960	Toledo, United States
2:13.2	Michael Troy	August 4, 1960	Detroit, United States
2:12.8	Michael Troy	September 2, 1960	Rome, Italy
2:12.6	Carl Robie	August 19, 1961	Los Angeles, United States
2:12.5	Kevin Berry	February 20, 1962	Melbourne, Australia
2:12.4	Carl Robie	August 11, 1962	Cuyahoga Falls, United States
2:10.8	Carl Robie	August 11, 1962	Cuyahoga Falls, United States
2:09.7	Kevin Berry	October 23, 1962	Melbourne, Australia
2:08.4	Kevin Berry	January 12, 1963	Sydney, Australia
2:08.2	Carl Robie	March 18, 1963	Tokyo, Japan
2:06.9	Kevin Berry	March 29, 1964	Sydney, Australia
2:06.6	Kevin Berry	October 18, 1964	Tokyo, Japan
2:06.4	Mark Spitz	July 26, 1967	Winnipeg, Canada
2:06.0	John Ferris	August 30, 1967	Tokyo, Japan
2:05.7	Mark Spitz	October 8, 1967	West Berlin, West Germany
2:05.4	Mark Spitz	August 22, 1970	Los Angeles, United States
2:05.0	Gary Hall Sr.	August 22, 1970	Los Angeles, United States
2:03.9	Mark Spitz	August 27, 1971	Houston, United States
2:03.3	Hans-Joachim Fassnacht	August 31, 1971	Landskrona, Sweden
2:01.87	Mark Spitz	August 2, 1972	Chicago, United States
2:01.53	Mark Spitz	August 2, 1972	Chicago, United States
2:00.70	Mark Spitz	August 28, 1972	Munich, West Germany
2:00.21	Roger Pyttel	June 3, 1976	East Berlin, East Germany
1:59.63	Roger Pyttel	June 3, 1976	East Berlin, East Germany
1:59.23	Mike Bruner	July 18, 1976	Montréal, Québec
1:58.21	Craig Beardsley	July 30, 1980	Irvine, United States
1:58.01	Craig Beardsley	August 22, 1981	Kiev, Soviet Union
1:57.05	Michael Groß	August 26, 1983	Rome, Italy
1:57.04	Jon Sieben	August 3, 1984	Los Angeles, United States
1:57.01	Michael Groß	June 29, 1985	Wuppertal, West Germany
1:56.65	Michael Groß	August 10, 1985	Sofia, Bulgaria
1:56.24	Michael Groß	June 28, 1986	Hannover, West Germany
1:55.69	Melvin Stewart	January 12, 1991	Perth, Australia
1:55.22	Denis Pankratov	June 14, 1995	Canet-en-Roussillon, France
1:55.18	Tom Malchow	June 17, 2000	Charlotte, United States
1:54.92	Michael Phelps	March 30, 2001	Austin, United States
1:54.58	Michael Phelps	July 24, 2001	Fukuoka, Japan
1:53.93	Michael Phelps	July 22, 2003	Barcelona, Spain
1:53.80	Michael Phelps	August 17, 2006	Victoria, Canada
1:53.71	Michael Phelps	February 17, 2007	Columbia, United States
1:52.09	Michael Phelps	March 28, 2007	Melbourne, Australia
1:52.03	Michael Phelps	August 13, 2008	Beijing, China
1:51.51	Michael Phelps	July 29, 2009	Rome, Italy

Short course

Time	Swimmer	Date	Place
1:54.67	Franck Esposito	February 1, 1992	Paris, France
1:54.58	Danyon Loader	February 6, 1993	Paris, France
1:54.50	Danyon Loader	February 9, 1993	Malmö, Sweden
1:54.21	Danyon Loader	February 13, 1993	Gelsenkirchen, Germany
1:53.05	Franck Esposito	March 26, 1994	Paris, France
1:52.64	Denis Pankratov	February 2, 1997	Gelsenkirchen, Germany
1:51.76	James Hickman	March 28, 1998	Paris, France
1:51.58	Franck Esposito	January 14, 2001	Antibes, France
1:51.21	Thomas Rupprath	December 1, 2001	Rostock, Germany
1:50.73	Franck Esposito	December 8, 2002	Antibes, France
1:50.60	Nikolay Skvortsov	December 13, 2008	Rijeka, Croatia
1:50.53	Nikolay Skvortsov	February 15, 2009	Saint Petersburg, Russia
1:49.11	Kaio de Almeida	November 10, 2009	Stockholm, Sweden

Women

Long course

Time	Swimmer	Date	Place
2:40.5	Nancy Ramey	June 29, 1958	Los Angeles, United States
2:38.9	Tineke Lagerberg	September 13, 1958	Naarden, Netherlands
2:37.0	Becky Collins	July 19, 1959	Redding, United States
2:34.4	Marianne Heemskerk	June 12, 1960	Leipzig, East Germany
2:32.8	Becky Collins	August 13, 1961	Philadelphia, United States
2:31.2	Sharon Finneran	August 19, 1962	Chicago, United States
2:30.7	Sharon Finneran	August 25, 1962	Los Altos, United States
2:29.1	Susan Pitt	July 27, 1963	Philadelphia, United States
2:28.1	Sharon Stouder	July 12, 1964	Los Angeles, United States
2:26.4	Sharon Stouder	August 2, 1964	Los Altos, United States
2:26.3	Kenis Moore	August 15, 1965	Maumee, United States
2:25.8	Ada Kok	August 21, 1965	Leiden, Netherlands
2:25.3	Ada Kok	September 12, 1965	Groningen, Netherlands
2:22.5	Ada Kok	August 2, 1967	Groningen, Netherlands
2:21.0	Ada Kok	August 25, 1967	Blackpool, United Kingdom
2:20.7	Karen Moe	July 11, 1970	Santa Clara, United States
2:19.3	Alice Jones	August 22, 1970	Los Angeles, United States
2:18.6	Karen Moe	August 7, 1971	Santa Clara, United States
2:18.4	Ellie Daniel	August 28, 1971	Houston, United States
2:16.62	Karen Moe	August 6, 1972	Chicago, United States
2:15.57	Karen Moe	September 4, 1972	Munich, West Germany
2:15.45	Rosemarie Kother	September 8, 1973	Belgrade, Yugoslavia
2:13.76	Rosemarie Kother	September 9, 1973	Belgrade, Yugoslavia
2:13.60	Rosemarie Gabriel	March 14, 1976	Tallinn, Soviet Union
2:12.84	Rosemarie Gabriel	June 4, 1976	East Berlin, East Germany
2:11.22	Rosemarie Gabriel	June 5, 1976	East Berlin, East Germany
2:11.20	Andrea Pollack	April 9, 1978	Leningrad, Soviet Union
2:09.87	Andrea Pollack	July 4, 1978	East Berlin, East Germany
2:09.77	Mary T. Meagher	July 7, 1979	San Juan, Puerto Rico
2:08.41	Mary T. Meagher	August 16, 1979	Fort Lauderdale, United States
2:07.01	Mary T. Meagher	August 16, 1979	Fort Lauderdale, United States
2:06.37	Mary T. Meagher	July 30, 1980	Irvine, United States
2:05.96	Mary T. Meagher	August 13, 1981	Brown Deer, United States
2:05.81	Susie O'Neill	May 17, 2000	Sydney, Australia
2:05.78	Otylia Jędrzejczak	August 4, 2002	Berlin, Germany
2:05.61	Otylia Jędrzejczak	July 28, 2005	Montreal, Canada
2:05.40	Jessicah Schipper	August 17, 2006	Victoria, Canada
2:04.18	Liu Zige	August 14, 2008	Beijing, China
2:04.14	Mary Descenza	July 29, 2009	Rome, Italy
2:03.41	Jessicah Schipper	July 30, 2009	Rome, Italy
2:01.81	Liu Zige	October 21, 2009	Jinan, China

Short course

Time	Swimmer	Date	Place
2:05.37	Susie O'Neill	February 17, 1999	Malmö, Sweden
2:04.43	Susie O'Neill	September 2, 1999	Canberra, Australia
2:04.16	Susie O'Neill	January 18, 2000	Sydney, Australia
2:04.04	Yang Yu	January 18, 2004	Berlin, Germany
2:03.53	Otylia Jędrzejczak	December 13, 2007	Debrecen, Hungary
2:03.12	Yuko Nakanishi	February 23, 2008	Tokyo, Japan
2:02.50	Liu Zige	November 11, 2009	Stockholm, Sweden
2:00.78	Liu Zige	November 15, 2009	Berlin, Germany

References

• (Dutch) Zwemkroniek
• (Italian) Agenda Diana