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Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke

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Men's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Gold medalist Ryan Lochte and silver medalist Aaron Peirsol (2009)
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DatesAugust 13, 2008 (heats)
August 14, 2008 (semifinals)
August 15, 2008 (final)
Competitors40 from 31 nations
Winning time1:53.94 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Ryan Lochte  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Aaron Peirsol  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Arkady Vyatchanin  Russia
← 2004
2012 →

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–15 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1] There were 40 competitors from 31 nations.[2]

Billed as the Clash of the Titans, Ryan Lochte stormed home on the final lap to defeat his teammate Aaron Peirsol and claim his first individual Olympic gold medal. He touched the wall first in 1:53.94, faster than the world record he shared with Peirsol at 1:54.32.[3][4][5] It was the fourth consecutive gold medal in the men's 200 backstroke for the United States, all by different swimmers.

Peirsol enjoyed a head-to-head battle against Lochte in the first 150 metres, but ended up only with a silver in 1:54.33. This made Peirsol the first man to earn three medals in the 200 metre backstroke, adding to his silver in 2000 and gold in 2004. Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin added a second bronze to his collection (he had earlier finished third in the 100 metres backstroke), finishing in a new European record of 1:54.93 to hold off Austria's Markus Rogan (1:55.49), the silver medalist in Athens four years earlier.[4] Earlier in the semifinals, Vyatchanin edged out Germany's Helge Meeuw in a swimoff to secure a last spot for the top 8 final.[6] The medal was the first for Russia in the 200 metre backstroke, though Russian swimmers had earned medals for the Soviet Union and Unified Team in the event.

Japan's Ryosuke Irie finished fifth with a time of 1:55.72, and was followed in the sixth spot by Australia's Hayden Stoeckel, who shared bronze medals with Vyatchanin in the 100 m backstroke, in an Oceanian record of 1:56.39. Romania's Răzvan Florea (1:56.52) and Great Britain's Gregor Tait (1:57.00) rounded out the finale.[4]

Background

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This was the 13th 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]

Five of the 8 finalists from the 2004 Games returned: gold medalist (and 2000 silver medalist) Aaron Peirsol of the United States, silver medalist Markus Rogan of Austria, bronze medalist (and 2000 finalist) Răzvan Florea of Romania, sixth-place finisher Simon Dufour of France, and seventh-place finisher Gregor Tait of Great Britain. Peirsol had won the 2001, 2003, and 2005 World Championships and held the world record from 2002 to 2007. His countryman Ryan Lochte, however, had emerged from Peirsol's shadow as a true threat to Peirsol's dominance. After taking bronze in 2005, Lochte defeated Peirsol at the 2007 World Championships, taking the world record as well. Peirsol responded by matching Lochte's record at the U.S. Olympic trials.[2]

The Cayman Islands, Kazakhstan, South Africa, and Uzbekistan each made their debut in the event. Australia and Great Britain each made their 12th appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

Qualification

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Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to two swimmers if both met the A qualifying standard, or one swimmer if he met the B standard. For 2008, the A standard was 1:59.72 while the B standard was 2:03.90. The qualifying window was 15 March 2007 to 15 July 2008; only approved meets (generally international competitions and national Olympic trials) during that period could be used to meet the standards. There were also universality places available; if no male swimmer from a nation qualified in any event, the NOC could enter one male swimmer in an event.

The two swimmers per NOC limit had been in place since the 1984 Games.

Competition format

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The competition followed the format established in 2000, with three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. 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. The top 16 swimmers from the heats advanced to the semifinals. The top 8 semifinalists advanced to the 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  Ryan Lochte (USA)
 Aaron Peirsol (USA)
1:54.32 Melbourne, Australia
Omaha, United States
30 March 2007
4 July 2008
[7]
[8]
Olympic record  Aaron Peirsol (USA) 1:54.95 Athens, Greece 19 August 2004 -

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Swimmer Nation Time Record
August 15 Final Ryan Lochte  United States 1:53.94 WR

Schedule

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The competition moved to a three-day schedule, rather than two days as in the past.

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 13 August 2008 18:54 Heats
Thursday, 14 August 2008 10:21 Semifinals
Friday, 15 August 2008 10:19 Final

Results

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Heats

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Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 6 4 Ryan Lochte  United States 1:56.29 Q
2 5 4 Aaron Peirsol  United States 1:56.35 Q
3 4 4 Markus Rogan  Austria 1:56.64 Q
4 5 5 Arkady Vyatchanin  Russia 1:56.97 Q
5 6 5 Gregor Tait  Great Britain 1:57.03 Q
6 4 5 Hayden Stoeckel  Australia 1:57.15 Q
7 5 3 Ryosuke Irie  Japan 1:57.68 Q
8 6 7 Gordan Kožulj  Croatia 1:57.81 Q
9 6 3 Ashley Delaney  Australia 1:57.87 Q
10 4 3 Răzvan Florea  Romania 1:57.97 Q
11 5 6 Helge Meeuw  Germany 1:58.42 Q
12 4 2 Damiano Lestingi  Italy 1:58.53 Q
13 3 7 George Du Rand  South Africa 1:58.62 Q, AF
14 6 6 Stanislav Donets  Russia 1:58.68 Q
15 6 8 Keith Beavers  Canada 1:58.84 Q
16 3 4 Tobias Oriwol  Canada 1:58.94 Q
17 5 2 Pierre Roger  France 1:59.01
18 3 1 Omar Pinzón  Colombia 1:59.11
19 4 1 Sebastian Stoss  Austria 1:59.44
6 1 Roland Rudolf  Hungary 1:59.44
21 4 6 Takashi Nakano  Japan 1:59.59
22 3 6 Derya Büyükuncu  Turkey 1:59.86
23 5 8 Lucas Salatta  Brazil 1:59.91
24 5 1 Nick Driebergen  Netherlands 2:00.24
25 5 7 Mattia Aversa  Italy 2:00.25
26 3 8 Kim Ji-heun  South Korea 2:00.72
27 2 5 Itai Chammah  Israel 2:00.93
28 3 2 Pedro Oliveira  Portugal 2:01.08
29 1 4 Brett Fraser  Cayman Islands 2:01.17
30 2 1 Pedro Medel  Cuba 2:01.32
31 4 7 Gábor Balog  Hungary 2:01.42
32 3 3 Jonathan Massacand  Switzerland 2:01.80
33 1 5 Oleg Rabota  Kazakhstan 2:01.95
34 4 8 Simon Dufour  France 2:02.00
35 3 5 Dimitrios Chasiotis  Greece 2:02.30
36 2 2 Květoslav Svoboda  Czech Republic 2:03.12
37 2 4 Deng Jian  China 2:03.34
38 1 3 Sergey Pankov  Uzbekistan 2:03.51
39 2 6 Oleksandr Isakov  Ukraine 2:03.59
40 2 3 Andres Olvik  Estonia 2:03.66
2 7 Simon Sjödin  Sweden DNS
6 2 Aschwin Wildeboer  Spain DNS

Semifinals

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Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 1 4 Aaron Peirsol  United States 1:55.26 Q
2 2 4 Ryan Lochte  United States 1:55.40 Q
3 2 5 Markus Rogan  Austria 1:56.34 Q
4 2 6 Ryosuke Irie  Japan 1:56.35 Q
5 1 2 Răzvan Florea  Romania 1:56.45 Q, NR
6 2 3 Gregor Tait  Great Britain 1:56.72 Q
7 1 3 Hayden Stoeckel  Australia 1:56.73 Q, OC
8 2 7 Helge Meeuw  Germany 1:56.85 QSO
1 5 Arkady Vyatchanin  Russia 1:56.85 QSO
10 2 2 Ashley Delaney  Australia 1:57.73
11 1 7 Damiano Lestingi  Italy 1:58.25
12 2 8 Keith Beavers  Canada 1:58.50
13 2 1 George Du Rand  South Africa 1:58.61 AF
14 1 6 Gordan Kožulj  Croatia 1:59.22
15 1 8 Tobias Oriwol  Canada 1:59.50
16 1 1 Stanislav Donets  Russia 1:59.87
Swim-off
Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 4 Arkady Vyatchanin  Russia 1:57.75 Q
2 5 Helge Meeuw  Germany 2:00.97

Final

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 Ryan Lochte  United States 1:53.94 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Aaron Peirsol  United States 1:54.33
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 8 Arkady Vyatchanin  Russia 1:54.93 EU
4 3 Markus Rogan  Austria 1:55.49 NR
5 6 Ryosuke Irie  Japan 1:55.72
6 1 Hayden Stoeckel  Australia 1:56.39 OC
7 2 Răzvan Florea  Romania 1:56.52
8 7 Gregor Tait  Great Britain 1:57.00

References

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  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "200 metres Backstroke, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Lochte, Peirsol take gold, silver in 200 back". NBC News. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Ryan Lochte Claims Epic Battle Against Aaron Peirsol With 200 Back World Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Lochte grabs 200m backstroke gold". BBC Sport. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  6. ^ Lohn, John (13 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Americans Go 1-2 in Men's 200 Back, Aaron Peirsol Top Seed". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  7. ^ Clarey, Christopher (31 March 2007). "American sets a record, but, no, it's not Phelps". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  8. ^ Van Valkenburg, Kevin (5 July 2008). "Phelps in a world of his own". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
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