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Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

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Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
VenueJamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Date22 September 1988 (heats & finals)
Competitors77 from 51 nations
Winning time48.63 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Matt Biondi  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Chris Jacobs  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Stéphan Caron  France
← 1984
1992 →

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 22 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.[1] There were 77 competitors from 51 nations.[2] Nations had been limited to two swimmers each since the 1984 Games.

American Matt Biondi set a new Olympic record to claim his first ever individual gold and fourth medal in swimming at these Games (fifth in his career, with a relay gold in 1984). Maintaining a lead from start to finish, he pulled away from a star-studded field to hit the wall first in 48.63.[3][4] Biondi also enjoyed his teammate Chris Jacobs taking home the silver in 49.08, as the Americans climbed on the top two steps of the podium for the sixth time in the event's Olympic history. Earlier in the prelims, Jacobs sliced off Rowdy Gaines' 1984 record by six-tenths of a second to establish a new Olympic standard of 49.20 in the eighth heat, until Biondi eventually lowered it to 49.04 in the final of ten heats.[5] Meanwhile, France's Stéphan Caron held off an intense sprint battle against Soviet duo Gennadiy Prigoda and Iurie Başcatov to take home the bronze in 49.62.[3]

Background

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This was the 20th appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres.[2]

Three of the eight finalists from the 1984 Games returned: two-time bronze medalist Per Johansson of Sweden, fifth-place finisher Dano Halsall of Switzerland, and sixth-place finisher Stéphan Caron of France. Caron was also the runner-up in the 1986 world championships behind Matt Biondi of the United States.

Biondi had come to Seoul with the goal of matching Mark Spitz's seven gold medals in a single Games. That goal had already been frustrated by the time of the 100 metre freestyle (his best race), as his first three events had resulted in only one golds along with a silver and a bronze. Biondi still had an excellent chance of achieving as many gold medals (5) as anyone not named Spitz had before 1988, however, with the 100 free, 50 free, and two relays to go, though Kristin Otto was on her way towards 6 golds in Seoul as well.[2]

Guam, Senegal, the United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 19th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

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This freestyle swimming competition used the A/B final format instituted in 1984. The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and finals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the A final, competing for medals through 8th place. The swimmers with the next 8 times in the semifinals competed in the B final for 9th through 16th place. Swim-offs were used as necessary to determine advancement.

Records

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

World record  Matt Biondi (USA) 48.42 Austin, United States 10 August 1988
Olympic record  Rowdy Gaines (USA) 49.80 Los Angeles, United States 31 July 1984

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Round Swimmer Nation Time Record
22 September Heat 8 Chris Jacobs  United States 49.20 OR
22 September Heat 10 Matt Biondi  United States 49.04 OR
22 September Final A Matt Biondi  United States 48.63 OR

Schedule

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All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Thursday, 22 September 1988 10:00
20:00
Heats
Finals

Results

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Heats

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Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A, while the next eight to final B.[6]

Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 10 Matt Biondi  United States 49.04 QA, OR
2 8 Chris Jacobs  United States 49.20 QA
3 9 Stéphan Caron  France 49.37 QA
4 9 Iurie Başcatov  Soviet Union 50.08 QA
5 10 Gennadiy Prigoda  Soviet Union 50.13 QA
6 8 Per Johansson  Sweden 50.22 QA
7 9 Andrew Baildon  Australia 50.34 QA
8 8 Tommy Werner  Sweden 50.45 QA
9 10 Steffen Zesner  East Germany 50.73 QB, WD
10 7 Hilton Woods  Netherlands Antilles 50.73 QB
11 8 Franz Mortensen  Denmark 50.74 QB
12 8 Sven Lodziewski  East Germany 50.77 QB
13 9 Thomas Fahrner  West Germany 50.78 QB
14 10 Sandy Goss  Canada 50.81 QB
15 9 Tsvetan Golomeev  Bulgaria 50.82 QB
16 9 Tom Stachewicz  Australia 50.90 QB
17 10 Stéfan Voléry  Switzerland 50.96 QB
18 8 Roberto Gleria  Italy 50.97
19 9 Torsten Wiegel  West Germany 51.02
20 9 Christophe Kalfayan  France 51.05
21 10 Andy Jameson  Great Britain 51.18
22 8 Roland Lee  Great Britain 51.20
23 7 Dano Halsall  Switzerland 51.21
24 4 Manuel Guzmán  Puerto Rico 51.25
25 7 Peter Rohde  Denmark 51.38
26 10 Petr Kladiva  Czechoslovakia 51.39
27 10 Shen Jianqiang  China 51.40
28 7 Rodrigo González  Mexico 51.46
29 7 Hans Kroes  Netherlands 51.65
30 7 Patrick Dybiona  Netherlands 51.79
31 6 Magnús Ólafsson  Iceland 52.01
32 5 Shigeo Ogata  Japan 52.08
33 6 Jorge Fernandes  Brazil 52.23
34 6 Jean-Marie Arnould  Belgium 52.26
35 6 Yves Clausse  Luxembourg 52.27
36 7 Ross Anderson  New Zealand 52.33
37 6 Emanuel Nascimento  Brazil 52.41
38 6 Feng Qiangbiao  China 52.45
39 5 Carlos Scanavino  Uruguay 52.52
40 6 Ang Peng Siong  Singapore 52.53
41 5 Markus Opatril  Austria 52.66
42 8 Mihály Richárd Bodor  Hungary 52.77
43 3 Oon Jin Gee  Singapore 53.26
44 5 Murat Tahir  Turkey 53.27
45 4 Moustafa Amer  Egypt 53.57
46 5 Vaughan Smith  Zimbabwe 53.58
47 5 Richard Sam Bera  Indonesia 53.59
48 1 Garvin Ferguson  Bahamas 53.62
49 4 Michael Wright  Hong Kong 53.64
50 4 Li Khai Kam  Hong Kong 53.70
51 4 René Concepcion  Philippines 53.84
52 5 Hakan Eskioğlu  Turkey 53.95
53 4 Jonathan Sakovich  Guam 54.24
54 3 Hans Foerster  Virgin Islands 54.29
55 3 Kwon Sang-won  South Korea 54.34
56 5 Ignacio Escamilla  Mexico 54.56
57 3 Song Kwang-sun  South Korea 54.63
58 3 Ronald Pickard  Virgin Islands 54.72
59 2 Mouhamed Diop  Senegal 54.93
60 3 Graham Thompson  Zimbabwe 55.20
61 1 Paul Yelle  Barbados 55.35
62 3 Pedro Lima  Angola 55.53
63 4 Chiang Chi-li  Chinese Taipei 55.87
64 2 Plutarco Castellanos  Honduras 56.11
65 3 Hasan Al-Shammari  Kuwait 56.44
66 2 Warren Sorby  Fiji 56.66
67 1 Sergio Fafitine  Mozambique 57.10
68 2 Pablo Barahona  Honduras 57.97
69 2 Michele Piva  San Marino 57.99
70 1 Jason Chute  Fiji 58.14
71 2 Filippo Piva  San Marino 58.39
72 1 Mohamed Bin Abid  United Arab Emirates 58.81
73 2 Ahmad Faraj  United Arab Emirates 59.10
74 2 Trevor Ncala  Swaziland 59.25
75 1 Emile Lahoud  Lebanon 1:02.40
76 1 Yul Mark Du Pont  Swaziland 1:02.70
6 Stefan Opatril  Austria DSQ
7 Giorgio Lamberti  Italy DNS

Finals

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[7]

Final B

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time
9 1 Tom Stachewicz  Australia 50.71
10 2 Sandy Goss  Canada 50.73
11 8 Stéfan Voléry  Switzerland 50.74
12 3 Sven Lodziewski  East Germany 51.00
13 5 Franz Mortensen  Denmark 51.05
14 6 Thomas Fahrner  West Germany 51.12
15 7 Tsvetan Golomeev  Bulgaria 51.16
16 4 Hilton Woods  Netherlands Antilles 51.25

Final A

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Matt Biondi  United States 48.63 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Chris Jacobs  United States 49.08
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3 Stéphan Caron  France 49.62
4 2 Gennadiy Prigoda  Soviet Union 49.75
5 6 Iurie Başcatov  Soviet Union 50.08
6 1 Andrew Baildon  Australia 50.23
7 7 Per Johansson  Sweden 50.35
8 8 Tommy Werner  Sweden 50.54

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "The Games at a Glance". New York Times. 23 September 1988. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  4. ^ Robb, Sharon (23 September 1988). "Evans Sets Record, Wins 2nd Gold". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. ^ Husar, John (22 September 1988). "'Tight' Biondi Sets Record In Heats". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Seoul 1988: Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Seoul 1988. LA84 Foundation. p. 401. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  7. ^ "Seoul 1988: Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Finals" (PDF). Seoul 1988. LA84 Foundation. p. 402. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
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