Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle

The inaugural men's 50-metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 24 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.[1]

Men's 50 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
VenueJamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Date24 September 1988 (heats & finals)
Competitors71 from 44 nations
Winning time22.14 WR
Medalists
Matt Biondi  United States
Tom Jager  United States
Gennadiy Prigoda  Soviet Union

U.S. swimmer Matt Biondi demolished a new world record to become the event's first ever Olympic champion. He threw down a scorching time in 22.14 to add a fourth gold and sixth medal to his Olympic hardware, and to slice 0.04 seconds off the record set by South Africa's Peter Williams.[2][3] Starting the race with a fastest reaction, Biondi's rival and teammate Tom Jager faded down the stretch to pick up the silver in 22.36. Meanwhile, Soviet Union's Gennadiy Prigoda edged out Swiss swimmer Dano Halsall by 12-hundredths of a second to take home the bronze in 22.71.[2]

Records

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

World record Peter Williams (RSA)22.18Indianapolis, United States10 April 1988
Olympic recordInaugural event

The following records were established during the competition:

DateRoundNameNationalityTimeRecord
24 SeptemberHeat 8Matt Biondi United States22.39OR
24 SeptemberFinal AMatt Biondi United States22.14WR

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and finals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to final A, where they competed for the top 8 places. The swimmers with the next 8 times in the heats swam in final B, for ninth through the sixteenth place. Swim-offs were used as necessary to determine advancement.

Results

Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A, while the next eight to final B.[4]

RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
18Matt Biondi United States22.39Q, OR
29Gennadiy Prigoda Soviet Union22.57Q
37Dano Halsall Switzerland22.61Q, NR
9Tom Jager United StatesQ
57Volodymyr Tkachenko Soviet Union22.81Q
67Frank Henter West Germany22.98Q
78Andrew Baildon Australia22.99Q
88Stéfan Voléry Switzerland23.04Q
99Ang Peng Siong Singapore23.08q, NR
108Per Johansson Sweden23.12q
119Stephan Güsgen West Germany23.22q
7Stéphan Caron Franceq, WD
139Shen Jianqiang China23.41q
9Tsvetan Golomeev Bulgariaq, WD
154Mark Andrews Canada23.44q, NR
168Göran Titus Sweden23.44q
178Hilton Woods Netherlands Antilles23.46q
186Feng Qiangbiao China23.47qSO
6Christophe Kalfayan FranceqSO
207Vagn Høgholm Denmark23.50
9Hans Kroes Netherlands
227Mark Foster Great Britain23.51
237Petr Kladiva Czechoslovakia23.53
245Manuel Guzmán Puerto Rico23.61
256Mike Fibbens Great Britain23.67
268Peter Rohde Denmark23.70
276Thomas Stachewicz Australia23.72
286Yves Clausse Luxembourg23.99
298Rodrigo González Mexico24.01
306Paulo Trindade Portugal24.02
315Sérgio Esteves Portugal24.24
321Garvin Ferguson Bahamas24.25NR
337José Moreira Brazil24.26
4Joseph Eric Buhain PhilippinesNR
355Li Khai Kam Hong Kong24.30
366Markus Opatril Austria24.32
375Jorge Fernandes Brazil24.40
386Alexander Pilhatsch Austria24.42
395Michael Wright Hong Kong24.47
405Magnús Ólafsson Iceland24.50
414Richard Sam Bera Indonesia24.63NR
425Mohamed El-Azoul Egypt24.64
4Murat Tahir Turkey
444Hans Foerster Virgin Islands24.72
456Urbano Zea Mexico24.86
3Oon Jin Gee Singapore
473Ronald Pickard Virgin Islands25.01
485Mohamed Hassan Egypt25.11
491Paul Yelle Barbados25.15
504Hakan Eskioğlu Turkey25.24
513Chiang Chi-li Chinese Taipei25.26
523Vaughan Smith Zimbabwe25.29
533Graham Thompson Zimbabwe25.38
543Song Kwang-sun South Korea25.40
553Wirmandi Sugriat Indonesia25.55
563Bruno N'Diaye Senegal25.63
572Warren Sorby Fiji25.64
582Pablo Barahona Honduras25.79
591Sergio Fafitine Mozambique25.97
602Plutarco Castellanos Honduras26.00
612Hasan Al-Shammari Kuwait26.27
622Jason Chute Fiji26.46
632Michele Piva San Marino26.60
2Ahmad Faraj United Arab Emirates
652Trevor Ncala Swaziland26.88
661Filippo Piva San Marino26.96
671Amine El-Domyati Lebanon27.34
681Mubarak Faraj Bilal United Arab Emirates27.60
691Yul Mark Du Pont Swaziland27.93
4Pedro Lima AngolaDSQ
4Mouhamed Diop SenegalDSQ

Swimoff

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14Feng Qiangbiao China23.28q, WD
25Christophe Kalfayan France23.37q

Finals

[5]

Final B

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
97Goran Titus Sweden23.28
105Per Johansson Sweden23.37
114Ang Peng Siong Singapore23.39
126Shen Jianqiang China23.40
138Christophe Kalfayan France23.45
143Stephan Güsgen West Germany23.55
152Mark Andrews Canada23.64
161Hilton Woods Netherlands Antilles23.65

Final A

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
4Matt Biondi United States22.14WR
6Tom Jager United States22.36
5Gennadiy Prigoda Soviet Union22.71
43Dano Halsall Switzerland22.83
58Stéfan Voléry Switzerland22.84
62Volodymyr Tkachenko Soviet Union22.88
77Frank Henter West Germany23.03
81Andrew Baildon Australia23.15

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's 50 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  2. Dodds, Tracy (24 September 1988). "The Seoul Games / Day 9 : Biondi, the Underdog, Ends Up Top Dog Again". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  3. Husar, John (25 September 1988). "Biondi, Evans Stay on Gold Standard". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  4. "Seoul 2000: Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Seoul 1988. LA84 Foundation. p. 400. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. "Seoul 2000: Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle Finals" (PDF). Seoul 1988. LA84 Foundation. p. 401. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
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