Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle
Men's 200 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | London Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
Dates | July 29, 2012 (heats & semifinals) July 30, 2012 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 40 from 31 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 1:43.14 | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics | ||
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Qualification | ||
Freestyle | ||
50 m | men | women |
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | women | |
1500 m | men | |
Backstroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Breaststroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Butterfly | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Individual medley | ||
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
Freestyle relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
4 × 200 m | men | women |
Medley relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
Marathon | ||
10 km | men | women |
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the
After overhauling the Americans in the 4 × 100 freestyle relay with a stunning anchor leg, France's
U.S. swimmer
Notable swimmers missed out the final roster featuring Lochte's teammate Ricky Berens, who replaced Michael Phelps to fill out the slot for the Americans but placed ninth (1:46.87); and Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry, a sixth-place finalist in Beijing four years earlier, who finished fifteenth in the semifinals (1:48.25).[10]
Background
This was the 14th 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]
Four of the 8 finalists from the 2008 Games returned: silver medalist
Brunei, the Dominican Republic, and Paraguay each made their debut in the event. Australia made its 14th appearance, the only nation to have competed in all prior editions of the event.
Qualification
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to two swimmers if both met the Olympic Qualifying Time (or "OQT"). An NOC with no swimmers meeting the OQT but at least one swimmer meeting the Olympic Selection Time (or "OST") was not guaranteed a place, but was eligible for selection to fill the overall 900 swimmer quota for the Games. For 2012, the OQT was 1:47.82 while the OST was 1:51.59. The qualifying window was 1 March 2011 to 3 July 2012; 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.
Nine nations (Australia, the Cayman Islands, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United States) had two swimmers meet the OQT. Five more (Hungary, New Zealand, Paraguay, South Korea, and Switzerland) had one swimmer qualify through the OQT. 12 NOCs received a place through OST selection. 6 nations used universality places in the men's 200 metre freestyle.
The two swimmers per NOC limit had been in place since the 1984 Games.
Competition format
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 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 | Paul Biedermann (GER) | 1:42.00 | Rome, Italy | 28 July 2009 | [11][12] |
Olympic record | Michael Phelps (USA) | 1:42.96 | Beijing, China | 12 August 2008 | [13] |
Schedule
The competition returned to a two-day schedule, with heats and semifinals on the same day.
All times are
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
Sunday, 29 July 2012 | 10:20 19:37 |
Heats Semifinals |
Monday, 30 July 2012 | 19:43 | Final |
Results
Heats
The top 16 advanced to the semifinals.[14]
Semifinals
Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 4 | Sun Yang | China | 1:45.61 | Q |
2 | 2 | 5 | Yannick Agnel | France | 1:45.84 | Q |
3 | 2 | 3 | Park Tae-hwan | South Korea | 1:46.02 | Q |
4 | 1 | 2 | Paul Biedermann | Germany | 1:46.10 | Q |
5 | 1 | 4 | Ryan Lochte | United States | 1:46.31 | Q |
6 | 1 | 3 | Robbie Renwick |
Great Britain | 1:46.65 | Q |
1 | 5 | Danila Izotov | Russia | 1:46.65 | Q | |
8 | 2 | 1 | Thomas Fraser-Holmes | Australia | 1:46.80 | Q |
9 | 1 | 6 | Ricky Berens | United States | 1:46.87 | |
10 | 2 | 2 | Dominik Kozma | Hungary | 1:46.93 | |
11 | 2 | 7 | Sebastiaan Verschuren | Netherlands | 1:46.95 | |
12 | 1 | 1 | Brett Fraser | Cayman Islands | 1:47.01 | |
13 | 2 | 6 | Kenrick Monk | Australia | 1:47.38 | |
14 | 1 | 7 | Grégory Mallet | France | 1:47.56 | |
15 | 1 | 8 | Dominik Meichtry | Switzerland | 1:48.25 | |
16 | 2 | 8 | Artem Lobuzov | Russia | 1:48.26 |
Final
Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | Yannick Agnel | France | 1:43.14 | NR | |
4 | Sun Yang | China | 1:44.93 | NR | |
3 | Park Tae-hwan | South Korea | 1:44.93 | ||
4 | 2 | Ryan Lochte | United States | 1:45.04 | |
5 | 6 | Paul Biedermann | Germany | 1:45.53 | |
6 | 1 | Robbie Renwick |
Great Britain | 1:46.53 | |
7 | 8 | Thomas Fraser-Holmes | Australia | 1:46.93 | |
8 | 7 | Danila Izotov | Russia | 1:47.75 |
References
- NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the originalon 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ a b c "200 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ "France's Agnel wins 200-metre freestyle gold". France 24. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Yannick Agnel wins 200 freestyle". ESPN. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Park Tae-hwan Settles for Second Silver in 200-m Free". The Chosun Ilbo. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Swimming World Magazine. 30 July 2012. Archived from the originalon 27 May 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "Ryan Lochte finishes fourth in 200-meter freestyle at London Olympics, France's Yannick Agnel wins gold". New York Daily News. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Spofforth, Tancock, and Renwick miss out". Team GB. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. Archived from the originalon 28 January 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Dillman, Lisa (29 July 2009). "Suit case: German ends Phelps' reign". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ Jeffery, Nicole (29 July 2009). "Paul Biedermann beats Michael Phelps in 200m freestyle". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ^ "Phelps breaks 200 free world record by nearly a second". ESPN. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- LOCOG. Archived from the originalon 2 May 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.