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Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke

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Men's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Romania stamp commemorating 1984 Olympic swimming
VenueUytengsu Aquatics Center
Date31 July 1984 (heats & final)
Competitors34 from 25 nations
Winning time2:00.23
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Rick Carey  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Frédéric Delcourt  France
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Cameron Henning  Canada
← 1980
1988 →

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1984 Summer Olympics was held in the Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles on July 31, 1984.[1] There were 34 competitors from 25 nations, with each nation limited to two swimmers (down from three in previous Games).[2] The event was won by Rick Carey of the United States, the nation's third victory in the men's 200 metre backstroke. Frédéric Delcourt of France took silver and Cameron Henning of Canada earned bronze; it was the first medal in the event for each of those two nations.

Carey won by 1.52 seconds at 2:00.23, an easy victory but a disappointing time for Carey. He did not celebrate and did not smile or acknowledge the crowd during the medal ceremony. His demeanor was heavily criticized, resulting in him issuing an apology.[2][3]

Background

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This was the seventh 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]

One of the 8 finalists from the 1980 returned: sixth-place finisher Michael Söderlund of Sweden. The medalists at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships had been Rick Carey of the United States, Sándor Wladár of Hungary (who was also the 1980 Olympic champion), and Frank Baltrusch of East Germany; with Hungary and East Germany joining the Soviet-led boycott of the Games, only Carey competed in Los Angeles—and was heavily favoured. Carey was also the world record holder, having broken John Naber's record in 1983 and then improved on his own time at the 1984 U.S. Olympic trials.[2]

The Bahamas, the People's Republic of China, Egypt, Greece, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, New Zealand, and Venezuela each made their debut in the event. Australia, Great Britain, and Sweden each made their sixth appearance, matching the Netherlands (absent for the first time) for most among nations to that point.

Competition format

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The competition used a two-round (heats and final) format. 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. A "consolation final" was added in 1984. There were 5 heats of up to 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. The next 8 (9th through 16th) competed in a consolation 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  Rick Carey (USA) 1:58.86 Indianapolis, United States 27 June 1984
Olympic record  John Naber (USA) 1:59.19 Montreal, Canada 24 July 1976

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Round Swimmer Nation Time Record
31 July Heat 5 Rick Carey  United States 1:58.99 OR

Schedule

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All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 31 July 1984 10:05
16:55
17:02
Heats
Final A
Final B

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.[4]

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 5 4 Rick Carey  United States 1:58.99 QA, OR
2 5 5 Frédéric Delcourt  France 2:02.59 QA
3 4 5 Gary Hurring  New Zealand 2:03.29 QA
4 2 4 Cameron Henning  Canada 2:03.36 QA
5 2 2 Ricardo Aldabe  Spain 2:03.94 QA
6 3 5 David Orbell  Australia 2:04.00 QA
7 2 5 Nicolai Klapkarek  West Germany 2:04.45 QA
8 1 4 Ricardo Prado  Brazil 2:04.46 QA
9 3 4 Jesse Vassallo  United States 2:04.51 QB, WD
10 3 3 Paolo Falchini  Italy 2:04.59 QB, NR
11 4 4 Mike West  Canada 2:04.93 QB
12 2 3 Stefan Peter  West Germany 2:05.22 QB
13 2 6 Djan Madruga  Brazil 2:05.23 QB
14 4 6 Neil Cochran  Great Britain 2:05.58 QB
15 4 3 Michael Söderlund  Sweden 2:05.85 QB
16 1 6 Daichi Suzuki  Japan 2:06.24 QB
17 3 6 Fabrizio Bortolon  Italy 2:06.46 QB
18 1 3 Hans Fredin  Sweden 2:06.50
19 5 3 Kim Terrell  Australia 2:06.56
20 1 5 Paul Kingsman  New Zealand 2:06.87
21 3 2 Giovanni Frigo  Venezuela 2:07.56 NR
22 4 2 Patrick Ferland  Switzerland 2:08.31 NR
23 1 2 Kristofer Stivenson  Greece 2:08.38 NR
24 5 6 Neil Harper  Great Britain 2:09.48
25 5 1 Lukman Niode  Indonesia 2:09.79
26 4 7 Ernesto Vela  Mexico 2:10.30
27 3 7 Allan Marsh  Jamaica 2:11.57
28 5 2 Wang Hao  China 2:12.28
29 4 1 Emad El-Shafei  Egypt 2:12.90
30 1 7 Alejandro Alvizuri  Peru 2:13.30
31 2 7 David Morley  Bahamas 2:18.87
32 4 8 Salvador Salguero  El Salvador 2:21.75
33 1 1 Ernesto José Degenhart  Guatemala 2:24.08
34 3 8 Juan José Piro  Honduras 2:32.48
2 1 Ng Wing Hon  Hong Kong DNS
3 1 Sharif Nour  Egypt DNS
5 7 Ilias Malamas  Greece DNS
5 8 Gordon Petersen  Fiji DNS

Finals

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Final B

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time
9 4 Paolo Falchini  Italy 2:04.64
10 5 Mike West  Canada 2:04.73
11 7 Michael Söderlund  Sweden 2:05.02
12 6 Djan Madruga  Brazil 2:05.33
13 3 Stefan Peter  West Germany 2:05.66
14 2 Neil Cochran  Great Britain 2:05.72
15 8 Fabrizio Bortolon  Italy 2:05.86
16 1 Daichi Suzuki  Japan 2:06.02

Final A

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Rick Carey  United States 2:00.23
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Frédéric Delcourt  France 2:01.75 NR
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 Cameron Henning  Canada 2:02.37
4 8 Ricardo Prado  Brazil 2:03.05
5 3 Gary Hurring  New Zealand 2:03.10 NR
6 1 Nicolai Klapkarek  West Germany 2:03.95
7 2 Ricardo Aldabe  Spain 2:04.53
8 7 David Orbell  Australia 2:04.67

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Backstroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "200 metres Backstroke, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  3. ^ "Unsmiling Carey Offers Apology". New York Times. August 3, 1984. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "Los Angeles 1984: Swimming – Men's 200m Backstroke Heats" (PDF). Los Angeles 1984. LA84 Foundation. p. 508. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
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