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Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke

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Men's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
The swimming pool at the 1996 Olympics
VenueGeorgia Tech Campus Recreation Center
Date26 July 1996 (heats & finals)
Competitors39 from 33 nations
Winning time1:58.54
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Brad Bridgewater  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Tripp Schwenk  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Emanuele Merisi  Italy
← 1992
2000 →

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on 26 July at the Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center in Atlanta, United States.[1] There were 39 competitors from 33 nations.[2] Each nation had been limited to two swimmers in the event since 1984. The event was won by Brad Bridgewater of the United States, with his countryman Tripp Schwenk taking silver. It was the first time since 1980 that one nation had two swimmers on the podium in the event (Hungary took gold and silver then). Bridgewater's victory was the United States' first in the event since 1984 and fourth overall. Italy earned its second consecutive bronze medal in the men's 200 metre backstroke, with Emanuele Merisi taking the honours this time.

Background

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This was the 10th 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]

Four of the 8 finalists from the 1992 Games returned: gold medalist Martín López-Zubero of Spain, silver medalist Vladimir Selkov of the Unified Team (now competing for Russia), fourth-place finisher Hajime Itoi of Japan, and fifth-place finisher Tripp Schwenk of the United States. Seventh-place finisher Tamás Deutsch of Hungary was entered but did not start. The medalists at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships had been Selkov, López-Zubero (also the 1991 World Champion), and Royce Sharp of the United States. Sharp did not compete in Atlanta; the American team consisted of Schwenk and Brad Bridgewater. López-Zubero's 1991 world record still stood. He had come out of retirement to try to defend his title, but Selkov was favoured in Atlanta. Emanuele Merisi of Italy had the best time of 1996 so far and was also a strong contender.[2]

Barbados, Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Slovakia, and Thailand each made their debut in the event. Australia and Great Britain each made their ninth appearance, tied 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" had been added in 1984. There were 6 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  Martín López-Zubero (ESP) 1:56.57 Tuscaloosa, United States 23 November 1991
Olympic record  Martín López-Zubero (ESP) 1:58.47 Barcelona, Spain 28 July 1992

No world or Olympic records were set during the competition, with the gold medal time 0.07 seconds slower than the Olympic record.

Schedule

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All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Friday, 26 July 1996 Heats
Finals

Results

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Heats

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The eight fastest swimmers advanced to final A, while the next eight went to final B.[3]

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 5 5 Brad Bridgewater  United States 1:59.04 QA
2 4 4 Tripp Schwenk  United States 1:59.58 QA
3 5 2 Mirko Mazzari  Italy 1:59.95 QA
4 6 4 Emanuele Merisi  Italy 2:00.01 QA
5 6 7 Hajime Itoi  Japan 2:00.43 QA
6 4 6 Martín López-Zubero  Spain 2:00.77 QA
7 4 2 Bartosz Sikora  Poland 2:00.99 QA
8 5 3 Rodolfo Falcón  Cuba 2:01.20 QA
9 5 4 Vladimir Selkov  Russia 2:01.32 QB, WD
10 4 3 Adam Ruckwood  Great Britain 2:01.35 QB
11 5 7 Ji Sang-jun  South Korea 2:01.39 QB
12 6 5 Ralf Braun  Germany 2:01.50 QB, WD
13 4 1 Olivér Ágh  Hungary 2:01.84 QB
14 3 6 Marko Strahija  Croatia 2:01.95 QB, NR
15 6 6 Ryuji Horii  Japan 2:02.33 QB
16 5 6 Chris Renaud  Canada 2:02.48 QB
17 3 4 Rogério Romero  Brazil 2:03.49 QB
18 4 7 Sergey Ostapchuk  Russia 2:03.50 QB
19 3 1 Miroslav Machovič  Slovakia 2:04.15 NR
20 5 1 Neisser Bent  Cuba 2:04.23
21 3 2 Derya Büyükuncu  Turkey 2:04.28
22 2 4 Arūnas Savickas  Lithuania 2:04.38
23 6 1 Steven Dewick  Australia 2:04.46
24 3 3 Rastislav Bizub  Czech Republic 2:04.55
25 3 7 Raymond Papa  Philippines 2:05.09
26 2 7 Dulyarit Phuangthong  Thailand 2:05.26
27 2 8 Nicolás Rajcevich  Chile 2:05.79 NR
28 1 4 Nicholas Neckles  Barbados 2:05.88
29 3 8 Nuno Laurentino  Portugal 2:05.95
30 2 5 Carlos Arena  Mexico 2:05.96
31 1 5 Alex Lim  Malaysia 2:06.17
32 6 8 Martin Harris  Great Britain 2:07.75
33 2 1 Artur Elezarov  Moldova 2:07.86
34 6 3 Nicolae Butacu  Romania 2:08.59
35 2 3 Adrian O'Connor  Ireland 2:08.90
36 1 3 Gerald Koh  Singapore 2:09.86
37 2 6 Panagiotis Adamidis  Greece 2:10.22
38 1 6 Trương Ngọc Tuấn  Vietnam 2:12.05
39 4 8 Zhao Yi  China 2:13.31
2 2 Fahad Al-Otaibi  Kuwait DNS
3 5 Volodymyr Nikolaychuk  Ukraine DNS
4 5 Tamás Deutsch  Hungary DNS
5 8 Stev Theloke  Germany DNS
6 2 Jani Sievinen  Finland DNS

Finals

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The finals were held on the same day as the heats, 26 July.[4]

Final B

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
9 2 Ryuji Horii  Japan 2:01.54
10 7 Chris Renaud  Canada 2:01.70
11 6 Marko Strahija  Croatia 2:01.84 NR
12 3 Olivér Ágh  Hungary 2:02.17
13 4 Adam Ruckwood  Great Britain 2:02.40
14 5 Ji Sang-jun  South Korea 2:02.68
15 1 Rogério Romero  Brazil 2:03.20
16 8 Sergey Ostapchuk  Russia 2:03.91

Final A

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Bridgewater took the lead at the first turn, with Schwenk behind him. Both tired late, but Merisi was not quite able to catch either.[2]

Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Brad Bridgewater  United States 1:58.54
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Tripp Schwenk  United States 1:58.99
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 Emanuele Merisi  Italy 1:59.18
4 1 Bartosz Sikora  Poland 2:00.05 NR
5 2 Hajime Itoi  Japan 2:00.10 NR
6 7 Martín López-Zubero  Spain 2:00.74
7 3 Mirko Mazzari  Italy 2:01.27
8 8 Rodolfo Falcón  Cuba 2:08.14

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Backstroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "200 metres Backstroke, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Atlanta 1996: Swimming – Men's 200m Backstroke Heats" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 41. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Atlanta 1996: Swimming – Men's 200m Backstroke Finals" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 42. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
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