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

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.

Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
German stamp commemorating 1988 Olympic swimming
VenueJamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Date22 September 1988 (heats & finals)
Competitors77 from 51 nations
Winning time48.63 OR
Medalists
Matt Biondi  United States
Chris Jacobs  United States
Stéphan Caron  France
Swimming at the
1988 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4×100 mmenwomen
4×200 mmen
Medley relay
4×100 mmenwomen

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

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

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

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

World record Matt Biondi (USA)48.42Austin, United States10 August 1988
Olympic record Rowdy Gaines (USA)49.80Los Angeles, United States31 July 1984

The following records were established during the competition:

DateRoundSwimmerNationTimeRecord
22 SeptemberHeat 8Chris Jacobs United States49.20OR
22 SeptemberHeat 10Matt Biondi United States49.04OR
22 SeptemberFinal AMatt Biondi United States48.63OR

Schedule
Date Time Round
Thursday, 22 September 198810:00
20:00		Heats
Finals

Results

Heats

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

RankHeatSwimmerNationTimeNotes
110Matt Biondi United States49.04QA, OR
28Chris Jacobs United States49.20QA
39Stéphan Caron France49.37QA
49Iurie Başcatov Soviet Union50.08QA
510Gennadiy Prigoda Soviet Union50.13QA
68Per Johansson Sweden50.22QA
79Andrew Baildon Australia50.34QA
88Tommy Werner Sweden50.45QA
910Steffen Zesner East Germany50.73QB, WD
107Hilton Woods Netherlands Antilles50.73QB
118Franz Mortensen Denmark50.74QB
128Sven Lodziewski East Germany50.77QB
139Thomas Fahrner West Germany50.78QB
1410Sandy Goss Canada50.81QB
159Tsvetan Golomeev Bulgaria50.82QB
169Tom Stachewicz Australia50.90QB
1710Stéfan Voléry Switzerland50.96QB
188Roberto Gleria Italy50.97
199Torsten Wiegel West Germany51.02
209Christophe Kalfayan France51.05
2110Andy Jameson Great Britain51.18
228Roland Lee Great Britain51.20
237Dano Halsall Switzerland51.21
244Manuel Guzmán Puerto Rico51.25
257Peter Rohde Denmark51.38
2610Petr Kladiva Czechoslovakia51.39
2710Shen Jianqiang China51.40
287Rodrigo González Mexico51.46
297Hans Kroes Netherlands51.65
307Patrick Dybiona Netherlands51.79
316Magnús Ólafsson Iceland52.01
325Shigeo Ogata Japan52.08
336Jorge Fernandes Brazil52.23
346Jean-Marie Arnould Belgium52.26
356Yves Clausse Luxembourg52.27
367Ross Anderson New Zealand52.33
376Emanuel Nascimento Brazil52.41
386Feng Qiangbiao China52.45
395Carlos Scanavino Uruguay52.52
406Ang Peng Siong Singapore52.53
415Markus Opatril Austria52.66
428Mihály Richárd Bodor Hungary52.77
433Oon Jin Gee Singapore53.26
445Murat Tahir Turkey53.27
454Moustafa Amer Egypt53.57
465Vaughan Smith Zimbabwe53.58
475Richard Sam Bera Indonesia53.59
481Garvin Ferguson Bahamas53.62
494Michael Wright Hong Kong53.64
504Li Khai Kam Hong Kong53.70
514René Concepcion Philippines53.84
525Hakan Eskioğlu Turkey53.95
534Jonathan Sakovich Guam54.24
543Hans Foerster Virgin Islands54.29
553Kwon Sang-won South Korea54.34
565Ignacio Escamilla Mexico54.56
573Song Kwang-sun South Korea54.63
583Ronald Pickard Virgin Islands54.72
592Mouhamed Diop Senegal54.93
603Graham Thompson Zimbabwe55.20
611Paul Yelle Barbados55.35
623Pedro Lima Angola55.53
634Chiang Chi-li Chinese Taipei55.87
642Plutarco Castellanos Honduras56.11
653Hasan Al-Shammari Kuwait56.44
662Warren Sorby Fiji56.66
671Sergio Fafitine Mozambique57.10
682Pablo Barahona Honduras57.97
692Michele Piva San Marino57.99
701Jason Chute Fiji58.14
712Filippo Piva San Marino58.39
721Mohamed Bin Abid United Arab Emirates58.81
732Ahmad Faraj United Arab Emirates59.10
742Trevor Ncala Swaziland59.25
751Emile Lahoud Lebanon1:02.40
761Yul Mark Du Pont Swaziland1:02.70
—6Stefan Opatril AustriaDSQ
—7Giorgio Lamberti ItalyDNS

Finals

[7]

Final B
RankLaneSwimmerNationTime
91Tom Stachewicz Australia50.71
102Sandy Goss Canada50.73
118Stéfan Voléry Switzerland50.74
123Sven Lodziewski East Germany51.00
135Franz Mortensen Denmark51.05
146Thomas Fahrner West Germany51.12
157Tsvetan Golomeev Bulgaria51.16
164Hilton Woods Netherlands Antilles51.25

Final A
RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
4Matt Biondi United States48.63OR
5Chris Jacobs United States49.08
3Stéphan Caron France49.62
42Gennadiy Prigoda Soviet Union49.75
56Iurie Başcatov Soviet Union50.08
61Andrew Baildon Australia50.23
77Per Johansson Sweden50.35
88Tommy Werner Sweden50.54

References
  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. "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  3. "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. 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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