Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 31 July and 1 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1] There were 56 competitors from 49 nations.[2] The event was won by Nathan Adrian of the United States.

Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Start of the men's 100 metre freestyle heat 8
VenueLondon Aquatics Centre
DatesJuly 31, 2012 (heats &
semifinals)
August 1, 2012 (final)
Competitors56 from 49 nations
Winning time47.52
Medalists
Nathan Adrian
 United States
James Magnussen
 Australia
Brent Hayden
 Canada

Summary

In one of the closest finishes in Olympic history, Nathan Adrian touched out Australia's favorite James Magnussen at the wall by a fingertip to win the event at the Olympics for the Americans for the first time since Matt Biondi topped the podium in 1988. Coming from third at the halfway turn, Adrian powered home on the final stretch, finishing in 47.52 to edge out Magnussen, also known as "The Missile", by a hundredth of a second (0.01).[3][4] Meanwhile, Magnussen won a second straight silver for the Aussies in 47.53, adding more than four tenths of a second from his best time of 47.10 at the 2012 Australian Championships.[5][6] Canada's Brent Hayden picked up the bronze in 47.80, winning his first Olympic medal and handing the Canadians their first ever medal in the event's history.[7][8]

After claiming two golds and a silver in the past four days, France's Yannick Agnel could not produce his similar effort with a fourth-place time in 47.84.[9][10] Meanwhile, Netherlands' Sebastiaan Verschuren pulled off a fifth-place finish in 47.88. Heading into the halfway turn with an early lead, Brazil's world record holder César Cielo dropped to sixth in 47.92.[11] Cuba's Hanser García (48.04) and Russia's Nikita Lobintsev (48.44) rounded out a historic finale.[8]

Background

This was the twenty-sixth 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]

Two of the eight finalists from the 2008 Games returned: bronze medalist César Cielo of Brazil and eighth-place finisher Stefan Nystrand of Sweden. The favorite coming into the event was James Magnussen of Australia, the 2011 world champion and textile-suit world best holder. Cielo had been the 2009 world champion; his world record (set in a skinsuit) still stands as of 2020. Canadian Brent Hayden was the runner-up in the 2011 world championships. French relay anchor Yannick Agnel was also a contender.[2]

Grenada, Mali, Paraguay, Tanzania, and Turkmenistan each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 25th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

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 48.82 seconds while the OST was 50.53 seconds. 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.

Eight nations (Australia, Brazil, the Cayman Islands, France, Italy, Russia, South Africa, and the United States) had two swimmers meet the OQT. Five more (Canada, Cuba, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland) had one swimmer qualify through the OQT. 18 NOCs received a place through OST selection. 21 nations used universality places in the men's 100 metre freestyle.

The two swimmers per NOC limit had been in place since the 1984 Games.

Competition format

This freestyle swimming competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

Records

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

World record César Cielo (BRA)46.91Rome, Italy30 July 2009[12][13]
Olympic record Eamon Sullivan (AUS)47.05Beijing, China13 August 2008[14]

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. It was the first Olympics where non-textile suits were banned.

Schedule

The competition returned to a two-day schedule, with heats and semifinals on the same day.

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 31 July 201210:00
19:30
Heats
Semifinals
Wednesday, 1 August 201220:20Final

Results

Heats

[15]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
165Nathan Adrian United States48.19Q
261Gideon Louw South Africa48.29Q
382Sebastiaan Verschuren Netherlands48.37Q
484James Magnussen Australia48.38Q
585Brent Hayden Canada48.51Q
667Brett Fraser Cayman Islands48.54Q
78Pieter Timmers Belgium48.54Q, NR
863Nikita Lobintsev Russia48.60Q
987Cullen Jones United States48.61Q
1077Konrad Czerniak Poland48.63Q
1164César Cielo Brazil48.67Q
1274James Roberts Australia48.93Q
1275Yannick Agnel France48.93Q
1483Fabien Gilot France48.95Q
1572Hanser García Cuba48.97Q
1681Shaune Fraser Cayman Islands48.99Q
1754Norbert Trandafir Romania49.02
1876Marco di Carli Germany49.03
1962Filippo Magnini Italy49.18
2068Adam Brown Great Britain49.20
2173Graeme Moore South Africa49.29
2286Luca Dotto Italy49.43
2352Martin Verner Czech Republic49.49
2471Nicolas Oliveira Brazil49.51
2588Stefan Nystrand Sweden49.55
2656David Dunford Kenya49.60
2745Kemal Arda Gürdal Turkey49.71
2857Mindaugas Sadauskas Lithuania49.78
2958Dominik Meichtry Switzerland49.95
3047Uvis Kalniņš Latvia49.96
3151Kristian Gkolomeev Greece50.08
3246Benjamin Hockin Paraguay50.12
3343Nabil Kebbab Algeria50.37
3444Yauhen Tsurkin Belarus50.53
3541Gabriel Melconian Alvez Uruguay50.68
3648Branden Whitehurst Virgin Islands51.04
3734Sidni Hoxha Albania51.11NR
3832Kevin Avila Soto Guatemala51.44
3935Andrew Chetcuti Malta51.67NR
4033Jemal le Grand Aruba51.86
4137Andrew Rutherfurd Bolivia52.57
4236Mohammed Bidarian Iran52.93
4324Esau Simpson Grenada53.26
4438Christopher Duenas Guam53.37
4531Mikael Koloyan Armenia53.82
4622Sergeý Krowýakow Turkmenistan54.43NR
4723Paul Elaisa Fiji54.87
4825Niall Roberts Guyana55.66
4921Tamir Andryei Mongolia56.37
5026Shane Mangroo Seychelles56.46
5127Omar Núñez Nicaragua57.11
5214Mamadou Soumare Mali57.32
5315Ahmed Husam Maldives57.53
5428Israr Hussain Pakistan57.86
5516Ammaar Ghadiyali Tanzania1:01.07
5613Beni Bertrand Binobagira Burundi1:04.57
42George Bovell Trinidad and TobagoDNS
53Lü Zhiwu ChinaDNS
55Dominik Kozma HungaryDNS
66Danila Izotov RussiaDNS

Semifinals

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
115James Magnussen Australia47.63Q
224Nathan Adrian United States47.97Q
328Hanser García Cuba48.04Q, NR
425Sebastiaan Verschuren Netherlands48.13Q
512César Cielo Brazil48.17Q
623Brent Hayden Canada48.21Q
721Yannick Agnel France48.23Q
816Nikita Lobintsev Russia48.38Q
927Konrad Czerniak Poland48.44
14Gideon Louw South Africa48.44
1111Fabien Gilot France48.49
1217James Roberts Australia48.57
26Pieter Timmers Belgium48.57
1422Cullen Jones United States48.60
1513Brett Fraser Cayman Islands48.92
1618Shaune Fraser Cayman Islands49.07

Final

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
5Nathan Adrian United States47.52
4James Magnussen Australia47.53
7Brent Hayden Canada47.80
41Yannick Agnel France47.84
56Sebastiaan Verschuren Netherlands47.88
62César Cielo Brazil47.92
73Hanser García Cuba48.04=NR
88Nikita Lobintsev Russia48.44

References

  1. "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  3. "Nathan Adrian of U.S. wins 100-meter freestyle gold medal by smallest of margins". CBS News. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  4. Auerbach, Nicole (1 August 2012). "Nathan Adrian wins gold in dramatic finish in 100 free". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  5. "Heartbreak as James Magnussen falls to American Nathan Adrian by 1/100th of second". News Corp Australia. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  6. "Agony as Magnussen pipped for 100m gold". ABC News Australia. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  7. "London 2012: Canadian swimmer Brent Hayden wins bronze medal in 100-metre freestyle". Toronto Star. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  8. "2012 London Olympics: USA's Nathan Adrian Clips James Magnussen for 100 Free Gold". Swimming World Magazine. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  9. Das, Andrew (1 August 2012). "American Adrian Wins 100-Meter Freestyle". New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  10. "USA's Adrian beats Magnussen for 100 free gold". Foxtel. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  11. "Nathan Adrian beats James Magnussen to 100m freestyle gold". BBC Sport. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  12. Crouse, Karen (31 July 2009). "Lochte Finds Phelps Is Everywhere but in the Pool". New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  13. "Cielo sets 50-meter freestyle mark". ESPN. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  14. Johanson, Simon (13 August 2008). "Sullivan smashes world record – again". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  15. "Men's 100m Freestyle – Heats". London 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
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