Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle explained

The inaugural men's 50-metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 24 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.^[1]

U.S. swimmer Matt Biondi demolished a new world record to become the event's first ever Olympic champion. He threw down a scorching time in 22.14 to add a fourth gold and sixth medal to his Olympic hardware, and to slice 0.04 seconds off the record set by South Africa's Peter Williams.^{[2] [3]} Starting the race with a fastest reaction, Biondi's rival and teammate Tom Jager faded down the stretch to pick up the silver in 22.36. Meanwhile, Soviet Union's Gennadiy Prigoda edged out Swiss swimmer Dano Halsall by 12-hundredths of a second to take home the bronze in 22.71.^[2]

Records

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

The following records were established during the competition:

Date	Round	Name	Nationality	Time	Record
24 September	Heat 8			22.39
24 September	Final A			22.14

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and finals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to final A, where they competed for the top 8 places. The swimmers with the next 8 times in the heats swam in final B, for ninth through the sixteenth place. Swim-offs were used as necessary to determine advancement.

Results

Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A, while the next eight to final B.^[4]

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	8			22.39	Q,
2	9			22.57	Q
3	7			22.61	Q, NR
	9				Q
5	7			22.81	Q
6	7			22.98	Q
7	8			22.99	Q
8	8			23.04	Q
9	9			23.08	q, NR
10	8			23.12	q
11	9			23.22	q
	7				q,
13	9			23.41	q
	9				q,
15	4			23.44	q, NR
16	8			23.44	q
17	8			23.46	q
18	6			23.47
	6
20	7			23.50
	9
22	7			23.51
23	7			23.53
24	5			23.61
25	6			23.67
26	8			23.70
27	6			23.72
28	6			23.99
29	8			24.01
30	6			24.02
31	5			24.24
32	1			24.25	NR
33	7			24.26
	4				NR
35	5			24.30
36	6			24.32
37	5			24.40
38	6			24.42
39	5			24.47
40	5			24.50
41	4			24.63	NR
42	5			24.64
	4
44	4			24.72
45	6			24.86
	3
47	3			25.01
48	5			25.11
49	1			25.15
50	4			25.24
51	3			25.26
52	3			25.29
53	3			25.38
54	3			25.40
55	3			25.55
56	3			25.63
57	2			25.64
58	2			25.79
59	1			25.97
60	2			26.00
61	2	Hasan Al-Shammari		26.27
62	2			26.46
63	2			26.60
	2
65	2			26.88
66	1			26.96
67	1			27.34
68	1			27.60
69	1			27.93
	4
	4

Swimoff

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4			23.28	q,
2	5			23.37	q

Finals

^[5]

Final B

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
9	7			23.28
10	5			23.37
11	4			23.39
12	6			23.40
13	8			23.45
14	3			23.55
15	2			23.64
16	1			23.65

Final A

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	4			22.14
	6			22.36
	5			22.71
4	3			22.83
5	8			22.84
6	2			22.88
7	7			23.03
8	1			23.15

External links

• Official Report
• USA Swimming

Notes and References

1. Web site: Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's 50 metres Freestyle . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417043832/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1988/SWI/mens-50-metres-freestyle.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 19 March 2017 . Sports Reference.
2. News: Dodds. Tracy. The Seoul Games / Day 9 : Biondi, the Underdog, Ends Up Top Dog Again. Los Angeles Times. 24 September 1988. 19 August 2013.
3. News: Husar. John. Biondi, Evans Stay on Gold Standard. Los Angeles Times. 25 September 1988. 19 August 2013.
4. Web site: Seoul 2000: Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle Heats. PDF. Seoul 1988. LA84 Foundation. 400. 19 August 2013.
5. Web site: Seoul 2000: Swimming – Men's 50m Freestyle Finals. PDF. Seoul 1988. LA84 Foundation. 401. 19 August 2013.