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Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle

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Men's 200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Gold medalist Yannick Agnel
VenueLondon Aquatics Centre
DatesJuly 29, 2012 (heats &
semifinals)
July 30, 2012 (final)
Competitors40 from 31 nations
Winning time1:43.14
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Yannick Agnel  France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Sun Yang  China
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Park Tae-Hwan  South Korea
← 2008
2016 →
Swimming at the
2012 Summer Olympics
Sample picture of the event (unofficial)
Qualification
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 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
Marathon
10 kmmenwomen

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1] There were 40 competitors from 31 nations.[2]

After overhauling the Americans in the 4 × 100 freestyle relay with a stunning anchor leg, France's Yannick Agnel pulled away from a star-studded field by over a full body length to earn his second Olympic gold in swimming at these Games. Billed as the "Race of the Century", he came up again with a spectacular swim on the final stretch to hit the wall first in 1:43.14, posting a textile best in the process and moving rapidly to third in the world's all time rankings.[3][4] Meanwhile, South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan and China's Sun Yang tied for the silver medal in a matching time of 1:44.93, following a dramatic rivalry in the 400 m freestyle final two days earlier.[5][6] Agnel's gold was France's first medal in the men's 200 metre freestyle, with Sun's silver the first for China. Park was the fifth man to win multiple medals in the event, adding to his 2008 silver.

U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte, the reigning world champion, missed the podium by 11-hundredths of a second with a fourth-place time in 1:45.04.[7][8] Germany's world-record holder Paul Biedermann faded down the stretch to pick up a fifth spot in 1:45.53, edging out British home favorite Robbie Renwick by a full body length with a highly-creditable, sixth-place effort (1:46.53).[9] Australia's Thomas Fraser-Holmes (1:46.93) and Russia's Danila Izotov (1:47.75) also vied for an Olympic medal to round out the stellar championship field.[6]

Notable swimmers missed out the final roster featuring Lochte's teammate Ricky Berens, who replaced Michael Phelps to fill out the slot for the Americans but placed ninth (1:46.87); and Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry, a sixth-place finalist in Beijing four years earlier, who finished fifteenth in the semifinals (1:48.25).[10]

Background

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This was the 14th appearance of the 200 metre freestyle event. It was first contested in 1900. It would be contested a second time, though at 220 yards, in 1904. After that, the event did not return until 1968; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games.[2]

Four of the 8 finalists from the 2008 Games returned: silver medalist Park Tae-Hwan of South Korea, fifth-place finisher Paul Biedermann of Germany, sixth-place finisher Dominik Meichtry of Switzerland, and eighth-place finisher Robbie Renwick of Great Britain. Reigning gold medalist Michael Phelps qualified but elected not to compete in eight events again, dropping this event. Biedermann had won the 2009 World Championship and taken bronze in 2011. American Ryan Lochte was the reigning World Champion. Phelps had placed second both times. Lochte was the favourite without Phelps competing, though Park, Sun Yang of China (the 400 metres champion in London), and Yannick Agnel of France were serious contenders.[2]

Brunei, the Dominican Republic, and Paraguay each made their debut in the event. Australia made its 14th appearance, the only nation to have competed in all prior editions of the event.

Qualification

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Main article: Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – 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 1:47.82 while the OST was 1:51.59. 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.

Nine nations (Australia, the Cayman Islands, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United States) had two swimmers meet the OQT. Five more (Hungary, New Zealand, Paraguay, South Korea, and Switzerland) had one swimmer qualify through the OQT. 12 NOCs received a place through OST selection. 6 nations used universality places in the men's 200 metre freestyle.

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

Competition format

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The competition followed the format established in 2000, with three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. 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. The top 16 swimmers from the heats advanced to the semifinals. The top 8 semifinalists advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. 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  Paul Biedermann (GER) 1:42.00 Rome, Italy 28 July 2009 [11][12]
Olympic record  Michael Phelps (USA) 1:42.96 Beijing, China 12 August 2008 [13]

Schedule

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

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 29 July 2012 10:20
19:37		 Heats
Semifinals
Monday, 30 July 2012 19:43 Final

Results

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Heats

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The top 16 advanced to the semifinals.[14]

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 5 5 Sun Yang  China 1:46.24 Q
2 5 4 Ryan Lochte  United States 1:46.45 Q
3 6 4 Yannick Agnel  France 1:46.60 Q
4 4 5 Danila Izotov  Russia 1:46.61 Q
5 6 5 Park Tae-hwan  South Korea 1:46.79 Q
6 4 2 Robert Renwick  Great Britain 1:46.86 Q
7 6 2 Kenrick Monk  Australia 1:46.94 Q
8 5 3 Ricky Berens  United States 1:47.07 Q
9 5 7 Dominik Kozma  Hungary 1:47.18 Q
10 4 4 Paul Biedermann  Germany 1:47.27 Q
11 6 3 Sebastiaan Verschuren  Netherlands 1:47.31 Q
12 4 3 Grégory Mallet  France 1:47.39 Q
13 6 6 Thomas Fraser-Holmes  Australia 1:47.50 Q
14 5 2 Brett Fraser  Cayman Islands 1:47.74 Q
15 6 7 Artem Lobuzov  Russia 1:47.91 Q
16 4 6 Dominik Meichtry  Switzerland 1:47.97 Q
17 3 3 Blake Worsley  Canada 1:48.14
18 6 1 Matthew Stanley  New Zealand 1:48.19
19 4 1 Ieuan Lloyd  Great Britain 1:48.52
20 6 8 Shaune Fraser  Cayman Islands 1:48.53
21 3 4 Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or  Israel 1:48.60
22 3 5 Cristian Quintero Valero  Venezuela 1:48.71
23 5 6 Li Yunqi  China 1:48.72
24 4 7 Clemens Rapp  Germany 1:48.75
25 3 7 Glenn Surgeloose  Belgium 1:48.77
26 5 8 Benjamin Hockin  Paraguay 1:48.91
27 3 2 David Brandl  Austria 1:49.00
5 1 Dion Dreesens  Netherlands 1:49.00
29 4 8 Marco Belotti  Italy 1:49.14
30 3 6 Ahmed Mathlouthi  Tunisia 1:49.68
31 2 5 Matias Koski  Finland 1:49.84
32 2 4 Radovan Siljevski  Serbia 1:51.40
33 2 2 Mario Montoya  Costa Rica 1:51.66
34 2 3 Sebastián Jahnsen Madico  Peru 1:52.36
35 3 8 Tiago Venâncio  Portugal 1:52.36
36 2 6 Jessie Lacuna  Philippines 1:52.91
37 1 4 Nicholas Schwab  Dominican Republic 1:53.41 NR
38 2 7 Raúl Martínez Colomer  Puerto Rico 1:54.23
39 1 5 Mathieu Marquet  Mauritius 1:58.91
40 1 3 Anderson Lim  Brunei 2:02.26 NR
— 3 1 Mads Glæsner  Denmark DNS

Semifinals

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Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 2 4 Sun Yang  China 1:45.61 Q
2 2 5 Yannick Agnel  France 1:45.84 Q
3 2 3 Park Tae-hwan  South Korea 1:46.02 Q
4 1 2 Paul Biedermann  Germany 1:46.10 Q
5 1 4 Ryan Lochte  United States 1:46.31 Q
6 1 3 Robbie Renwick  Great Britain 1:46.65 Q
1 5 Danila Izotov  Russia 1:46.65 Q
8 2 1 Thomas Fraser-Holmes  Australia 1:46.80 Q
9 1 6 Ricky Berens  United States 1:46.87
10 2 2 Dominik Kozma  Hungary 1:46.93
11 2 7 Sebastiaan Verschuren  Netherlands 1:46.95
12 1 1 Brett Fraser  Cayman Islands 1:47.01
13 2 6 Kenrick Monk  Australia 1:47.38
14 1 7 Grégory Mallet  France 1:47.56
15 1 8 Dominik Meichtry  Switzerland 1:48.25
16 2 8 Artem Lobuzov  Russia 1:48.26

Final

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Rank Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 Yannick Agnel  France 1:43.14 NR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Sun Yang  China 1:44.93 NR
3 Park Tae-hwan  South Korea 1:44.93
4 2 Ryan Lochte  United States 1:45.04
5 6 Paul Biedermann  Germany 1:45.53
6 1 Robbie Renwick  Great Britain 1:46.53
7 8 Thomas Fraser-Holmes  Australia 1:46.93
8 7 Danila Izotov  Russia 1:47.75

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "200 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  3. ^ "France's Agnel wins 200-metre freestyle gold". France 24. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Yannick Agnel wins 200 freestyle". ESPN. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Park Tae-hwan Settles for Second Silver in 200-m Free". The Chosun Ilbo. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b "2012 London Olympics: Yannick Agnel Earns Second Gold of Meet With 200 Free Triumph; Posts Textile Best; Lochte Out of the Medals". Swimming World Magazine. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  7. ^ "Ryan Lochte finishes fourth in 200-meter freestyle at London Olympics, France's Yannick Agnel wins gold". New York Daily News. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  8. ^ Clarey, Christopher (30 July 2012). "Agnel Outduels Lochte Again as French Savor Early Success". New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Spofforth, Tancock, and Renwick miss out". Team GB. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  10. ^ "2012 London Olympics: Sun Yang, Yannick Agnel Post 1:45s to Lead Men's 200 Free Semis; Lochte 5th". Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  11. ^ Dillman, Lisa (29 July 2009). "Suit case: German ends Phelps' reign". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  12. ^ Jeffery, Nicole (29 July 2009). "Paul Biedermann beats Michael Phelps in 200m freestyle". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  13. ^ "Phelps breaks 200 free world record by nearly a second". ESPN. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  14. ^ "Men's 200m Freestyle – Heats". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
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