| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Men

Date	10 – 12 August 2008
Status	Olympic
Location	Beijing Guojia Youyong Zhongxin, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants	45 from 36 countries

Aaron Peirsol, the 2004 Olympic champion had only suffered a handful of defeats in backstroke races since the Sydney Olympics and arrived in Athens having broken the world record at the US trials. Piersol’s progress to the final was less flamboyant than some of his rivals which meant he started the final only as the fifth fastest qualifier. At the fifty-metre mark he appeared out of the title reckoning as he trailed the leaders by half a second but a late race surge took him past his tiring rivals and through to the gold medal with a big margin of 0.57 seconds. The clock stopped at a new world record mark of 52.54 seconds. Behind him finished fellow American Matt Grevers and, in a tie for third, Hayden Stoeckel of Australia and Arkady Vyachanin of Russia.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Aaron Peirsol	USA	53.65 (1 h6)	53.56 (3 h2)	52.54 (1)	Gold
2	Matt Grevers	USA	53.41 (1 h4)	52.99 (2 h2)	53.11 (2)	Silver
=3	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	53.64 (2 h4)	53.06 (1 h1)	53.18 (=3)	Bronze
=3	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	53.93 (1 h5)	52.97 (1 h2)	53.18 (=3)	Bronze
5	Ash Delaney	AUS	54.08 (2 h5)	53.76 (4 h2)	53.31 (5)
6	Liam Tancock	GBR	53.85 (3 h6)	53.61 (3 h1)	53.39 (6)
7	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	53.67 (2 h6)	53.51 (2 h1)	53.51 (7)
8	Junichi Miyashita	JPN	54.12 (3 h5)	53.69 (4 h1)	53.99 (8)
9	Markus Rogan	AUT	54.22 (4 h6)	53.80 (5 h2)	–
10	Tomomi Morita	JPN	54.21 (4 h4)	53.95 (5 h1)	–
11	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	53.75 (1 h3)	53.98 (6 h2)	–
12	Gregor Tait	GBR	54.62 (5 h5)	54.37 (6 h1)	–
13	Ľuboš Križko	SVK	54.07 (2 h3)	54.38 (7 h1)	–
14	Stanislav Donets	RUS	54.18 (3 h4)	54.57 (7 h2)	–
15	Mirco Di Tora	ITA	54.39 (5 h6)	54.92 (8 h1)	–
16	Guy Barnea	ISR	54.50 (4 h5)	54.93 (8 h2)	–
17	Aris Grigoriadis	GRE	54.71 (5 h4)	–	–
18	Damiano Lestingi	ITA	54.78 (3 h3)	–	–
19	Helge Meeuw	GER	54.88 (6 h5)	–	–
=20	Guilherme Guido	BRA	54.89 (=6 h6)	–	–
=20	Răzvan Florea	ROU	54.89 (=6 h6)	–	–
22	George du Rand	RSA	54.90 (6 h4)	–	–
23	Seong Min	KOR	54.99 (4 h3)	–	–
24	Gordan Kožulj	CRO	55.05 (7 h4)	–	–
25	Benjamin Stasiulis	FRA	55.08 (5 h3)	–	–
26	Omar Pinzón	COL	55.11 (1 h2)	–	–
27	Jonathan Massacand	SUI	55.21 (6 h3)	–	–
28	Nick Driebergen	NED	55.31 (8 h4)	–	–
29	Paval Sankovich	BLR	55.39 (2 h2)	–	–
30	Derya Büyükuncu	TUR	55.43 (7 h3)	–	–
31	Jake Tapp	CAN	55.54 (7 h5)	–	–
32	Vytautas Janušaitis	LTU	55.65 (8 h3)	–	–
33	Thomas Rupprath	GER	55.77 (8 h6)	–	–
34	Marko Strahija	CRO	55.89 (8 h5)	–	–
35	Örn Arnarson	ISL	56.15 (3 h2)	–	–
36	Roland Rudolf	HUN	56.25 (4 h2)	–	–
37	Sun Xiaolei	CHN	56.44 (5 h2)	–	–
38	Oleksandr Isakov	UKR	56.55 (6 h2)	–	–
39	Danil Bugakov	UZB	56.59 (1 h1)	–	–
40	Eduardo Otero	ARG	56.74 (7 h2)	–	–
41	Tomáš Fučík	CZE	57.29 (8 h2)	–	–
42	Stanislav Osinsky	KAZ	57.42 (2 h1)	–	–
43	Jared Heine	MHL	58.86 (3 h1)	–	–
44	Souhaib Kalala	SYR	1:00.24 (4 h1)	–	–
45	Mohammed Rana	BAN	1:04.82 (5 h1)	–	–

Round One

Date	10 August 2008
Format	Fastest 16 swimmers advanced to semi-finals

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Matt Grevers	USA	53.41	QOR
2	–	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	53.64	Q
3	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	53.65	Q
4	–	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	53.67	Q
5	–	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	53.75	Q
6	–	Liam Tancock	GBR	53.85	Q
7	–	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	53.93	Q
8	–	Ľuboš Križko	SVK	54.07	Q
9	–	Ash Delaney	AUS	54.08	Q
10	–	Junichi Miyashita	JPN	54.12	Q
11	–	Stanislav Donets	RUS	54.18	Q
12	–	Tomomi Morita	JPN	54.21	Q
13	–	Markus Rogan	AUT	54.22	Q
14	–	Mirco Di Tora	ITA	54.39	Q
15	–	Guy Barnea	ISR	54.50	Q
16	–	Gregor Tait	GBR	54.62	Q
17	–	Aris Grigoriadis	GRE	54.71
18	–	Damiano Lestingi	ITA	54.78
19	–	Helge Meeuw	GER	54.88
=20	–	Guilherme Guido	BRA	54.89
=20	–	Răzvan Florea	ROU	54.89
22	–	George du Rand	RSA	54.90
23	–	Seong Min	KOR	54.99
24	–	Gordan Kožulj	CRO	55.05
25	–	Benjamin Stasiulis	FRA	55.08
26	–	Omar Pinzón	COL	55.11
27	–	Jonathan Massacand	SUI	55.21
28	–	Nick Driebergen	NED	55.31
29	–	Paval Sankovich	BLR	55.39
30	–	Derya Büyükuncu	TUR	55.43
31	–	Jake Tapp	CAN	55.54
32	–	Vytautas Janušaitis	LTU	55.65
33	–	Thomas Rupprath	GER	55.77
34	–	Marko Strahija	CRO	55.89
35	–	Örn Arnarson	ISL	56.15
36	–	Roland Rudolf	HUN	56.25
37	–	Sun Xiaolei	CHN	56.44
38	–	Oleksandr Isakov	UKR	56.55
39	–	Danil Bugakov	UZB	56.59
40	–	Eduardo Otero	ARG	56.74
41	–	Tomáš Fučík	CZE	57.29
42	–	Stanislav Osinsky	KAZ	57.42
43	–	Jared Heine	MHL	58.86
44	–	Souhaib Kalala	SYR	1:00.24
45	–	Mohammed Rana	BAN	1:04.82

Heat #1

Time	19:48

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Danil Bugakov	UZB	56.59	0.67	27.10 (1)	29.49 (1)
2	–	Stanislav Osinsky	KAZ	57.42	0.69	27.65 (2)	29.77 (2)
3	–	Jared Heine	MHL	58.86	0.62	28.02 (3)	30.84 (3)
4	–	Souhaib Kalala	SYR	1:00.24	0.60	29.33 (4)	30.91 (4)
5	–	Mohammed Rana	BAN	1:04.82	0.67	30.76 (5)	34.06 (5)

Heat #2

Time	19:50

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Omar Pinzón	COL	55.11	0.54	26.80 (2)	28.31 (1)
2	–	Paval Sankovich	BLR	55.39	0.61	26.54 (1)	28.85 (2)
3	–	Örn Arnarson	ISL	56.15	0.49	26.89 (3)	29.26 (5)
4	–	Roland Rudolf	HUN	56.25	0.66	27.02 (4)	29.23 (4)
5	–	Sun Xiaolei	CHN	56.44	0.67	27.28 (7)	29.16 (3)
6	–	Oleksandr Isakov	UKR	56.55	0.71	27.23 (5)	29.32 (6)
7	–	Eduardo Otero	ARG	56.74	0.71	27.25 (6)	29.49 (7)
8	–	Tomáš Fučík	CZE	57.29	0.60	27.55 (8)	29.74 (8)

Heat #3

Time	19:53

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	53.75	0.68	26.11 (2)	27.64 (1)	Q
2	–	Ľuboš Križko	SVK	54.07	0.65	25.78 (1)	28.29 (5)	Q
3	–	Damiano Lestingi	ITA	54.78	0.64	26.62 (5)	28.16 (2)
4	–	Seong Min	KOR	54.99	0.56	26.72 (6)	28.27 (4)
5	–	Benjamin Stasiulis	FRA	55.08	0.60	26.25 (3)	28.83 (7)
6	–	Jonathan Massacand	SUI	55.21	0.71	27.01 (8)	28.20 (3)
7	–	Derya Büyükuncu	TUR	55.43	0.56	26.93 (7)	28.50 (6)
8	–	Vytautas Janušaitis	LTU	55.65	0.62	26.60 (4)	29.05 (8)

Heat #4

Time	19:56

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Matt Grevers	USA	53.41	0.67	25.92 (1)	27.49 (2)	QOR
2	–	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	53.64	0.75	26.25 (4)	27.39 (1)	Q
3	–	Stanislav Donets	RUS	54.18	0.72	26.26 (5)	27.92 (3)	Q
4	–	Tomomi Morita	JPN	54.21	0.51	26.24 (3)	27.97 (4)	Q
5	–	Aris Grigoriadis	GRE	54.71	0.64	26.34 (6)	28.37 (6)
6	–	George du Rand	RSA	54.90	0.73	26.85 (8)	28.05 (5)
7	–	Gordan Kožulj	CRO	55.05	0.58	26.01 (2)	29.04 (8)
8	–	Nick Driebergen	NED	55.31	0.65	26.71 (7)	28.60 (7)

Heat #5

Time	19:58

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	53.93	0.64	26.13 (1)	27.80 (2)	Q
2	–	Ash Delaney	AUS	54.08	0.55	26.60 (6)	27.48 (1)	Q
3	–	Junichi Miyashita	JPN	54.12	0.61	26.17 (2)	27.95 (3)	Q
4	–	Guy Barnea	ISR	54.50	0.62	26.31 (4)	28.19 (4)	Q
5	–	Gregor Tait	GBR	54.62	0.71	26.26 (3)	28.36 (5)	Q
6	–	Helge Meeuw	GER	54.88	0.69	26.43 (5)	28.45 (6)
7	–	Jake Tapp	CAN	55.54	0.56	26.84 (8)	28.70 (7)
8	–	Marko Strahija	CRO	55.89	0.60	26.66 (7)	29.23 (8)

Heat #6

Time	20:01

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	53.65	0.67	26.16 (3)	27.49 (3)	Q
2	–	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	53.67	0.64	26.39 (4)	27.28 (1)	Q
3	–	Liam Tancock	GBR	53.85	0.58	25.59 (1)	28.26 (6)	Q
4	–	Markus Rogan	AUT	54.22	0.72	26.91 (=7)	27.31 (2)	Q
5	–	Mirco Di Tora	ITA	54.39	0.58	26.03 (2)	28.36 (7)	Q
=6	–	Guilherme Guido	BRA	54.89	0.52	26.66 (5)	28.23 (5)
=6	–	Răzvan Florea	ROU	54.89	0.67	26.67 (6)	28.22 (4)
8	–	Thomas Rupprath	GER	55.77	0.70	26.91 (=7)	28.86 (8)

Semi-Finals

Date	11 August 2008
Format	Fastest eight swimmers advanced to final

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	52.97	QOR
2	–	Matt Grevers	USA	52.99	Q
3	–	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	53.06	QOR
4	–	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	53.51	Q
5	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	53.56	Q
6	–	Liam Tancock	GBR	53.61	Q
7	–	Junichi Miyashita	JPN	53.69	Q
8	–	Ash Delaney	AUS	53.76	Q
9	–	Markus Rogan	AUT	53.80
10	–	Tomomi Morita	JPN	53.95
11	–	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	53.98
12	–	Gregor Tait	GBR	54.37
13	–	Ľuboš Križko	SVK	54.38
14	–	Stanislav Donets	RUS	54.57
15	–	Mirco Di Tora	ITA	54.92
16	–	Guy Barnea	ISR	54.93

Heat #1

Time	10:57

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	53.06	0.78	26.01 (2)	27.05 (1)	QOR
2	–	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	53.51	0.60	26.17 (4)	27.34 (2)	Q
3	–	Liam Tancock	GBR	53.61	0.56	25.68 (1)	27.93 (5)	Q
4	–	Junichi Miyashita	JPN	53.69	0.58	26.09 (3)	27.60 (4)	Q
5	–	Tomomi Morita	JPN	53.95	0.54	26.58 (8)	27.37 (3)
6	–	Gregor Tait	GBR	54.37	0.64	26.30 (=6)	28.07 (6)
7	–	Ľuboš Križko	SVK	54.38	0.64	26.30 (=6)	28.08 (7)
8	–	Mirco Di Tora	ITA	54.92	0.57	26.21 (5)	28.71 (8)

Heat #2

Time	11:01

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	52.97	0.59	25.77 (1)	27.20 (2)	QOR
2	–	Matt Grevers	USA	52.99	0.66	25.89 (2)	27.10 (1)	Q
3	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	53.56	0.72	26.07 (5)	27.49 (4)	Q
4	–	Ash Delaney	AUS	53.76	0.50	25.96 (=3)	27.80 (5)	Q
5	–	Markus Rogan	AUT	53.80	0.70	26.36 (6)	27.44 (3)
6	–	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	53.98	0.63	25.96 (=3)	28.02 (6)
7	–	Stanislav Donets	RUS	54.57	0.72	26.44 (7)	28.13 (7)
8	–	Guy Barnea	ISR	54.93	0.64	26.60 (8)	28.33 (8)

Final Round

Date	12 August 2008 — 10:31

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	52.54	0.63	25.65 (2)	26.89 (1)	WR
2	–	Matt Grevers	USA	53.11	0.67	25.68 (3)	27.43 (5)
=3	–	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	53.18	0.77	26.11 (7)	27.07 (2)
=3	–	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	53.18	0.58	25.78 (4)	27.40 (3)
5	–	Ash Delaney	AUS	53.31	0.53	25.89 (5)	27.42 (4)
6	–	Liam Tancock	GBR	53.39	0.55	25.11 (1)	28.28 (8)
7	–	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	53.51	0.61	26.00 (6)	27.51 (6)
8	–	Junichi Miyashita	JPN	53.99	0.62	26.30 (8)	27.69 (7)