| | Event type

200 metres Backstroke, Men

Date	25 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	30 from 21 countries

Roland Matthes of the GDR had already won the 100 backstroke in Mexico City, and had set two world records in this event in Leipzig, in 1967 and earlier in 1968. The early pace in the final was set by Mitch Ivey and Jack Horsley of the United States and they still led at 150 metres, Matthes just behind. But on the final lap Matthes increased his turnover and pulled away to a full second victory over Ivey, with Horsley taking the bronze, Gary Hall of the USA placing fourth. In 1972 Matthes would repeat in this event at Munich and also win the 100 back, taking the backstroke double-double in 1968-72.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Roland Matthes	GDR	2:13.6 (1 h3)	2:09.6 (1)	Gold
2	Mitch Ivey	USA	2:11.3 (1 h1)	2:10.6 (2)	Silver
3	Jack Horsley	USA	2:13.7 (1 h2)	2:10.9 (3)	Bronze
4	Gary Hall	USA	2:16.2 (1 h5)	2:12.6 (4)
5	Santiago Esteva	ESP	2:15.8 (2 h3)	2:12.9 (5)
6	Leonid Dobroskokin	URS	2:16.1 (1 h4)	2:15.4 (6)
7	Joachim Rother	GDR	2:16.1 (3 h3)	2:15.8 (7)
8	Franco Del Campo	ITA	2:16.3 (2 h1)	2:16.5 (8)
9	Reinhard Blechert	FRG	2:16.5 (2 h2)	–
10	Ejvind Pedersen	DEN	2:16.6 (4 h3)	–
11	Mátyás Borlói	HUN	2:17.9 (2 h5)	–
12	Bob Schoutsen	NED	2:18.2 (2 h4)	–
13	Franco Chino	ITA	2:19.5 (3 h1)	–
14	Jaime Monzo	ESP	2:20.1 (3 h2)	–
=15	José Joaquín Santibáñez	MEX	2:20.7 (4 h1)	–
=15	Karl Byrom	AUS	2:20.7 (5 h3)	–
=15	Jaime Rivera	MEX	2:20.7 (3 h4)	–
18	Jim Shaw	CAN	2:21.0 (5 h1)	–
19	Rinus van Beek	NED	2:21.2 (3 h5)	–
20	Eliseo Vidal	CUB	2:21.3 (6 h3)	–
21	Hans Ljungberg	SWE	2:22.3 (6 h1)	–
22	Lars Kraus Jensen	DEN	2:22.5 (4 h4)	–
23	Luis Ángel Acosta	MEX	2:24.0 (4 h5)	–
24	Gerald Evard	SUI	2:24.7 (5 h4)	–
25	Leonardo Barenboim	ARG	2:25.2 (7 h3)	–
26	Tony Asamali	PHI	2:30.0 (7 h1)	–
27	Francisco Ramis	PUR	2:30.4 (8 h3)	–
28	Antonio Cruz	GUA	2:36.3 (8 h1)	–
29	Ronnie Wong	HKG	2:38.6 (5 h5)	–
30	Chan King-Ming	TPE	2:46.9 (6 h4)	–
DNS	Carlos van der Maath	ARG	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	César Filardi	BRA	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Ralph Hutton	CAN	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Hans Tegeback	SWE	– (DNS h4)	–
DNS	Neil Jackson	GBR	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	Olle Ferm	SWE	– (DNS h5)	–

Round One (25 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	6	Mitch Ivey	USA	1:02.6 (1) 1:08.7 (1)	2:11.3	Q
2	2	Franco Del Campo	ITA	1:05.2 (2) 1:11.1 (2)	2:16.3	Q
3	8	Franco Chino	ITA	1:08.2 (6) 1:11.3 (3)	2:19.5
4	3	José Joaquín Santibáñez	MEX	1:08.1 (5) 1:12.6 (4)	2:20.7
5	4	Jim Shaw	CAN	1:07.2 (3) 1:13.8 (5)	2:21.0
6	1	Hans Ljungberg	SWE	1:07.9 (4) 1:14.4 (6)	2:22.3
7	5	Tony Asamali	PHI	1:09.8 (7) 1:20.2 (8)	2:30.0
8	7	Antonio Cruz	GUA	1:17.3 (8) 1:19.0 (7)	2:36.3

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	5	Jack Horsley	USA	1:04.8 (1) 1:08.9 (1)	2:13.7	Q
2	4	Reinhard Blechert	FRG	1:05.7 (2) 1:10.8 (2)	2:16.5
3	6	Jaime Monzo	ESP	1:07.0 (3) 1:13.1 (3)	2:20.1
DNS	–	Carlos van der Maath	ARG	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	César Filardi	BRA	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Ralph Hutton	CAN	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	5	Roland Matthes	GDR	1:06.4 (=1) 1:07.2 (1)	2:13.6	Q
2	3	Santiago Esteva	ESP	1:07.4 (4) 1:08.4 (3)	2:15.8	Q
3	6	Joachim Rother	GDR	1:07.9 (5) 1:08.2 (2)	2:16.1	Q
4	7	Ejvind Pedersen	DEN	1:06.7 (3) 1:09.9 (4)	2:16.6
5	8	Karl Byrom	AUS	1:06.4 (=1) 1:14.3 (6)	2:20.7
6	4	Eliseo Vidal	CUB	1:09.3 (6) 1:12.0 (5)	2:21.3
7	1	Leonardo Barenboim	ARG	1:09.7 (7) 1:15.5 (7)	2:25.2
8	2	Francisco Ramis	PUR	1:12.8 (8) 1:17.6 (8)	2:30.4

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	7	Leonid Dobroskokin	URS	1:08.1 (3) 1:08.0 (1)	2:16.1	Q
2	5	Bob Schoutsen	NED	1:07.4 (1) 1:10.8 (2)	2:18.2
3	6	Jaime Rivera	MEX	1:08.5 (4) 1:12.2 (3)	2:20.7
4	2	Lars Kraus Jensen	DEN	1:07.7 (2) 1:14.8 (4)	2:22.5
5	4	Gerald Evard	SUI	1:08.9 (5) 1:15.8 (5)	2:24.7
6	3	Chan King-Ming	TPE	1:16.5 (6) 1:30.4 (6)	2:46.9
DNS	–	Hans Tegeback	SWE	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	6	Gary Hall	USA	1:07.2 (1) 1:09.0 (1)	2:16.2	Q
2	3	Mátyás Borlói	HUN	1:07.5 (2) 1:10.4 (2)	2:17.9
3	4	Rinus van Beek	NED	1:08.7 (=3) 1:12.5 (3)	2:21.2
4	2	Luis Ángel Acosta	MEX	1:08.7 (=3) 1:15.3 (4)	2:24.0
5	5	Ronnie Wong	HKG	1:17.3 (5) 1:21.3 (5)	2:38.6
DNS	–	Neil Jackson	GBR	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Olle Ferm	SWE	– (–) –	–

Final (25 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	5	Roland Matthes	GDR	1:03.8 (3) 1:05.8 (1)	2:09.6	OR
2	4	Mitch Ivey	USA	1:03.2 (=1) 1:07.4 (2)	2:10.6
3	3	Jack Horsley	USA	1:03.2 (=1) 1:07.7 (4)	2:10.9
4	1	Gary Hall	USA	1:04.8 (5) 1:07.8 (5)	2:12.6
5	6	Santiago Esteva	ESP	1:05.4 (=6) 1:07.5 (3)	2:12.9
6	7	Leonid Dobroskokin	URS	1:04.7 (4) 1:10.7 (7)	2:15.4
7	2	Joachim Rother	GDR	1:06.1 (8) 1:09.7 (6)	2:15.8
8	8	Franco Del Campo	ITA	1:05.4 (=6) 1:11.1 (8)	2:16.5