| | Event type

200 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	18 – 19 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul
Participants	63 from 41 countries

In 1984 Australian Jon Sieben, swimming in lane six, had won the 200 butterfly in a big upset over West German Michael Groß. When Australia’s Duncan Armstrong won this event in Seoul in the world record time of 1:47.25, his coach, Laurie Lawrence, shouted out, “That’s right, mate! Lucky lane 6!” Armstrong’s victory was one of the biggest upsets in Seoul, as he came into the Olympics ranked 46th in the world, after ranking 25th in 1987.

There were several contenders considered before the race, but Armstrong was not among them. Sweden’s Anders Holmertz had won the 1987 Europeans, while Groß was the 1986 World Champion. Groß still held the world record, set when he won the 1984 Olympic gold medal. American Matt Biondi was formidable, but he was slightly better in the sprints. The fastest time in the prelims was set by Poland’s Artur Wojdat. In the final, Armstrong lined up next to Biondi in lane five. Armstrong swam as close to Biondi’s lane marker as he could, drafting in his wake for the first 100 metres. Biondi led at 150 with Holmertz second, but Armstrong came home the fastest for the gold medal, Holmertz in second and Biondi dropping back to bronze.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Duncan Armstrong	AUS	1:48.86 (2 h9)	–	1:47.25 (1)	Gold
2	Anders Holmertz	SWE	1:49.28 (1 h7)	–	1:47.89 (2)	Silver
3	Matt Biondi	USA	1:48.39 (2 h8)	–	1:47.99 (3)	Bronze
4	Artur Wojdat	POL	1:48.02 (1 h8)	–	1:48.40 (4)
5	Michael Groß	FRG	1:48.55 (1 h9)	–	1:48.59 (5)
6	Steffen Zesner	GDR	1:49.13 (4 h8)	–	1:48.77 (6)
7	Troy Dalbey	USA	1:48.96 (3 h9)	–	1:48.86 (7)
8	Thomas Fahrner	FRG	1:49.02 (3 h8)	–	1:49.19 (8)
9	Roberto Gleria	ITA	1:49.51 (4 h9)	1:49.28 (1)	–
10	Thomas Flemming	GDR	1:49.52 (5 h9)	1:50.18 (2)	–
11	Tom Stachewicz	AUS	1:51.02 (6 h7)	1:50.83 (3)	–
12	Aleksey Kuznetsov	URS	1:50.84 (4 h7)	1:51.03 (4)	–
13	Franz Mortensen	DEN	1:51.15 (5 h8)	1:51.44 (5)	–
14	Mariusz Podkościelny	POL	1:50.95 (5 h7)	1:51.63 (6)	–
15	Shigeo Ogata	JPN	1:51.14 (1 h6)	1:51.89 (7)	–
16	Paul Howe	GBR	1:51.22 (7 h7)	1:51.99 (8)	–
17	Stéphan Caron	FRA	1:49.66 (2 h7)	–	–		1
18	Giorgio Lamberti	ITA	1:50.47 (3 h7)	–	–		2
19	Carlos Scanavino	URU	1:51.42 (6 h8)	–	–
20	Alberto Bottini	SUI	1:51.45 (8 h7)	–	–
21	Tom Werner	SWE	1:51.96 (7 h8)	–	–
22	Iurie Bașcatov	URS	1:52.04 (6 h9)	–	–
23	Cristiano Michelena	BRA	1:52.34 (7 h9)	–	–
24	Patrick Dybiona	NED	1:52.67 (1 h5)	–	–
25	Stéfan Voléry	SUI	1:52.94 (2 h5)	–	–
26	Rodrigo González	MEX	1:52.99 (3 h5)	–	–
27	Michael Green	GBR	1:53.03 (2 h6)	–	–
=28	Daniel Serra	ESP	1:53.05 (=3 h6)	–	–
=28	Magnús Ólafsson	ISL	1:53.05 (=3 h6)	–	–
30	Júlio López	BRA	1:53.16 (5 h6)	–	–
31	Jan Larsen	DEN	1:53.61 (6 h6)	–	–
32	Ignacio Escamilla	MEX	1:53.63 (4 h5)	–	–
33	Jean-Marie Arnould	BEL	1:53.73 (7 h6)	–	–
34	Zoltán Szilágyi	HUN	1:53.75 (8 h6)	–	–
35	Ludovic Dépickère	FRA	1:53.81 (8 h8)	–	–
36	Salvador Vassallo	PUR	1:53.82 (5 h5)	–	–
37	Norbert Ágh	HUN	1:54.72 (8 h9)	–	–
38	Yves Clausse	LUX	1:54.90 (6 h5)	–	–
39	Xie Jun	CHN	1:55.04 (7 h5)	–	–
40	René Concepcion	PHI	1:55.58 (1 h4)	–	–
41	Alexander Placheta	AUT	1:56.11 (2 h4)	–	–
42	Vaughan Smith	ZIM	1:56.13 (8 h5)	–	–
43	David Lim	SGP	1:56.44 (1 h3)	–	–
44	Eric Buhain	PHI	1:56.84 (2 h3)	–	–
45	Gwon Sang-Won	KOR	1:56.88 (3 h3)	–	–
46	Oon Jin Gee	SGP	1:57.28 (4 h3)	–	–
47	Moustafa Amer	EGY	1:57.50 (3 h4)	–	–
48	Richard Bera	INA	1:57.60 (4 h4)	–	–
49	Jonathan Sakovich	GUM	1:57.72 (5 h4)	–	–
50	Stephen Cullen	IRL	1:57.90 (6 h4)	–	–
51	Arthur Li	HKG	1:58.10 (5 h3)	–	–
52	Hakan Eskioğlu	TUR	1:58.45 (7 h4)	–	–
53	Jeffrey Ong	MAS	1:58.62 (8 h4)	–	–
54	Gwon Sun-Geun	KOR	1:58.95 (6 h3)	–	–
55	Wu Ming-Hsun	TPE	2:00.43 (1 h2)	–	–
56	Tsang Yi Ming	HKG	2:01.02 (7 h3)	–	–
57	Richard Gheel	IRL	2:01.73 (8 h3)	–	–
58	Hans Foerster	ISV	2:01.94 (2 h2)	–	–
59	Kristan Singleton	ISV	2:06.45 (3 h2)	–	–
60	Jason Chute	FIJ	2:09.05 (4 h2)	–	–
61	Mohamed Bin Abid	UAE	2:09.43 (5 h2)	–	–
62	Ahmad Faraj	UAE	2:13.21 (6 h2)	–	–
63	Émile Lahoud	LBN	2:16.39 (7 h2)	–	–

Round One (18 September 1988 — 9:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Heat One

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Wu Ming-Hsun	TPE	28.83 (3) 30.46 (2)	59.29 (2) 30.94 (1)	1:30.23 (1) 30.20 (1)	2:00.43
2	5	Hans Foerster	ISV	28.58 (1) 30.44 (1)	59.02 (1) 31.86 (2)	1:30.88 (2) 31.06 (2)	2:01.94
3	3	Kristan Singleton	ISV	28.81 (2) 31.96 (=4)	1:00.77 (3) 33.56 (3)	1:34.33 (3) 32.12 (3)	2:06.45
4	1	Jason Chute	FIJ	28.85 (4) 31.96 (=4)	1:00.81 (4) 34.16 (5)	1:34.97 (4) 34.08 (5)	2:09.05
5	7	Mohamed Bin Abid	UAE	29.18 (5) 31.89 (3)	1:01.07 (5) 33.96 (4)	1:35.03 (5) 34.40 (7)	2:09.43
6	2	Ahmad Faraj	UAE	30.09 (6) 33.33 (6)	1:03.42 (6) 35.78 (7)	1:39.20 (6) 34.01 (4)	2:13.21
7	6	Émile Lahoud	LBN	31.66 (7) 34.89 (7)	1:06.55 (7) 35.66 (6)	1:42.21 (7) 34.18 (6)	2:16.39

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	1	David Lim	SGP	27.35 (4) 29.05 (1)	56.40 (4) 30.54 (3)	1:26.94 (4) 29.50 (1)	1:56.44
2	4	Eric Buhain	PHI	26.54 (1) 29.36 (4)	55.90 (2) 30.81 (5)	1:26.71 (3) 30.13 (3)	1:56.84
3	3	Gwon Sang-Won	KOR	26.66 (2) 29.21 (3)	55.87 (1) 30.06 (1)	1:25.93 (1) 30.95 (6)	1:56.88
4	5	Oon Jin Gee	SGP	26.93 (3) 29.20 (2)	56.13 (3) 30.24 (2)	1:26.37 (2) 30.91 (5)	1:57.28
5	7	Arthur Li	HKG	27.41 (5) 29.94 (5)	57.35 (5) 30.88 (6)	1:28.23 (5) 29.87 (2)	1:58.10
6	6	Gwon Sun-Geun	KOR	27.47 (6) 30.14 (6)	57.61 (6) 30.93 (7)	1:28.54 (6) 30.41 (4)	1:58.95
7	8	Tsang Yi Ming	HKG	28.47 (8) 30.77 (8)	59.24 (8) 30.78 (4)	1:30.02 (7) 31.00 (7)	2:01.02
8	2	Richard Gheel	IRL	28.22 (7) 30.64 (7)	58.86 (7) 31.30 (8)	1:30.16 (8) 31.57 (8)	2:01.73

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	2	René Concepcion	PHI	27.26 (2) 28.99 (1)	56.25 (1) 29.35 (2)	1:25.60 (1) 29.98 (3)	1:55.58
2	5	Alexander Placheta	AUT	27.10 (1) 29.65 (3)	56.75 (2) 29.26 (1)	1:26.01 (2) 30.10 (5)	1:56.11
3	4	Moustafa Amer	EGY	27.49 (4) 29.76 (5)	57.25 (5) 30.02 (4)	1:27.27 (3) 30.23 (7)	1:57.50
4	7	Richard Bera	INA	27.44 (3) 29.72 (4)	57.16 (4) 30.24 (6)	1:27.40 (5) 30.20 (6)	1:57.60
5	6	Jonathan Sakovich	GUM	27.69 (6) 29.36 (2)	57.05 (3) 30.67 (7)	1:27.72 (6) 30.00 (4)	1:57.72
6	1	Stephen Cullen	IRL	27.86 (8) 30.27 (8)	58.13 (8) 30.11 (5)	1:28.24 (7) 29.66 (2)	1:57.90
7	3	Hakan Eskioğlu	TUR	27.65 (5) 29.98 (6)	57.63 (6) 29.74 (3)	1:27.37 (4) 31.08 (8)	1:58.45
8	8	Jeffrey Ong	MAS	27.71 (7) 30.22 (7)	57.93 (7) 31.07 (8)	1:29.00 (8) 29.62 (1)	1:58.62

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	5	Patrick Dybiona	NED	25.66 (1) 27.84 (1)	53.50 (1) 29.43 (5)	1:22.93 (1) 29.74 (6)	1:52.67
2	1	Stéfan Voléry	SUI	26.76 (6) 28.66 (6)	55.42 (6) 28.97 (1)	1:24.39 (5) 28.55 (1)	1:52.94
3	2	Rodrigo González	MEX	26.87 (7) 28.39 (3)	55.26 (4) 28.99 (=2)	1:24.25 (4) 28.74 (2)	1:52.99
4	6	Ignacio Escamilla	MEX	26.61 (4) 28.52 (5)	55.13 (3) 28.99 (=2)	1:24.12 (=2) 29.51 (4)	1:53.63
5	3	Salvador Vassallo	PUR	27.07 (8) 28.41 (4)	55.48 (7) 29.03 (4)	1:24.51 (6) 29.31 (3)	1:53.82
6	8	Yves Clausse	LUX	26.73 (5) 28.91 (8)	55.64 (8) 29.71 (6)	1:25.35 (8) 29.55 (5)	1:54.90
7	4	Xie Jun	CHN	26.19 (2) 28.10 (2)	54.29 (2) 29.83 (7)	1:24.12 (=2) 30.92 (8)	1:55.04
8	7	Vaughan Smith	ZIM	26.59 (3) 28.81 (7)	55.40 (5) 29.84 (8)	1:25.24 (7) 30.89 (7)	1:56.13

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	6	Shigeo Ogata	JPN	26.83 (3) 27.72 (1)	54.55 (1) 27.95 (1)	1:22.50 (1) 28.64 (4)	1:51.14	q
2	8	Michael Green	GBR	27.44 (8) 28.65 (6)	56.09 (8) 28.59 (3)	1:24.68 (7) 28.35 (1)	1:53.03
=3	1	Magnús Ólafsson	ISL	26.56 (1) 28.86 (8)	55.42 (3) 28.81 (6)	1:24.23 (4) 28.82 (5)	1:53.05
=3	3	Daniel Serra	ESP	27.01 (4) 28.47 (4)	55.48 (4) 28.96 (8)	1:24.44 (5) 28.61 (3)	1:53.05
5	4	Júlio López	BRA	27.15 (6) 28.68 (7)	55.83 (6) 28.73 (5)	1:24.56 (6) 28.60 (2)	1:53.16
6	7	Jan Larsen	DEN	27.06 (5) 28.45 (3)	55.51 (5) 28.48 (2)	1:23.99 (3) 29.62 (7)	1:53.61
7	2	Jean-Marie Arnould	BEL	26.70 (2) 28.25 (2)	54.95 (2) 28.71 (4)	1:23.66 (2) 30.07 (8)	1:53.73
8	5	Zoltán Szilágyi	HUN	27.34 (7) 28.62 (5)	55.96 (7) 28.90 (7)	1:24.86 (8) 28.89 (6)	1:53.75

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	5	Anders Holmertz	SWE	25.61 (1) 27.87 (4)	53.48 (2) 28.30 (1)	1:21.78 (1) 27.50 (=1)	1:49.28	Q
2	3	Stéphan Caron	FRA	25.82 (3) 28.02 (7)	53.84 (5) 28.32 (2)	1:22.16 (5) 27.50 (=1)	1:49.66	q
3	4	Giorgio Lamberti	ITA	25.71 (2) 27.73 (3)	53.44 (1) 28.68 (7)	1:22.12 (3) 28.35 (4)	1:50.47	q
4	2	Aleksey Kuznetsov	URS	25.91 (6) 27.99 (6)	53.90 (6) 28.40 (4)	1:22.30 (6) 28.54 (6)	1:50.84	q
5	7	Mariusz Podkościelny	POL	26.04 (7) 27.65 (1)	53.69 (4) 28.44 (5)	1:22.13 (4) 28.82 (7)	1:50.95	q
6	6	Tom Stachewicz	AUS	25.84 (5) 27.68 (2)	53.52 (3) 28.39 (3)	1:21.91 (2) 29.11 (8)	1:51.02	q
7	1	Paul Howe	GBR	26.54 (8) 27.88 (5)	54.42 (8) 28.46 (6)	1:22.88 (7) 28.34 (3)	1:51.22
8	8	Alberto Bottini	SUI	25.83 (4) 28.25 (8)	54.08 (7) 28.86 (8)	1:22.94 (8) 28.51 (5)	1:51.45

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	3	Artur Wojdat	POL	25.56 (4) 27.68 (3)	53.24 (4) 27.38 (1)	1:20.62 (2) 27.40 (1)	1:48.02	Q
2	4	Matt Biondi	USA	25.01 (1) 27.10 (1)	52.11 (1) 28.09 (4)	1:20.20 (1) 28.19 (4)	1:48.39	Q
3	5	Thomas Fahrner	FRG	25.85 (7) 27.85 (=6)	53.70 (6) 27.71 (3)	1:21.41 (5) 27.61 (2)	1:49.02	Q
4	6	Steffen Zesner	GDR	25.58 (5) 27.78 (5)	53.36 (5) 27.70 (2)	1:21.06 (3) 28.07 (3)	1:49.13	Q
5	8	Franz Mortensen	DEN	25.41 (2) 27.31 (2)	52.72 (2) 28.41 (5)	1:21.13 (4) 30.02 (6)	1:51.15
6	1	Carlos Scanavino	URU	26.05 (8) 27.85 (=6)	53.90 (7) 28.53 (7)	1:22.43 (7) 28.99 (5)	1:51.42
7	2	Tom Werner	SWE	25.49 (3) 27.73 (4)	53.22 (3) 28.52 (6)	1:21.74 (6) 30.22 (7)	1:51.96
8	7	Ludovic Dépickère	FRA	25.75 (6) 28.23 (8)	53.98 (8) 29.48 (8)	1:23.46 (8) 30.35 (8)	1:53.81

Heat Nine

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Michael Groß	FRG	25.16 (1) 27.16 (1)	52.32 (1) 27.99 (3)	1:20.31 (1) 28.24 (4)	1:48.55	Q
2	7	Duncan Armstrong	AUS	26.08 (6) 27.52 (5)	53.60 (6) 27.71 (1)	1:21.31 (3) 27.55 (1)	1:48.86	Q
3	5	Troy Dalbey	USA	25.31 (2) 27.38 (2)	52.69 (2) 27.84 (2)	1:20.53 (2) 28.43 (5)	1:48.96	Q
4	3	Roberto Gleria	ITA	25.58 (4) 27.48 (=3)	53.06 (3) 28.47 (5)	1:21.53 (5) 27.98 (2)	1:49.51	q
5	6	Thomas Flemming	GDR	25.76 (5) 27.48 (=3)	53.24 (4) 28.27 (4)	1:21.51 (4) 28.01 (3)	1:49.52	q
6	2	Iurie Bașcatov	URS	25.45 (3) 28.04 (6)	53.49 (5) 28.87 (6)	1:22.36 (6) 29.68 (8)	1:52.04
7	8	Cristiano Michelena	BRA	26.54 (7) 28.16 (7)	54.70 (7) 29.05 (7)	1:23.75 (7) 28.59 (6)	1:52.34
8	1	Norbert Ágh	HUN	26.56 (8) 29.16 (8)	55.72 (8) 29.48 (8)	1:25.20 (8) 29.52 (7)	1:54.72

B Final (19 September 1988 — 12:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Roberto Gleria	ITA	26.88 (8) 28.37 (3)	55.25 (7) 27.51 (1)	1:22.76 (2) 26.52 (1)	1:49.28
2	5	Thomas Flemming	GDR	26.74 (6) 28.42 (4)	55.16 (=5) 27.83 (2)	1:22.99 (4) 27.19 (3)	1:50.18
3	2	Tom Stachewicz	AUS	26.24 (2) 29.09 (8)	55.33 (8) 28.54 (7)	1:23.87 (7) 26.96 (2)	1:50.83
4	3	Aleksey Kuznetsov	URS	26.34 (3) 28.45 (5)	54.79 (3) 28.53 (6)	1:23.32 (5) 27.71 (4)	1:51.03
5	1	Franz Mortensen	DEN	26.19 (1) 28.50 (7)	54.69 (1) 28.05 (3)	1:22.74 (1) 28.70 (7)	1:51.44
6	6	Mariusz Podkościelny	POL	26.63 (4) 28.14 (1)	54.77 (2) 28.15 (4)	1:22.92 (3) 28.71 (8)	1:51.63
7	7	Shigeo Ogata	JPN	26.87 (7) 28.24 (2)	55.11 (4) 28.51 (5)	1:23.62 (6) 28.27 (6)	1:51.89
8	8	Paul Howe	GBR	26.67 (5) 28.49 (6)	55.16 (=5) 28.89 (8)	1:24.05 (8) 27.94 (5)	1:51.99

Final (19 September 1988 — 12:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	6	Duncan Armstrong	AUS	25.46 (3) 27.56 (3)	53.02 (3) 27.03 (1)	1:20.05 (3) 27.20 (1)	1:47.25	WR
2	8	Anders Holmertz	SWE	25.16 (2) 27.05 (1)	52.21 (1) 27.82 (6)	1:20.03 (2) 27.86 (6)	1:47.89
3	5	Matt Biondi	USA	24.98 (1) 27.27 (2)	52.25 (2) 27.37 (3)	1:19.62 (1) 28.37 (8)	1:47.99
4	4	Artur Wojdat	POL	25.66 (7) 27.92 (6)	53.58 (7) 27.22 (2)	1:20.80 (4) 27.60 (4)	1:48.40
5	3	Michael Groß	FRG	25.65 (6) 27.71 (4)	53.36 (4) 27.52 (5)	1:20.88 (5) 27.71 (5)	1:48.59
6	1	Steffen Zesner	GDR	25.59 (5) 27.78 (5)	53.37 (5) 27.96 (7)	1:21.33 (7) 27.44 (3)	1:48.77
7	2	Troy Dalbey	USA	25.56 (4) 27.94 (7)	53.50 (6) 27.49 (4)	1:20.99 (6) 27.87 (7)	1:48.86
8	7	Thomas Fahrner	FRG	25.75 (8) 27.96 (8)	53.71 (8) 28.18 (8)	1:21.89 (8) 27.30 (2)	1:49.19