| Date | 20 – 21 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul |
| Participants | 51 from 36 countries |
The best butterflyer in the world for the last 5-6 years was American Pablo Morales, but he shockingly failed to make the US team at the Olympic Trials. This left his teammate Matt Biondi in the favorite’s role in Seoul. Biondi was attempting to emulate Mark Spitz and win seven gold medals but, the night before this final, the 1988 Olympics had started poorly for him when he won “only” a bronze medal in the 200 free.
In the butterfly final, Biondi went well ahead to the wall. He led the race until the last stroke but, as he neared the wall, he was between strokes and elected to kick in, only to be slightly farther out than he realized, and this allowed Suriname’s Anthony Nesty to pass him and win the gold medal by 1/100th of a second. Nesty was not unknown, having placed fourth at the 1986 World Championships and winning gold at the 1987 Pan American Games, but this was an upset, and it was the first Olympic medal ever won for Suriname, and also made Nesty the first black swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal.
Nesty had trained, lived and went to college in the United States for several years. However, he considered Suriname home and returned to a hero’s welcome, being showered with gifts. He would return to Barcelona four years hence and add a bronze medal in this event. Biondi recovered fairly well from his poor start in Seoul, winning five golds in his last five races.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | B Final | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 474 | Anthony Nesty |  SUR | 53.50 (1 h6) | – | 53.00 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 548 | Matt Biondi |  USA | 53.46 (1 h7) | – | 53.01 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 246 | Andy Jameson |  GBR | 53.34 (1 h5) | – | 53.30 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 24 | Jon Sieben |  AUS | 53.85 (3 h7) | – | 53.33 (4) | |||
| 5 | 204 | Michael Groß |  FRG | 53.78 (2 h7) | – | 53.44 (5) | |||
| 6 | 571 | Jay Mortenson | USA | 54.44 (3 h6) | – | 54.07 (6) | |||
| 7 | 85 | Tom Ponting |  CAN | 54.31 (2 h5) | – | 54.09 (7) | |||
| 8 | 518 | Vadim Yaroshchuk |  URS | 54.17 (2 h6) | – | 54.60 (8) | |||
| 9 | 108 | Shen Jianqiang |  CHN | 54.86 (7 h5) | 54.52 (1) | – | |||
| 10 | 436 | Anthony Mosse |  NZL | 54.63 (3 h5) | 54.63 (2) | – | |||
| 11 | 130 | Benny Nielsen |  DEN | 54.52 (4 h7) | 54.77 (3) | – | |||
| 12 | 72 | Vlastimil Cerny | CAN | 54.66 (4 h5) | 54.79 (4) | – | |||
| 13 | 444 | Rafał Szukała |  POL | 54.83 (6 h5) | 54.80 (5) | – | |||
| 14 | 380 | Hiroshi Miura |  JPN | 54.82 (5 h7) | 54.98 (6) | – | |||
| 15 | 119 | Zheng Jian | CHN | 54.69 (5 h5) | 55.05 (7) | – | |||
| 16 | 235 | Neil Cochran | GBR | 54.75 (4 h6) | 55.22 (8) | – | |||
| 17 | 208 | Martin Herrmann | FRG | 55.20 (6 h7) | – | – | |||
| 18 | 141 | José Luis Ballester |  ESP | 55.27 (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| 19 | 295 | Frank Drost |  NED | 55.38 (7 h7) | – | – | |||
| 20 | 32 | David Wilson | AUS | 55.54 (1 h4) | – | – | |||
| 21 | 494 | Robert Wolf |  TCH | 55.73 (8 h7) | – | – | |||
| 22 | 361 | Leonardo Michelotti |  ITA | 55.83 (6 h6) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 531 | Konstantin Petrov | URS | 55.84 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 24 | 387 | Yukinori Tanaka | JPN | 56.19 (2 h4) | – | – | |||
| 25 | 432 | Ross Anderson | NZL | 56.31 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 26 | 60 | Eduardo Poli |  BRA | 56.37 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 27 | 176 | Ludovic Dépickère |  FRA | 56.47 (8 h6) | – | – | |||
| 28 | 356 | Valerio Giambalvo | ITA | 56.57 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 29 | 37 | Reinhold Leitner |  AUT | 56.72 (1 h2) | – | – | |||
| 30 | 469 | Théophile David |  SUI | 56.77 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 31 | 439 | Eric Buhain |  PHI | 57.17 (1 h3) | – | – | |||
| 32 | 63 | Vladimir Ribeiro | BRA | 57.25 (2 h3) | – | – | |||
| 33 | 446 | Mabílio Albuquerque |  POR | 57.30 (2 h2) | – | – | |||
| 34 | 48 | Paul Yelle |  BAR | 57.36 (1 h1) | – | – | |||
| 35 | 459 | Ang Peng Siong |  SGP | 57.41 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 36 | 270 | Theodoros Gkriniazakis |  GRE | 57.56 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 37 | 448 | Paulo Camacho | POR | 57.62 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 38 | 406 | Park Yeong-Cheol |  KOR | 57.74 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 39 | 288 | Tsang Yi Ming |  HKG | 57.84 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 40 | 429 | Urbano Zea |  MEX | 57.89 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 41 | 427 | Carlos Romo | MEX | 58.04 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 42 | 4 | Pedro Lima |  ANG | 59.21 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 43 | 603 | Graham Thompson |  ZIM | 1:00.13 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 44 | 342 | Kristan Singleton |  ISV | 1:00.97 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 45 | 338 | William Cleveland | ISV | 1:01.10 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 46 | 430 | Sergio Fafitine |  MOZ | 1:01.15 (2 h1) | – | – | |||
| 47 | 301 | Plutarco Castellanos |  HON | 1:02.69 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 48 | 45 | Salam Mohamed Abdul Salam |  BAN | 1:03.69 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 49 | 503 | Mohamed Bin Abid |  UAE | 1:06.25 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 50 | 488 | Trevor Ncala |  SWZ | 1:06.85 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 51 | 3 | Jorge Gomes | ANG | 1:09.60 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 35 | Michael Adam | AUT | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| 458 | Sal Vassallo |  PUR | – (DNS h1) | – | – | ||||
| 463 | Oon Jin Gee | SGP | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| 590 | Matjaž Kozelj |  YUG | – (DNS h3) | – | – |
| Date | 20 September 1988 — 9:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Paul Yelle | BAR | 57.36 | ||
| 2 | 7 | Sergio Fafitine | MOZ | 1:01.15 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Plutarco Castellanos | HON | 1:02.69 | ||
| 4 | 4 | Salam Mohamed Abdul Salam | BAN | 1:03.69 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Mohamed Bin Abid | UAE | 1:06.25 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Trevor Ncala | SWZ | 1:06.85 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Jorge Gomes | ANG | 1:09.60 | ||
| 1 | Sal Vassallo | PUR | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Reinhold Leitner | AUT | 56.72 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Mabílio Albuquerque | POR | 57.30 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Urbano Zea | MEX | 57.89 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Pedro Lima | ANG | 59.21 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Graham Thompson | ZIM | 1:00.13 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Kristan Singleton | ISV | 1:00.97 | ||
| 7 | 8 | William Cleveland | ISV | 1:01.10 | ||
| 4 | Oon Jin Gee | SGP | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Eric Buhain | PHI | 57.17 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Vladimir Ribeiro | BRA | 57.25 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Theodoros Gkriniazakis | GRE | 57.56 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Paulo Camacho | POR | 57.62 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Park Yeong-Cheol | KOR | 57.74 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Tsang Yi Ming | HKG | 57.84 | ||
| 1 | Matjaž Kozelj | YUG | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | David Wilson | AUS | 55.54 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Yukinori Tanaka | JPN | 56.19 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Ross Anderson | NZL | 56.31 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Eduardo Poli | BRA | 56.37 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Théophile David | SUI | 56.77 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Ang Peng Siong | SGP | 57.41 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Carlos Romo | MEX | 58.04 | ||
| 4 | Michael Adam | AUT | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Andy Jameson | GBR | 53.34 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Tom Ponting | CAN | 54.31 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Anthony Mosse | NZL | 54.63 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Vlastimil Cerny | CAN | 54.66 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Zheng Jian | CHN | 54.69 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Rafał Szukała | POL | 54.83 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Shen Jianqiang | CHN | 54.86 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Valerio Giambalvo | ITA | 56.57 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Anthony Nesty | SUR | 53.50 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Vadim Yaroshchuk | URS | 54.17 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Jay Mortenson | USA | 54.44 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Neil Cochran | GBR | 54.75 | ||
| 5 | 1 | José Luis Ballester | ESP | 55.27 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Leonardo Michelotti | ITA | 55.83 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Konstantin Petrov | URS | 55.84 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Ludovic Dépickère | FRA | 56.47 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Matt Biondi | USA | 53.46 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Michael Groß | FRG | 53.78 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Jon Sieben | AUS | 53.85 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Benny Nielsen | DEN | 54.52 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Hiroshi Miura | JPN | 54.82 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Martin Herrmann | FRG | 55.20 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Frank Drost | NED | 55.38 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Robert Wolf | TCH | 55.73 |
| Date | 21 September 1988 — 12:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Shen Jianqiang | CHN | 54.52 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Anthony Mosse | NZL | 54.63 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Benny Nielsen | DEN | 54.77 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Vlastimil Cerny | CAN | 54.79 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Rafał Szukała | POL | 54.80 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Hiroshi Miura | JPN | 54.98 | ||
| 7 | 6 | Zheng Jian | CHN | 55.05 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Neil Cochran | GBR | 55.22 |
| Date | 21 September 1988 — 12:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Anthony Nesty | SUR | 53.00 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Matt Biondi | USA | 53.01 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Andy Jameson | GBR | 53.30 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Jon Sieben | AUS | 53.33 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Michael Groß | FRG | 53.44 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Jay Mortenson | USA | 54.07 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Tom Ponting | CAN | 54.09 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Vadim Yaroshchuk | URS | 54.60 |
