| Date | 3 August 1992 | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Canal Olímpico de Cataluña, Castelldefels | |
| Format | Top 4 in each heat and fastest fifth advanced to the semi-finals. | |
| Time | 17:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 250 m | 250-500 m | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Pascal Sylvoz |  FRA | 1:55.72 | 56.71 (2) | 59.01 (1) | ||
| 2 | 3 | Tiit Tikerpe |  EST | 1:56.24 | 56.90 (3) | 59.34 (2) | ||
| 3 | 1 | Armando Silega |  CUB | 1:56.25 | 55.64 (1) | 1:00.61 (3) | ||
| 4 | 2 | Mariusz Walkowiak |  POL | 1:59.24 | 57.00 (4) | 1:02.24 (4) | ||
| 5 | 5 | Aleksandar Đurić |  BIH | 2:04.68 | 58.95 (5) | 1:05.73 (5) |
| Time | 17:40 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | 250 m | 250-500 m | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Franco Lizzio |  ITA | 1:54.72 | 55.79 (1) | 58.93 (3) | ||
| 2 | 1 | Park Chang-Gyu |  KOR | 1:55.16 | 56.76 (4) | 58.40 (1) | ||
| 3 | 4 | Peter Liljedahl |  SWE | 1:55.29 | 56.59 (3) | 58.70 (2) | ||
| 4 | 2 | Francisco López |  ESP | 1:56.60 | 56.55 (2) | 1:00.05 (5) | ||
| 5 | 3 | Fred Spaulding |  USA | 1:57.48 | 58.13 (5) | 59.35 (4) |
