| Date | 30 – 31 July 2012 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | London Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park, Stratford, London |
| Participants | 37 from 28 countries |
Michael Phelps had won this event at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and was also World Champion in 2011. He was attempting to become the first man to three-peat in an Olympic swimming event. In the final he took the early lead and held it through most of the race, chased by South African Chad le Clos, 2010 gold medalist in the 200 IM at the Youth Olympics, and Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda, the bronze medalist from Beijing, and silver medalist to Phelps at the 2011 Worlds. Less than 15 metres from the wall, Phelps seemed to have his three-peat but then Le Clos closed quickly and out-touched Phelps for the gold medal – 1:52.96 to 1:53.01. Matsuda held on for his second consecutive bronze medal in the event.
For Phelps this was his 18th Olympic medal, tying him with Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina for the all-time record for most Olympic medals. Phelps would soon break that and finish the London Olympics with a career total of 22 medals and 18 gold medals.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chad le Clos |  RSA | 1:55.23 (2 h3) | 1:54.34 (2 h1) | 1:52.96 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Michael Phelps |  USA | 1:55.53 (3 h5) | 1:54.53 (1 h2) | 1:53.01 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Takeshi Matsuda |  JPN | 1:55.81 (1 h4) | 1:54.25 (1 h1) | 1:53.21 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Dinko Jukic |  AUT | 1:54.79 (1 h5) | 1:54.95 (2 h2) | 1:54.35 (4) | |||
| 5 | Tyler Clary | USA | 1:54.96 (2 h5) | 1:54.93 (4 h1) | 1:55.06 (5) | |||
| 6 | Velimir Stjepanović |  SRB | 1:54.99 (1 h3) | 1:55.13 (4 h2) | 1:55.07 (6) | |||
| 7 | Paweł Korzeniowski |  POL | 1:56.09 (4 h5) | 1:55.04 (3 h2) | 1:55.08 (7) | |||
| 8 | Chen Yin |  CHN | 1:55.60 (3 h3) | 1:54.43 (3 h1) | 1:55.18 (8) | |||
| 9 | Bence Biczó |  HUN | 1:56.51 (3 h4) | 1:55.36 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | Kazuya Kaneda | JPN | 1:55.70 (4 h3) | 1:55.56 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | Wu Peng | CHN | 1:55.88 (5 h3) | 1:55.65 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 12 | László Cseh, Jr. | HUN | 1:55.86 (2 h4) | 1:55.88 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 13 | Nick D'Arcy |  AUS | 1:56.25 (5 h5) | 1:56.07 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | Nikolay Skvortsov |  RUS | 1:56.76 (4 h4) | 1:56.53 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 15 | Ioannis Drymonakos |  GRE | 1:56.97 (6 h3) | 1:58.05 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 16 | Chris Wright | AUS | 1:56.69 (6 h5) | 1:58.56 (8 h1) | – | |||
| =17 | Kaio Márcio |  BRA | 1:56.99 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| =17 | Joe Roebuck |  GBR | 1:56.99 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 19 | Marcin Cieślak | POL | 1:57.07 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 20 | Roberto Pavoni | GBR | 1:57.55 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 21 | Leonardo de Deus | BRA | 1:58.03 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 22 | Pedro Oliveira |  POR | 1:58.45 (1 h2) | – | – | |||
| 23 | Stefanos Dimitriadis | GRE | 1:58.79 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 24 | Robert Žbogar |  SLO | 1:58.99 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 25 | Mauricio Fiol |  PER | 1:59.02 (2 h2) | – | – | |||
| 26 | Joseph Schooling |  SGP | 1:59.18 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 27 | Marcos Lavado |  VEN | 1:59.31 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 28 | Illia Chuiev |  UKR | 1:59.65 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 29 | Alexandru Coci |  ROU | 1:59.67 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 30 | Hsu Chi-Chieh |  TPE | 1:59.81 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 31 | David Sharpe |  CAN | 1:59.87 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 32 | Gal Nevo |  ISR | 1:59.98 (1 h1) | – | – | |||
| 33 | Alexandre Liess |  SUI | 2:00.13 (8 h2) | – | – | |||
| 34 | Omar Pinzón |  COL | 2:02.32 (2 h1) | – | – | |||
| 35 | Diego Castillo |  PAN | 2:04.72 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 36 | Yousef Al-Askari |  KUW | 2:05.41 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 37 | Hocine Haciane |  AND | 2:06.37 (5 h1) | – | – |
| Date | 30 July 2012 — 10:21 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest 16 swimmers advanced to semi-finals |
| Time | 10:21 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Gal Nevo | ISR | 1:59.98 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Omar Pinzón | COL | 2:02.32 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Diego Castillo | PAN | 2:04.72 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Yousef Al-Askari | KUW | 2:05.41 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Hocine Haciane | AND | 2:06.37 |
| Time | 10:25 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Pedro Oliveira | POR | 1:58.45 | ||
| 2 | 8 | Mauricio Fiol | PER | 1:59.02 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Marcos Lavado | VEN | 1:59.31 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Illia Chuiev | UKR | 1:59.65 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Alexandru Coci | ROU | 1:59.67 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Hsu Chi-Chieh | TPE | 1:59.81 | ||
| 7 | 6 | David Sharpe | CAN | 1:59.87 | ||
| 8 | 4 | Alexandre Liess | SUI | 2:00.13 |
| Time | 10:29 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Velimir Stjepanović | SRB | 1:54.99 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Chad le Clos | RSA | 1:55.23 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Chen Yin | CHN | 1:55.60 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Kazuya Kaneda | JPN | 1:55.70 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Wu Peng | CHN | 1:55.88 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Ioannis Drymonakos | GRE | 1:56.97 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Joe Roebuck | GBR | 1:56.99 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Robert Žbogar | SLO | 1:58.99 |
| Time | 10:32 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Takeshi Matsuda | JPN | 1:55.81 | ||
| 2 | 3 | László Cseh, Jr. | HUN | 1:55.86 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Bence Biczó | HUN | 1:56.51 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Nikolay Skvortsov | RUS | 1:56.76 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Kaio Márcio | BRA | 1:56.99 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Marcin Cieślak | POL | 1:57.07 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Leonardo de Deus | BRA | 1:58.03 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Stefanos Dimitriadis | GRE | 1:58.79 |
| Time | 10:36 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Dinko Jukic | AUT | 1:54.79 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Tyler Clary | USA | 1:54.96 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Michael Phelps | USA | 1:55.53 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Paweł Korzeniowski | POL | 1:56.09 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Nick D'Arcy | AUS | 1:56.25 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Chris Wright | AUS | 1:56.69 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Roberto Pavoni | GBR | 1:57.55 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Joseph Schooling | SGP | 1:59.18 |
| Date | 30 July 2012 — 20:32 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight swimmers advanced to final |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Takeshi Matsuda | JPN | 1:54.25 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Chad le Clos | RSA | 1:54.34 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Chen Yin | CHN | 1:54.43 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Michael Phelps | USA | 1:54.53 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Tyler Clary | USA | 1:54.93 | ||
| 6 | 4 | Dinko Jukic | AUT | 1:54.95 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Paweł Korzeniowski | POL | 1:55.04 | ||
| 8 | 5 | Velimir Stjepanović | SRB | 1:55.13 | ||
| 9 | 1 | Bence Biczó | HUN | 1:55.36 | ||
| 10 | 6 | Kazuya Kaneda | JPN | 1:55.56 | ||
| 11 | 2 | Wu Peng | CHN | 1:55.65 | ||
| 12 | 2 | László Cseh, Jr. | HUN | 1:55.88 | ||
| 13 | 7 | Nick D'Arcy | AUS | 1:56.07 | ||
| 14 | 8 | Nikolay Skvortsov | RUS | 1:56.53 | ||
| 15 | 8 | Ioannis Drymonakos | GRE | 1:58.05 | ||
| 16 | 1 | Chris Wright | AUS | 1:58.56 |
| Time | 20:32 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Takeshi Matsuda | JPN | 1:54.25 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Chad le Clos | RSA | 1:54.34 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Chen Yin | CHN | 1:54.43 | ||
| 4 | 4 | Tyler Clary | USA | 1:54.93 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Wu Peng | CHN | 1:55.65 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Nick D'Arcy | AUS | 1:56.07 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Ioannis Drymonakos | GRE | 1:58.05 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Chris Wright | AUS | 1:58.56 |
| Time | 20:40 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Michael Phelps | USA | 1:54.53 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Dinko Jukic | AUT | 1:54.95 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Paweł Korzeniowski | POL | 1:55.04 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Velimir Stjepanović | SRB | 1:55.13 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Bence Biczó | HUN | 1:55.36 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Kazuya Kaneda | JPN | 1:55.56 | ||
| 7 | 2 | László Cseh, Jr. | HUN | 1:55.88 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Nikolay Skvortsov | RUS | 1:56.53 |
| Date | 31 July 2012 — 19:49 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Chad le Clos | RSA | 1:52.96 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Michael Phelps | USA | 1:53.01 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Takeshi Matsuda | JPN | 1:53.21 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Dinko Jukic | AUT | 1:54.35 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Tyler Clary | USA | 1:55.06 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Velimir Stjepanović | SRB | 1:55.07 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Paweł Korzeniowski | POL | 1:55.08 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Chen Yin | CHN | 1:55.18 |
