| Date | 30 July 1984 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympic Swim Stadium, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 53 from 39 countries |
The top 100 butterflyer in 1982-83 had been the United States’ Matt Gribble. After winning the 1982 World Championships, he had set the world record of 53.44 in 1983 and bettered 54 seconds six times, the only swimmer in the world to break that barrier. He made the US team but placed second at the Olympic Trials to Pablo Morales, who broke the world record in winning, recording 53.38. But Gribble was injured in Los Angeles, having hurt his back, and his coach commented, “The Trials was a miracle swim for him. He hadn’t done any sprint work and not yardage since his injury. He was swimming off his background.” Gribble would sadly fail to qualify for the Olympic final.
But Michael Groß was so good at the Olympics that he likely may have won even facing a top-notch Gribble. The day before this race he had won the 200 freestyle in world record time. Morales was ahead at the wall in 24.76, ahead of his world record pace, and had ½-a-bodylength on Groß. But he gradually closed the gap and regained the lead 10 metres from the wall, outtouching Morales in 53.08, another world record, as Morales was also under the old standard, with 53.23. The final was fast, very fast, as every swimmer except eighth-place finisher Bengt Baron (SWE), the 1980 Olympic champ in the 100 back, recorded a personal best and a national record.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | B Final | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 196 | Michael Groß |  FRG | 54.02 (1 h6) | – | 53.08 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 476 | Pablo Morales |  USA | 53.78 (1 h7) | – | 53.23 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 12 | Glenn Buchanan |  AUS | 54.86 (1 h1) | – | 53.85 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 497 | Rafael Vidal |  VEN | 54.33 (1 h2) | – | 54.27 (4) | |||
| 5 | 228 | Andy Jameson |  GBR | 54.59 (1 h4) | – | 54.28 (5) | |||
| 6 | – | Anthony Mosse |  NZL | 55.19 (2 h7) | – | 54.93 (6) | |||
| 7 | 189 | Andreas Behrend | FRG | 55.22 (1 h3) | – | 54.95 (7) | |||
| 8 | – | Bengt Baron |  SWE | 54.67 (1 h5) | – | 55.14 (8) | |||
| 9 | 96 | Tom Ponting |  CAN | 55.23 (2 h4) | 55.31 (1) | – | |||
| 10 | 418 | Théophile David |  SUI | 55.81 (3 h6) | 55.40 (2) | – | |||
| 11 | 420 | Dano Halsall | SUI | 55.35 (2 h1) | 55.51 (3) | – | |||
| =12 | 162 | David López-Zubero |  ESP | 55.66 (3 h1) | 55.61 (=4) | – | |||
| =12 | 251 | Kristofer Stivenson |  GRE | 55.46 (2 h3) | 55.61 (=4) | – | |||
| 14 | 281 | Cees Vervoorn |  NED | 55.46 (3 h5) | 55.75 (6) | – | |||
| 15 | 137 | Søren Østberg |  DEN | 55.73 (2 h6) | 56.04 (7) | – | |||
| 16 | 462 | Matt Gribble | USA | 55.39 (2 h5) | – | – | 1 | ||
| 17 | 33 | Mark Stockwell | AUS | 55.70 (3 h7) | – | – | 2 | ||
| 18 | 323 | Fabrizio Rampazzo |  ITA | 55.70 (2 h2) | – ( | – | |||
| 19 | 78 | Dave Churchill | CAN | 55.84 (4 h7) | – | – | |||
| 20 | 161 | Harri Garmendia | ESP | 55.97 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 21 | 518 | Anthony Nesty |  SUR | 56.15 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 22 | 347 | Taihei Saka |  JPN | 56.40 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 222 | Ian Collins | GBR | 56.41 (4 h6) | – | – | |||
| 24 | – | Shudo Kawawa | JPN | 56.52 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 25 | 266 | Gérard de Kort | NED | 56.55 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 26 | 446 | İhsan Sabri Özün |  TUR | 56.55 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 27 | 133 | Zheng Jian |  CHN | 56.58 (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| 28 | 409 | Ang Peng Siong |  SGP | 56.61 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| =29 | – | Filiberto Colón |  PUR | 56.66 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| =29 | 499 | Hrvoje Barić |  YUG | 56.70 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 31 | 5 | Luis Juncos |  ARG | 56.86 (5 h7) | – | – | |||
| 32 | 449 | Carlos Scanavino |  URU | 57.46 (6 h7) | – | – | |||
| 33 | 378 | Carlos Romo |  MEX | 57.61 (6 h6) | – | – | |||
| 34 | 329 | Allan Marsh |  JAM | 57.69 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 35 | 146 | Ahmed Said |  EGY | 57.71 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 36 | 447 | Kemal Sadri Özün | TUR | 57.75 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| =37 | 402 | João Santos |  POR | 58.17 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| =37 | 260 | Tsang Yi Ming |  HKG | 58.25 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 39 | 44 | Sean Nottage |  BAH | 58.73 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 40 | 357 | Bang Jun-Yeong |  KOR | 58.91 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 41 | 140 | Ahmed Ibrahim | EGY | 58.95 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 42 | 328 | Deryck Marks | JAM | 1:00.57 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 43 | 288 | Ingi Jónsson |  ISL | 1:00.68 (7 h7) | – | – | |||
| 44 | 519 | Faisal Marzouk |  KUW | 1:02.00 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 45 | 254 | Roberto Granados |  GUA | 1:02.32 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 46 | 148 | Juan Miranda |  ESA | 1:04.33 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 47 | 368 | Ibrahim El-Baba |  LBN | 1:04.48 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 48 | 361 | Adel Al-Ghaith | KUW | 1:04.62 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 49 | 174 | Warren Sorby |  FIJ | 1:05.53 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 50 | 282 | Salvador Covelo |  HON | 1:05.91 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 51 | 436 | Trevor Ncala |  SWZ | 1:06.94 (8 h7) | – | – | |||
| 52 | 175 | Samuela Tupou | FIJ | 1:07.75 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 53 | 71 | Esa Fadel |  BRN | 1:13.27 (8 h6) | – | – |
| Date | 30 July 1984 — 8:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Glenn Buchanan | AUS | 54.86 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Dano Halsall | SUI | 55.35 | ||
| 3 | 4 | David López-Zubero | ESP | 55.66 | ||
| 4 | 6 | İhsan Sabri Özün | TUR | 56.55 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Tsang Yi Ming | HKG | 58.25 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Deryck Marks | JAM | 1:00.57 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Adel Al-Ghaith | KUW | 1:04.62 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rafael Vidal | VEN | 54.33 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Fabrizio Rampazzo | ITA | 55.70 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Harri Garmendia | ESP | 55.97 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Hrvoje Barić | YUG | 56.70 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Sean Nottage | BAH | 58.73 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Ahmed Ibrahim | EGY | 58.95 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Samuela Tupou | FIJ | 1:07.75 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Andreas Behrend | FRG | 55.22 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Kristofer Stivenson | GRE | 55.46 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Anthony Nesty | SUR | 56.15 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Gérard de Kort | NED | 56.55 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Filiberto Colón | PUR | 56.66 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Bang Jun-Yeong | KOR | 58.91 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Faisal Marzouk | KUW | 1:02.00 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Andy Jameson | GBR | 54.59 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Tom Ponting | CAN | 55.23 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Taihei Saka | JPN | 56.40 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Ang Peng Siong | SGP | 56.61 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Allan Marsh | JAM | 57.69 | ||
| 6 | 7 | João Santos | POR | 58.17 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Ibrahim El-Baba | LBN | 1:04.48 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Salvador Covelo | HON | 1:05.91 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Bengt Baron | SWE | 54.67 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Matt Gribble | USA | 55.39 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Cees Vervoorn | NED | 55.46 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Shudo Kawawa | JPN | 56.52 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Ahmed Said | EGY | 57.71 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Kemal Sadri Özün | TUR | 57.75 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Juan Miranda | ESA | 1:04.33 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Warren Sorby | FIJ | 1:05.53 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Michael Groß | FRG | 54.02 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Søren Østberg | DEN | 55.73 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Théophile David | SUI | 55.81 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Ian Collins | GBR | 56.41 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Zheng Jian | CHN | 56.58 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Carlos Romo | MEX | 57.61 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Roberto Granados | GUA | 1:02.32 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Esa Fadel | BRN | 1:13.27 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Pablo Morales | USA | 53.78 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Anthony Mosse | NZL | 55.19 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Mark Stockwell | AUS | 55.70 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Dave Churchill | CAN | 55.84 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Luis Juncos | ARG | 56.86 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Carlos Scanavino | URU | 57.46 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Ingi Jónsson | ISL | 1:00.68 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Trevor Ncala | SWZ | 1:06.94 |
| Date | 30 July 1984 — 16:20 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Tom Ponting | CAN | 55.31 | ||
| 2 | 8 | Théophile David | SUI | 55.40 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Dano Halsall | SUI | 55.51 | ||
| =4 | 2 | David López-Zubero | ESP | 55.61 | ||
| =4 | 6 | Kristofer Stivenson | GRE | 55.61 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Cees Vervoorn | NED | 55.75 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Søren Østberg | DEN | 56.04 | ||
| 7 | Fabrizio Rampazzo | ITA | – |
| Date | 30 July 1984 — 16:15 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Michael Groß | FRG | 53.08 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Pablo Morales | USA | 53.23 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Glenn Buchanan | AUS | 53.85 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Rafael Vidal | VEN | 54.27 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Andy Jameson | GBR | 54.28 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Anthony Mosse | NZL | 54.93 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Andreas Behrend | FRG | 54.95 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Bengt Baron | SWE | 55.14 |
