| | Event type

400 metres Individual Medley, Men

Date	20 – 21 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul
Participants	34 from 24 countries

Hungarian Tamás Darnyi was the favorite, having been the best in the world in the IMs since 1985. His biggest competition was expected to come from American Dave Wharton, who had broken the world record in August 1987, only to have Darnyi better that five days later at the European Championships. They were an interesting pair. Darnyi was legally blind in his left eye after an injury to it in a snowball fight as a teenager, while Wharton was born almost completely deaf.

In the final Wharton had a slight lead on the opening butterfly leg, but Darnyi then crushed the backstroke, outswimming Wharton by 3.38 seconds and opening up a 2½ second lead. Wharton could never recover, although he would hang on to win the silver medal. Darnyi maintained his lead, finishing in 4:14.75 for a world record, over 2½ seconds ahead of Wharton. The bronze went to Italy’s Stefano Battistelli.

A few days later, Darnyi and Wharton were expected to meet again in the 200 IM, but Wharton swam poorly in prelims and did not qualify. Darnyi also won that gold medal, doubling in the IM, which he would repeat at Barcelona in 1992.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Tamás Darnyi	HUN	4:16.55 (1 h5)	–	4:14.75 (1)	Gold
2	Dave Wharton	USA	4:20.84 (1 h4)	–	4:17.36 (2)	Silver
3	Stefano Battistelli	ITA	4:20.43 (2 h5)	–	4:18.01 (3)	Bronze
4	József Szabó	HUN	4:20.85 (2 h4)	–	4:18.15 (4)
5	Patrick Kühl	GDR	4:18.60 (1 h3)	–	4:18.44 (5)
6	Jens-Peter Berndt	FRG	4:20.93 (3 h4)	–	4:21.71 (6)
7	Luca Sacchi	ITA	4:23.37 (4 h5)	–	4:23.23 (7)
8	Peter Bermel	FRG	4:22.78 (3 h5)	–	4:24.02 (8)
9	Jeff Kostoff	USA	4:24.10 (3 h3)	4:22.95 (1)	–
10	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	4:23.46 (2 h3)	4:23.39 (2)	–
11	Robert Bruce	AUS	4:25.15 (4 h3)	4:24.33 (3)	–
12	Jon Kelly	CAN	4:24.62 (5 h5)	4:25.02 (4)	–
13	Mikhail Zubkov	URS	4:25.30 (5 h3)	4:25.44 (5)	–
14	Rob Woodhouse	AUS	4:25.60 (6 h5)	4:26.14 (6)	–
15	Paul Brew	GBR	4:27.22 (4 h4)	4:26.77 (7)	–
16	Charalampos Papanikolaou	GRE	4:26.72 (7 h5)	4:27.95 (8)	–
17	Yoshiyuki Mizumoto	JPN	4:28.11 (5 h4)	–	–
18	Laurent Journet	FRA	4:29.03 (6 h3)	–	–
19	Ondřej Bureš	TCH	4:29.62 (1 h2)	–	–
20	Salvador Vassallo	PUR	4:30.37 (7 h3)	–	–
21	Javier Careaga	MEX	4:30.71 (2 h2)	–	–
22	Rui Borges	POR	4:30.79 (3 h2)	–	–
23	Mike Meldrum	CAN	4:31.74 (8 h5)	–	–
24	Renato Ramalho	BRA	4:31.95 (4 h2)	–	–
25	Takahiro Fujimoto	JPN	4:33.03 (8 h3)	–	–
26	Diogo Madeira	POR	4:35.00 (5 h2)	–	–
27	Martín López-Zubero	ESP	4:35.68 (6 h4)	–	–
28	Lee Jae-Su	KOR	4:40.46 (6 h2)	–	–
29	Jonathan Sakovich	GUM	4:44.78 (1 h1)	–	–
30	René Concepcion	PHI	4:48.00 (7 h2)	–	–
31	Sultan Al-Otaibi	KUW	4:50.16 (2 h1)	–	–
32	Julian Bolling	SRI	4:53.61 (3 h1)	–	–
DQ	John Davey	GBR	– (DQ h4)	–	–
DQ	Desmond Koh	SGP	– (DQ h2)	–	–
DNS	Jan Bidrman	SWE	– (DNS h4)	–	–

Round One (20 September 1988 — 9:00)

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

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	5	Jonathan Sakovich	GUM	1:04.74 (3) 1:14.89 (2)	2:19.63 (3) 1:23.48 (2)	3:43.11 (2) 1:01.67 (1)	4:44.78
2	3	Sultan Al-Otaibi	KUW	1:02.82 (1) 1:16.36 (3)	2:19.18 (2) 1:22.99 (1)	3:42.17 (1) 1:07.99 (3)	4:50.16
3	4	Julian Bolling	SRI	1:03.80 (2) 1:14.80 (1)	2:18.60 (1) 1:28.36 (3)	3:46.96 (3) 1:06.65 (2)	4:53.61

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	2	Ondřej Bureš	TCH	59.03 (1) 1:08.79 (3)	2:07.82 (1) 1:17.70 (3)	3:25.52 (1) 1:04.10 (4)	4:29.62
2	6	Javier Careaga	MEX	1:00.00 (2) 1:11.81 (5)	2:11.81 (5) 1:14.95 (1)	3:26.76 (2) 1:03.95 (3)	4:30.71
3	5	Rui Borges	POR	1:01.70 (5) 1:08.70 (1)	2:10.40 (2) 1:17.09 (2)	3:27.49 (3) 1:03.30 (2)	4:30.79
4	4	Renato Ramalho	BRA	1:01.89 (6) 1:08.75 (2)	2:10.64 (4) 1:19.45 (4)	3:30.09 (=4) 1:01.86 (1)	4:31.95
5	3	Diogo Madeira	POR	1:00.20 (3) 1:10.35 (4)	2:10.55 (3) 1:19.54 (5)	3:30.09 (=4) 1:04.91 (6)	4:35.00
6	8	Lee Jae-Su	KOR	1:01.35 (4) 1:13.98 (6)	2:15.33 (6) 1:20.89 (6)	3:36.22 (6) 1:04.24 (5)	4:40.46
7	7	René Concepcion	PHI	1:03.14 (7) 1:16.83 (7)	2:19.97 (7) 1:21.08 (7)	3:41.05 (7) 1:06.95 (7)	4:48.00
DQ	1	Desmond Koh	SGP	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	Patrick Kühl	GDR	58.48 (1) 1:06.02 (1)	2:04.50 (1) 1:13.78 (1)	3:18.28 (1) 1:00.32 (2)	4:18.60	Q
2	6	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	1:00.42 (5) 1:07.76 (5)	2:08.18 (=5) 1:14.86 (3)	3:23.04 (2) 1:00.42 (3)	4:23.46	q
3	5	Jeff Kostoff	USA	1:01.06 (7) 1:08.74 (6)	2:09.80 (7) 1:14.29 (2)	3:24.09 (4) 1:00.01 (1)	4:24.10	q
4	3	Robert Bruce	AUS	1:01.01 (6) 1:06.71 (2)	2:07.72 (3) 1:16.64 (6)	3:24.36 (5) 1:00.79 (4)	4:25.15	q
5	2	Mikhail Zubkov	URS	1:00.40 (4) 1:07.68 (4)	2:08.08 (4) 1:15.69 (4)	3:23.77 (3) 1:01.53 (5)	4:25.30	q
6	7	Laurent Journet	FRA	1:01.23 (8) 1:09.43 (8)	2:10.66 (8) 1:16.58 (5)	3:27.24 (6) 1:01.79 (7)	4:29.03
7	8	Salvador Vassallo	PUR	1:00.20 (3) 1:07.21 (3)	2:07.41 (2) 1:21.37 (8)	3:28.78 (8) 1:01.59 (6)	4:30.37
8	1	Takahiro Fujimoto	JPN	59.09 (2) 1:09.09 (7)	2:08.18 (=5) 1:20.26 (7)	3:28.44 (7) 1:04.59 (8)	4:33.03

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	Dave Wharton	USA	59.19 (1) 1:07.42 (2)	2:06.61 (2) 1:15.47 (=2)	3:22.08 (3) 58.76 (1)	4:20.84	Q
2	5	József Szabó	HUN	59.76 (5) 1:09.22 (6)	2:08.98 (5) 1:12.06 (1)	3:21.04 (1) 59.81 (=2)	4:20.85	Q
3	3	Jens-Peter Berndt	FRG	59.52 (3) 1:06.13 (1)	2:05.65 (1) 1:15.47 (=2)	3:21.12 (2) 59.81 (=2)	4:20.93	Q
4	7	Paul Brew	GBR	59.40 (2) 1:08.10 (4)	2:07.50 (3) 1:19.41 (5)	3:26.91 (4) 1:00.31 (4)	4:27.22	q
5	1	Yoshiyuki Mizumoto	JPN	1:00.69 (6) 1:09.05 (5)	2:09.74 (6) 1:17.75 (4)	3:27.49 (5) 1:00.62 (5)	4:28.11
6	8	Martín López-Zubero	ESP	59.75 (4) 1:07.92 (3)	2:07.67 (4) 1:22.53 (6)	3:30.20 (6) 1:05.48 (6)	4:35.68
DQ	2	John Davey	GBR	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–
DNS	6	Jan Bidrman	SWE	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	Tamás Darnyi	HUN	59.98 (3) 1:03.70 (1)	2:03.68 (1) 1:14.14 (2)	3:17.82 (1) 58.73 (1)	4:16.55	QOR
2	3	Stefano Battistelli	ITA	1:00.85 (6) 1:05.10 (2)	2:05.95 (2) 1:13.73 (1)	3:19.68 (2) 1:00.75 (3)	4:20.43	Q
3	7	Peter Bermel	FRG	1:00.13 (4) 1:06.80 (6)	2:06.93 (4) 1:15.51 (4)	3:22.44 (4) 1:00.34 (2)	4:22.78	Q
4	6	Luca Sacchi	ITA	1:00.92 (8) 1:06.37 (4)	2:07.29 (5) 1:14.66 (3)	3:21.95 (3) 1:01.42 (5)	4:23.37	Q
5	1	Jon Kelly	CAN	59.00 (2) 1:08.74 (8)	2:07.74 (8) 1:16.08 (5)	3:23.82 (6) 1:00.80 (4)	4:24.62	q
6	5	Rob Woodhouse	AUS	1:00.49 (5) 1:05.89 (3)	2:06.38 (3) 1:16.94 (6)	3:23.32 (5) 1:02.28 (7)	4:25.60	q
7	8	Charalampos Papanikolaou	GRE	1:00.87 (7) 1:06.56 (5)	2:07.43 (6) 1:17.61 (7)	3:25.04 (7) 1:01.68 (6)	4:26.72	q
8	2	Mike Meldrum	CAN	58.99 (1) 1:08.73 (7)	2:07.72 (7) 1:19.94 (8)	3:27.66 (8) 1:04.08 (8)	4:31.74

B Final (21 September 1988 — 12:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	5	Jeff Kostoff	USA	59.76 (3) 1:08.18 (7)	2:07.94 (3) 1:14.47 (1)	3:22.41 (1) 1:00.54 (3)	4:22.95
2	4	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	59.72 (2) 1:08.28 (8)	2:08.00 (4) 1:15.65 (3)	3:23.65 (2) 59.74 (1)	4:23.39
3	6	Robert Bruce	AUS	1:00.37 (5) 1:06.98 (1)	2:07.35 (2) 1:16.39 (4)	3:23.74 (4) 1:00.59 (4)	4:24.33
4	3	Jon Kelly	CAN	59.23 (1) 1:08.07 (5)	2:07.30 (1) 1:16.95 (6)	3:24.25 (5) 1:00.77 (5)	4:25.02
5	2	Mikhail Zubkov	URS	1:00.20 (4) 1:07.91 (4)	2:08.11 (5) 1:15.58 (2)	3:23.69 (3) 1:01.75 (8)	4:25.44
6	7	Rob Woodhouse	AUS	1:01.24 (8) 1:07.33 (3)	2:08.57 (7) 1:16.77 (5)	3:25.34 (6) 1:00.80 (6)	4:26.14
7	8	Paul Brew	GBR	1:00.78 (6) 1:08.16 (6)	2:08.94 (8) 1:17.85 (7)	3:26.79 (8) 59.98 (2)	4:26.77
8	1	Charalampos Papanikolaou	GRE	1:01.15 (7) 1:07.00 (2)	2:08.15 (6) 1:18.33 (8)	3:26.48 (7) 1:01.47 (7)	4:27.95

Final (21 September 1988 — 12:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	4	Tamás Darnyi	HUN	59.04 (3) 1:02.72 (1)	2:01.76 (1) 1:14.20 (3)	3:15.96 (1) 58.79 (3)	4:14.75	WR
2	6	Dave Wharton	USA	58.17 (1) 1:06.10 (4)	2:04.27 (3) 1:15.31 (6)	3:19.58 (4) 57.78 (1)	4:17.36
3	3	Stefano Battistelli	ITA	1:00.96 (8) 1:05.10 (2)	2:06.06 (5) 1:13.92 (2)	3:19.98 (5) 58.03 (2)	4:18.01
4	2	József Szabó	HUN	59.65 (5) 1:08.11 (8)	2:07.76 (8) 1:11.45 (1)	3:19.21 (3) 58.94 (4)	4:18.15
5	5	Patrick Kühl	GDR	58.40 (2) 1:05.33 (3)	2:03.73 (2) 1:14.91 (5)	3:18.64 (2) 59.80 (5)	4:18.44
6	7	Jens-Peter Berndt	FRG	59.80 (6) 1:06.14 (5)	2:05.94 (4) 1:15.35 (7)	3:21.29 (6) 1:00.42 (6)	4:21.71
7	8	Luca Sacchi	ITA	1:00.35 (7) 1:06.85 (6)	2:07.20 (7) 1:14.85 (4)	3:22.05 (7) 1:01.18 (7)	4:23.23
8	1	Peter Bermel	FRG	59.50 (4) 1:07.19 (7)	2:06.69 (6) 1:15.41 (8)	3:22.10 (8) 1:01.92 (8)	4:24.02