| | Event type

200 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	20 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	43 from 36 countries

The 200 metres freestyle for men was considered amongst the most open events on the 1996 schedule and a case could be made for each of 10 to win the Olympic gold. At the Barcelona Olympics New Zealand’s Danyon Loader had won the silver medal at 200 metres butterfly and was also known as a 400 metres freestyle swimmer. Historically the 200 freestyle was his third event but he won the 1995 Pan Pacific meet, also held in Atlanta, at the distance.

Although he was always up in contention, he trailed veteran Anders Holmertz in the early stages as the Swede led the Olympic final at the halfway stage for the third Games in succession. Just as at Seoul and Barcelona Holmertz faded over the second part of the race and Loader took over just prior to the 150 m mark. He then swam away from the field to win by just under half a second to become his country’s first ever Olympic swimming champion. Brazilian Gustavo Borges just pipped Daniel Kowalski of Australia for the silver medal.

The eighth and final qualifier for the final was Paul Palmer of Great Britain. Palmer had tied Jani Sievinen for the last qualifying place which necessitated a swim-off. Incredibly the swim-off also resulted in a tie. Sievinen withdrew from the second swim-off so Palmer progressed.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Danyon Loader	NZL	1:48.48 (1 h4)	–	1:47.63 (1)	Gold
2	Gustavo Borges	BRA	1:49.00 (2 h4)	–	1:48.08 (2)	Silver
3	Daniel Kowalski	AUS	1:48.92 (2 h6)	–	1:48.25 (3)	Bronze
4	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	1:48.68 (1 h6)	–	1:48.36 (4)
5	Anders Holmertz	SWE	1:48.41 (1 h5)	–	1:48.42 (5)
6	Massi Rosolino	ITA	1:48.80 (3 h5)	–	1:48.50 (6)
7	Josh Davis	USA	1:48.63 (2 h5)	–	1:48.54 (7)
8	Paul Palmer	GBR	1:49.05 (=3 h4)	–	1:49.39 (8)
9	Aimo Heilmann	GER	1:49.57 (5 h4)	1:48.81 (1)	–
10	Michael Klim	AUS	1:49.17 (3 h6)	1:49.50 (2)	–
11	Vladimir Pyshnenko	RUS	1:49.79 (6 h4)	1:49.55 (3)	–
12	John Piersma	USA	1:50.59 (5 h5)	1:49.90 (4)	–
13	Piermaria Siciliano	ITA	1:49.88 (4 h5)	1:50.07 (5)	–
14	Jacob Carstensen	DEN	1:50.79 (5 h6)	1:50.54 (6)	–
15	Andrew Clayton	GBR	1:51.06 (6 h6)	1:50.59 (7)	–
16	Nicolae Butacu	ROU	1:50.83 (7 h4)	1:51.46 (8)	–
17	Jani Sievinen	FIN	1:49.05 (=3 h4)	–	–		1
18	Antti Kasvio	FIN	1:50.55 (4 h6)	–	–		2
19	Miroslav Vučetić	CRO	1:51.26 (1 h3)	–	–
=20	Attila Czene	HUN	1:51.59 (8 h4)	–	–
=20	Trent Bray	NZL	1:51.59 (7 h6)	–	–
22	Aleksey Yegorov	KAZ	1:51.66 (8 h6)	–	–
23	Shunsuke Ito	JPN	1:51.97 (6 h5)	–	–
24	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	1:52.17 (7 h5)	–	–
25	Miklós Kollár	HUN	1:52.19 (8 h5)	–	–
26	Go Un-Ho	KOR	1:52.80 (2 h3)	–	–
27	Carlos Santander	VEN	1:53.13 (1 h1)	–	–
28	Vyacheslav Kabanov	UZB	1:53.36 (3 h3)	–	–
29	Earl McCarthy	IRL	1:53.67 (4 h3)	–	–
30	Dimitrios Manganas	GRE	1:53.84 (5 h3)	–	–
31	Salim Iles	ALG	1:54.10 (6 h3)	–	–
32	José Isaza	PAN	1:54.58 (1 h2)	–	–
33	Torlarp Sethsothorn	THA	1:54.73 (7 h3)	–	–
34	Jure Bučar	SLO	1:54.75 (2 h2)	–	–
35	Raymond Papa	PHI	1:54.77 (3 h2)	–	–
36	Bartosz Sikora	POL	1:55.33 (4 h2)	–	–
37	Sng Ju Wei	SGP	1:55.51 (5 h2)	–	–
38	Dmitry Lapin	KGZ	1:55.52 (6 h2)	–	–
39	Carl Probert	FIJ	1:56.33 (2 h1)	–	–
40	Felipe Delgado	ECU	1:57.10 (7 h2)	–	–
41	Andrei Zaharov	MDA	1:57.47 (8 h3)	–	–
42	Denys Zavhorodnyi	UKR	1:58.67 (8 h2)	–	–
43	Thamer Al-Shamroukh	KUW	2:13.75 (3 h1)	–	–

Round One

Date	20 July 1996
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Anders Holmertz	SWE	1:48.41	Q
2	–	Danyon Loader	NZL	1:48.48	Q
3	–	Josh Davis	USA	1:48.63	Q
4	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	1:48.68	Q
5	–	Massi Rosolino	ITA	1:48.80	Q
6	–	Daniel Kowalski	AUS	1:48.92	Q
7	–	Gustavo Borges	BRA	1:49.00	Q
=8	–	Paul Palmer	GBR	1:49.05	Q
=8	–	Jani Sievinen	FIN	1:49.05	q
10	–	Michael Klim	AUS	1:49.17	q
11	–	Aimo Heilmann	GER	1:49.57	q
12	–	Vladimir Pyshnenko	RUS	1:49.79	q
13	–	Piermaria Siciliano	ITA	1:49.88	q
14	–	Antti Kasvio	FIN	1:50.55	q
15	–	John Piersma	USA	1:50.59	q
16	–	Jacob Carstensen	DEN	1:50.79	q
17	–	Nicolae Butacu	ROU	1:50.83
18	–	Andrew Clayton	GBR	1:51.06
19	–	Miroslav Vučetić	CRO	1:51.26
=20	–	Attila Czene	HUN	1:51.59
=20	–	Trent Bray	NZL	1:51.59
22	–	Aleksey Yegorov	KAZ	1:51.66
23	–	Shunsuke Ito	JPN	1:51.97
24	–	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	1:52.17
25	–	Miklós Kollár	HUN	1:52.19
26	–	Go Un-Ho	KOR	1:52.80
27	–	Carlos Santander	VEN	1:53.13
28	–	Vyacheslav Kabanov	UZB	1:53.36
29	–	Earl McCarthy	IRL	1:53.67
30	–	Dimitrios Manganas	GRE	1:53.84
31	–	Salim Iles	ALG	1:54.10
32	–	José Isaza	PAN	1:54.58
33	–	Torlarp Sethsothorn	THA	1:54.73
34	–	Jure Bučar	SLO	1:54.75
35	–	Raymond Papa	PHI	1:54.77
36	–	Bartosz Sikora	POL	1:55.33
37	–	Sng Ju Wei	SGP	1:55.51
38	–	Dmitry Lapin	KGZ	1:55.52
39	–	Carl Probert	FIJ	1:56.33
40	–	Felipe Delgado	ECU	1:57.10
41	–	Andrei Zaharov	MDA	1:57.47
42	–	Denys Zavhorodnyi	UKR	1:58.67
43	–	Thamer Al-Shamroukh	KUW	2:13.75

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Carlos Santander	VEN	1:53.13	0.72	26.38 (1)	54.84 (1)	1:24.05 (1)	28.46 (1)	29.21 (1)	29.08 (1)
2	–	Carl Probert	FIJ	1:56.33	0.86	26.79 (2)	56.62 (2)	1:25.89 (2)	29.83 (2)	29.27 (2)	30.44 (2)
3	–	Thamer Al-Shamroukh	KUW	2:13.75	0.83	29.50 (3)	1:03.15 (3)	1:38.20 (3)	33.65 (3)	35.05 (3)	35.55 (3)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	José Isaza	PAN	1:54.58	0.75	25.91 (1)	54.38 (1)	1:24.36 (1)	28.47 (=1)	29.98 (7)	30.22 (6)
2	–	Jure Bučar	SLO	1:54.75	0.82	27.09 (3)	55.93 (4)	1:25.24 (5)	28.84 (4)	29.31 (2)	29.51 (2)
3	–	Raymond Papa	PHI	1:54.77	0.83	27.14 (4)	55.85 (3)	1:25.20 (4)	28.71 (3)	29.35 (3)	29.57 (3)
4	–	Bartosz Sikora	POL	1:55.33	0.84	27.33 (5)	56.24 (5)	1:25.71 (6)	28.91 (5)	29.47 (=4)	29.62 (4)
5	–	Sng Ju Wei	SGP	1:55.51	0.85	26.82 (2)	55.29 (2)	1:24.76 (2)	28.47 (=1)	29.47 (=4)	30.75 (8)
6	–	Dmitry Lapin	KGZ	1:55.52	1.04	27.71 (7)	56.64 (6)	1:25.14 (3)	28.93 (6)	28.50 (1)	30.38 (7)
7	–	Felipe Delgado	ECU	1:57.10	0.77	27.67 (6)	57.12 (7)	1:27.06 (7)	29.45 (7)	29.94 (6)	30.04 (5)
8	–	Denys Zavhorodnyi	UKR	1:58.67	0.78	28.57 (8)	58.73 (8)	1:29.34 (8)	30.16 (8)	30.61 (8)	29.33 (1)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Miroslav Vučetić	CRO	1:51.26	0.86	26.02 (3)	53.59 (2)	1:21.92 (1)	27.57 (1)	28.33 (1)	29.34 (5)
2	–	Go Un-Ho	KOR	1:52.80	0.69	26.69 (5)	55.49 (6)	1:24.26 (4)	28.80 (=6)	28.77 (2)	28.54 (1)
3	–	Vyacheslav Kabanov	UZB	1:53.36	0.81	26.82 (6)	55.24 (4)	1:24.33 (5)	28.42 (3)	29.09 (3)	29.03 (4)
4	–	Earl McCarthy	IRL	1:53.67	0.81	25.97 (2)	54.62 (3)	1:24.23 (3)	28.65 (4)	29.61 (5)	29.44 (6)
5	–	Dimitrios Manganas	GRE	1:53.84	0.84	26.56 (4)	55.26 (5)	1:24.94 (6)	28.70 (5)	29.68 (7)	28.90 (3)
6	–	Salim Iles	ALG	1:54.10	0.78	25.59 (1)	53.58 (1)	1:23.24 (2)	27.99 (2)	29.66 (6)	30.86 (7)
7	–	Torlarp Sethsothorn	THA	1:54.73	0.82	27.24 (8)	56.81 (8)	1:25.92 (7)	29.57 (8)	29.11 (4)	28.81 (2)
8	–	Andrei Zaharov	MDA	1:57.47	0.89	26.84 (7)	55.64 (7)	1:26.41 (8)	28.80 (=6)	30.77 (8)	31.06 (8)

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Danyon Loader	NZL	1:48.48	0.85	25.64 (3)	53.03 (3)	1:20.94 (2)	27.39 (3)	27.91 (3)	27.54 (=3)	Q
2	–	Gustavo Borges	BRA	1:49.00	0.84	25.79 (4)	52.98 (2)	1:20.70 (1)	27.19 (2)	27.72 (1)	28.30 (5)	Q
=3	–	Paul Palmer	GBR	1:49.05	0.77	26.10 (7)	53.61 (5)	1:21.76 (6)	27.51 (4)	28.15 (4)	27.29 (2)	Q
=3	–	Jani Sievinen	FIN	1:49.05	0.80	25.87 (5)	53.68 (6)	1:21.51 (4)	27.81 (6)	27.83 (2)	27.54 (=3)	q
5	–	Aimo Heilmann	GER	1:49.57	0.85	26.34 (8)	54.36 (8)	1:22.66 (7)	28.02 (8)	28.30 (5)	26.91 (1)	q
6	–	Vladimir Pyshnenko	RUS	1:49.79	0.81	25.51 (1)	52.53 (1)	1:21.24 (3)	27.02 (1)	28.71 (7)	28.55 (6)	q
7	–	Nicolae Butacu	ROU	1:50.83	0.84	25.58 (2)	53.35 (4)	1:21.71 (5)	27.77 (5)	28.36 (6)	29.12 (8)
8	–	Attila Czene	HUN	1:51.59	0.82	25.98 (6)	53.94 (7)	1:22.77 (8)	27.96 (7)	28.83 (8)	28.82 (7)

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Anders Holmertz	SWE	1:48.41	0.80	25.03 (1)	52.11 (1)	1:20.22 (1)	27.08 (1)	28.11 (3)	28.19 (4)	Q
2	–	Josh Davis	USA	1:48.63	0.76	25.38 (2)	52.81 (2)	1:20.49 (2)	27.43 (3)	27.68 (2)	28.14 (3)	Q
3	–	Massi Rosolino	ITA	1:48.80	0.81	26.12 (5)	53.23 (3)	1:20.78 (3)	27.11 (2)	27.55 (1)	28.02 (2)	Q
4	–	Piermaria Siciliano	ITA	1:49.88	0.92	26.01 (4)	53.60 (5)	1:21.88 (5)	27.59 (5)	28.28 (5)	28.00 (1)	q
5	–	John Piersma	USA	1:50.59	0.71	25.91 (3)	53.48 (4)	1:21.75 (4)	27.57 (4)	28.27 (4)	28.84 (6)	q
6	–	Shunsuke Ito	JPN	1:51.97	0.79	26.28 (7)	54.10 (7)	1:22.71 (6)	27.82 (6)	28.61 (7)	29.26 (8)
7	–	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	1:52.17	0.78	26.19 (6)	54.08 (6)	1:23.05 (7)	27.89 (7)	28.97 (8)	29.12 (7)
8	–	Miklós Kollár	HUN	1:52.19	0.84	26.54 (8)	54.91 (8)	1:23.49 (8)	28.37 (8)	28.58 (6)	28.70 (5)

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	1:48.68	0.83	25.21 (1)	52.68 (1)	1:20.64 (1)	27.47 (2)	27.96 (2)	28.04 (4)	Q
2	–	Daniel Kowalski	AUS	1:48.92	0.79	25.94 (6)	53.48 (4)	1:21.36 (3)	27.54 (3)	27.88 (1)	27.56 (1)	Q
3	–	Michael Klim	AUS	1:49.17	0.81	25.62 (3)	53.04 (2)	1:21.28 (2)	27.42 (1)	28.24 (4)	27.89 (2)	q
4	–	Antti Kasvio	FIN	1:50.55	0.77	25.73 (4)	53.65 (6)	1:21.84 (4)	27.92 (6)	28.19 (3)	28.71 (6)	q
5	–	Jacob Carstensen	DEN	1:50.79	0.82	26.33 (8)	54.35 (8)	1:22.86 (7)	28.02 (8)	28.51 (5)	27.93 (3)	q
6	–	Andrew Clayton	GBR	1:51.06	0.79	25.49 (2)	53.44 (3)	1:22.20 (5)	27.95 (7)	28.76 (6)	28.86 (7)
7	–	Trent Bray	NZL	1:51.59	0.82	25.93 (5)	53.52 (5)	1:22.33 (6)	27.59 (4)	28.81 (7)	29.26 (8)
8	–	Aleksey Yegorov	KAZ	1:51.66	0.80	26.22 (7)	53.83 (7)	1:23.04 (8)	27.61 (5)	29.21 (8)	28.62 (5)

Swim-Off 8-9

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
=1	–	Paul Palmer	GBR	1:48.89	0.77	25.89 (1)	54.32 (2)	1:22.35 (2)	28.43 (2)	28.03 (1)	26.54 (1)	Q	3
=1	–	Jani Sievinen	FIN	1:48.89	0.82	26.02 (2)	53.79 (1)	1:21.90 (1)	27.77 (1)	28.11 (2)	26.99 (2)		4

B Final

Date	20 July 1996 — 20:50

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Aimo Heilmann	GER	1:48.81	0.81	25.58 (1)	53.07 (1)	1:21.38 (1)	27.49 (1)	28.31 (3)	27.43 (2)
2	–	Michael Klim	AUS	1:49.50	0.81	25.94 (4)	53.75 (2)	1:21.87 (2)	27.81 (4)	28.12 (2)	27.63 (3)
3	–	Vladimir Pyshnenko	RUS	1:49.55	0.80	26.14 (5)	53.79 (3)	1:22.19 (4)	27.65 (2)	28.40 (=5)	27.36 (1)
4	–	John Piersma	USA	1:49.90	0.71	26.36 (8)	54.08 (6)	1:22.01 (3)	27.72 (3)	27.93 (1)	27.89 (6)
5	–	Piermaria Siciliano	ITA	1:50.07	0.81	25.90 (2)	53.90 (4)	1:22.30 (5)	28.00 (5)	28.40 (=5)	27.77 (4)
6	–	Jacob Carstensen	DEN	1:50.54	0.84	26.23 (6)	54.34 (7)	1:22.66 (7)	28.11 (8)	28.32 (4)	27.88 (5)
7	–	Andrew Clayton	GBR	1:50.59	0.82	25.91 (3)	54.01 (5)	1:22.54 (6)	28.10 (7)	28.53 (7)	28.05 (7)
8	–	Nicolae Butacu	ROU	1:51.46	0.88	26.34 (7)	54.36 (8)	1:23.03 (8)	28.02 (6)	28.67 (8)	28.43 (8)

Final Round

Date	20 July 1996

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Danyon Loader	NZL	1:47.63	0.86	25.58 (5)	52.28 (2)	1:19.93 (1)	26.70 (1)	27.65 (2)	27.70 (6)
2	–	Gustavo Borges	BRA	1:48.08	0.83	25.42 (4)	52.90 (4)	1:20.80 (5)	27.48 (5)	27.90 (5)	27.28 (3)
3	–	Daniel Kowalski	AUS	1:48.25	0.80	25.61 (6)	53.35 (6)	1:21.23 (6)	27.74 (8)	27.88 (4)	27.02 (1)
4	–	Pieter van den Hoogenband	NED	1:48.36	0.81	25.41 (=2)	52.96 (5)	1:20.71 (3)	27.55 (6)	27.75 (3)	27.65 (5)
5	–	Anders Holmertz	SWE	1:48.42	0.79	24.93 (1)	51.97 (1)	1:20.14 (2)	27.04 (2)	28.17 (7)	28.28 (8)
6	–	Massi Rosolino	ITA	1:48.50	0.80	26.35 (8)	53.82 (8)	1:21.28 (7)	27.47 (4)	27.46 (1)	27.22 (2)
7	–	Josh Davis	USA	1:48.54	0.75	25.41 (=2)	52.70 (3)	1:20.72 (4)	27.29 (3)	28.02 (6)	27.82 (7)
8	–	Paul Palmer	GBR	1:49.39	0.81	26.05 (7)	53.67 (7)	1:21.90 (8)	27.62 (7)	28.23 (8)	27.49 (4)