The men's 200 metre butterfly event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11–13 August at the

Beijing National Aquatics Center The National Aquatics Centre (), and colloquially known as the Water Cube () and the Ice Cube (), is an aquatics center at the Olympic Green in Beijing, China. The facility was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the ...

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. U.S. swimmer

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

blasted a new world record of 1:52.03 to defend his title in the event, and more importantly, claim his fourth Olympic gold, tenth career, and twelfth overall medal. During the final, Phelps'

goggles Goggles, or safety glasses, are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and ...

filled with water, which prevented him from seeing anything, while he was finishing the second lap. Hungary's

László Cseh László Cseh (; born 3 December 1985) is a retired Hungarian competitive swimmer and six-time Olympic medalist. He is a 33-time European Champion. His father, László Cseh Sr., also represented Hungary at the Olympics in swimming. In 2020 ...

added a second silver to his hardware from the 400 m individual medley, breaking a European record of 1:52.70. Japan's

Takeshi Matsuda is a retired Japanese Olympic, Asian and National Record holding swimmer. He swam for Japan at the 2004, 2008 Olympics, 2012 Olympics, and 2016 Olympics, winning four medals. At the 2008 Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the men's 200 m butterf ...

powered home with a bronze medal in 1:52.97. New Zealand's Moss Burmester shared a fourth place with host nation China's

Wu Peng Wu Peng (; born May 16, 1987 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang) is a Chinese former swimmer. He has concentrated on the butterfly since the 10th National Games in 2005. Early life and career Wu's parents first sent him to the pool when he was four years ol ...

in 1:54.35, while Poland's

Paweł Korzeniowski Paweł Korzeniowski (born 9 July 1985) is a Polish competitive swimmer who won the 200-meter butterfly at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal. He also competes in the freestyle events. Initially trained by Paweł Woźnicki in Ośw ...

finished sixth with a time of 1:54.60. Brazil's

Kaio de Almeida Kaio Márcio de Almeida (born 19 October 1984) is a Brazilian swimmer who specializes in the butterfly. He is also known by the reduced versions of his name: ''Kaio Márcio'', ''Kaio Márcio de Almeida'', ''Kaio Almeida'', or ''Kaio de Almeida' ...

(1:54.71) and Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov (1:55.14) rounded out the finale. Earlier in the semifinals, Phelps registered his own Olympic record of 1:53.70 to establish a strong lead for the top 8 final, matching his preliminary time in the process.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Results

Heats

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

External links

Official Reports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metre butterfly Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics Men's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics