The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

took place on 2–3 August at the

London Aquatics Centre The London Aquatics Centre is an indoor facility with two swimming pools and a diving pool in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London. The centre, designed by architect Zaha Hadid as one of the main venues of the 2012 Summer Olymp ...

London, United Kingdom London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. France's

Florent Manaudou ] Florent Manaudou (; born 12 November 1990) is a French competitive swimming (sport), swimmer, an Olympic champion of the 50-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics, and the younger brother of Laure Manaudou, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist i ...

stunned the entire field to join his sister

Laure Manaudou Laure Manaudou (; born 9 October 1986) is a retired French Olympic, world and European champion swimmer. She has held the world record in freestyle events between 200 and 1500 meter. She is the daughter of a French father and a Dutch mother, and s ...

on top of the podium for the Olympic sprint freestyle title. Swimming in lane seven, the dark horse threw down a scorching time and a textile best of 21.34 to hold off U.S. swimmer

Cullen Jones Cullen Andrew Jones (born February 29, 1984) is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist who specializes in Freestyle swimming, freestyle sprint events. As part of the American team, he holds the List of world records in ...

and the event's Brazilian world record holder and defending Olympic champion

César Cielo César Augusto Cielo Filho (, born 10 January 1987) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint events. He is the most successful Brazilian swimmer in history, having obtained three Olympic medals, winning six individual World ...

by two-tenths of a second, a sizable chunk in the Olympic swimming's shortest race. Jones took home the silver in 21.54 to match his semifinal time in the process, while Cielo missed his chance to defend the title with a bronze medal in 21.59. Cielo's teammate Bruno Fratus finished outside the podium by almost a fingertip with a fourth-place time in 21.61. After twelve years of absence as a 31-year-old, U.S. swimmer

Anthony Ervin Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American competition swimmer who has won four Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and earned a silver med ...

, who previously tied with

Gary Hall, Jr. Gary Wayne Hall Jr. (born September 26, 1974) is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics and won ten Olympic medals (five gold, three silver, two bronze). He is a former wor ...

for the gold in 2000, managed to pull off a fifth-place finish in 21.78. Ervin was followed in sixth and seventh by four-time Olympians

Roland Mark Schoeman Roland Mark Schoeman OIS (born 4 July 1980) is a South African American swimmer and was a member of the South African swimming team at the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. In May 2022, he officially became United States citizen. Ca ...

of South Africa (21.80) and

George Bovell George Richard Lycott Bovell (born 18 July 1983) is an Olympic bronze medalist swimmer and former world record holder from Trinidad and Tobago. Bovell is also a two-time World Championship bronze medalist. Olympic career George Bovell represen ...

of Trinidad and Tobago (21.82). Plagued by injury, Australia's

Eamon Sullivan Eamon Wade Sullivan (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former sprint swimmer, three-time Olympic medallist, and former world record-holder in two events. He was also the winner of the first season of '' Celebrity MasterChef Australia'', a ...

struggled to mount a sprint challenge in a high-calibre race as he finished eighth in 21.98. Earlier in the semifinals, Australia's top sprinter

James Magnussen James Magnussen (born 11 April 1991) is a retired Australian swimmer and Olympic medallist. He was the 2011 and 2013 100-metre freestyle world champion, and holds the record for the fifth fastest swim in history in the 100-metre freestyle, wi ...

missed the star-studded roster with an eleventh-place time in 22.00. Other notable swimmers featured Swedish veteran Stefan Nystrand (22.32) and France's

Amaury Leveaux Amaury Raymond Leveaux (born 2 December 1985) is a French swimmer from Belfort. Leveaux is a former world record holder in the 100 m freestyle (short course – 44.94 sec), the 50 m freestyle (short course – 20.48 sec), and the 50 m butterfl ...

(22.35), the defending silver medalist, both of whom fell short of the semifinal field by a small fraction of a second on the morning prelims.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 22.11 seconds. Up to two swimmers per

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

(NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 22.88 seconds. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events was reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place.

Competition format

The competition consists of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advance to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

Results

Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.

Semifinals

The swimmers with the top 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.

Final

References

External links

NBC Olympics Coverage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Men's 50 metre freestyle Men's 00050 metre freestyle Men's 50 metre freestyle Men's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics