The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

took place on 26 July at the

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. There were 39 competitors from 33 nations. Each nation had been limited to two swimmers in the event since 1984. The event was won by

Brad Bridgewater Bradley Michael Bridgewater (born March 29, 1973) is an American former competition swimmer who won the gold medal in the men's 200-meter backstroke at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Bridgewater attended Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary, Florida, ...

of the United States, with his countryman

Tripp Schwenk William Douglas "Tripp" Schwenk III (born June 17, 1971) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Schwenk represented the United States at two consecutive Olympic Games. At the 1992 Summer O ...

taking silver. It was the first time since 1980 that one nation had two swimmers on the podium in the event (Hungary took gold and silver then). Bridgewater's victory was the United States' first in the event since 1984 and fourth overall. Italy earned its second consecutive bronze medal in the men's 200 metre backstroke, with

Emanuele Merisi Emanuele Merisi (born 10 October 1972) is an Italian former professional swimmer, specialized in backstroke, who won a bronze medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. Career Merisi was born in Treviglio, province of Bergamo ( Lombardy). He began t ...

taking the honours this time.

Background

This was the 10th appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event. It was first held in 1900. The event did not return until 1964; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. From 1904 to 1960, a men's 100 metre backstroke was held instead. In 1964, only the 200 metres was held. Beginning in 1968 and ever since, both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held. Four of the 8 finalists from the 1992 Games returned: gold medalist Martín López-Zubero of Spain, silver medalist Vladimir Selkov of the Unified Team (now competing for Russia), fourth-place finisher

Hajime Itoi (born June 22, 1971 in Gifu) is a retired Olympic backstroke swimmer from Japan. He represented his native country at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992. He is best known for winning a silver medal at the 1995 Summer Universiade i ...

of Japan, and fifth-place finisher

of the United States. Seventh-place finisher

Tamás Deutsch Tamás Deutsch (born 4 December 1969 in Budapest) is a male former backstroke swimmer from Hungary. Swimming career Deutsch competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1988. He won a bronze medal over 200 ...

of Hungary was entered but did not start. The medalists at the

1994 World Aquatics Championships The 1994 FINA World Aquatics Championships were held in Rome, Italy between September 1 and September 11, 1994. Medal table Results Diving ;Men ;Women Open water swimming ;Men ;Women Swimming ;Men ;Women Synchronized swimmin ...

had been Selkov, López-Zubero (also the 1991 World Champion), and

Royce Sharp James Royce Sharp (born May 25, 1972) is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Sharp competed in the preliminary heats of the men's 200-meter backstroke, and fi ...

of the United States. Sharp did not compete in Atlanta; the American team consisted of Schwenk and

. López-Zubero's 1991 world record still stood. He had come out of retirement to try to defend his title, but Selkov was favoured in Atlanta.

of Italy had the best time of 1996 so far and was also a strong contender. Barbados, Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Slovakia, and Thailand each made their debut in the event. Australia and Great Britain each made their ninth appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

Competition format

The competition used a two-round (heats and final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. A "consolation final" had been added in 1984. There were 6 heats of up to 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. The next 8 (9th through 16th) competed in a consolation final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties. This

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

event used

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

. Because an

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. No world or Olympic records were set during the competition, with the gold medal time 0.07 seconds slower than the Olympic record.

Schedule

All times are

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( UTC-4)

Results

Heats

The eight fastest swimmers advanced to final A, while the next eight went to final B.

Finals

The finals were held on the same day as the heats, 26 July.

Final B

Final A

Bridgewater took the lead at the first turn, with Schwenk behind him. Both tired late, but Merisi was not quite able to catch either.

References

External links

Official Report

USA Swimming
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's 200 metre backstroke Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics 200 metre backstroke at the Olympics Men's events at the 1996 Summer Olympics