The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July 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 Olympic ...

in London, United Kingdom. On the wake of

Aaron Peirsol Aaron Wells Peirsol (born July 23, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist (five gold, two si ...

's official retirement in 2011, U.S. swimmer

Matt Grevers Matthew Grevers (born March 26, 1985) is an American competition swimmer who competes in the backstroke and freestyle events, and is a six-time Olympic medalist. He has won a total of thirty-three medals in major international competition, four ...

continued to build an American supremacy in the event by following the former champion's footsteps towards his first individual gold. He held off a challenge from France's

Camille Lacourt Camille Lacourt (; born 22 April 1985) is a retired French competitive swimmer and backstroke specialist. He won the 50 metre backstroke at three consecutive world championships ( 2013 Barcelona, 2015 Kazan, and 2017 Budapest). He competed at t ...

down the final stretch to touch the wall first in a sterling time of 52.16, eclipsing Peirsol's 2008 Olympic record by 0.38 seconds. Grevers also enjoyed his teammate

Nick Thoman Nicholas Brewer Thoman (born March 6, 1986) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in the backstroke and is an Olympic gold medalist. He has won two world championships as a member of winning United States medley relay teams at the F ...

taking home the silver in 52.92, as the Americans climbed again on top of the podium for an eleventh time in the event's Olympic history and for a second straight 1–2 finish since 2008. Moving from behind at the final turn, Japan's

Ryosuke Irie is a Japanese competitive swimmer who competes in backstroke events. He is a Kindai University student in Osaka. He won a silver medal in the 200 metre backstroke and a bronze in the 100 metre backstroke at the 2012 Summer Olympics, along wit ...

came up with a stalwart swim to capture the bronze in 52.97. Leading the race early on the initial length, Lacourt dropped off the podium to a fourth-place time in 53.08. Great Britain's

Liam Tancock Liam John Tancock (born 7 May 1985) is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. He specialised in backstro ...

(53.35), Germany's

Helge Meeuw Helge Folkert Meeuw (born 29 August 1984 from Wiesbaden, West Germany) is an Olympic and national record holding swimmer from Germany. He swam for Germany at the: *Olympics: 2004, 2008, 2012 *World Championships: 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 *E ...

(53.48), Australia's defending bronze medalist Hayden Stoeckel (53.55), and China's

Cheng Feiyi Cheng Feiyi is a Chinese swimmer. 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 Aug ...

(53.77) also vied for an Olympic medal to round out the finale. Other notable swimmers featured Russian duo

Arkady Vyatchanin Arkady Arkadyevich Vyatchanin (russian: Аркадий Аркадьевич Вятча́нин, sr-Cyrl, Аркадиј Аркадјевич Вјатчањин; born 4 April 1984) is a retired Russian, Serbian and American backstroke swimmer. H ...

, reigning Olympic bronze medalist, who missed the final roster with a ninth-place effort (53.79); and Vladimir Morozov, who later scratched the semifinals to focus on his 4×100 m freestyle relay duty, allowing Greece's three-time Olympian

Aristeidis Grigoriadis Aristeidis ("Aris") Grigoriadis ( el, Άρης Γρηγοριάδης; born 6 December 1985) is a Greek swimmer from Thessaloniki. He was named the 2005 Greek Male Athlete of the Year. Career Grigoriadis was the first Greek swi ...

to occupy his slot.

Records

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

Results

Heats

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

External links

NBC Olympics Coverage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 metre backstroke Men's 00100 metre backstroke Men's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics