| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Men

Date	29 – 30 July 2012
Status	Olympic
Location	London Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park, Stratford, London
Participants	43 from 33 countries

Aaron Peirsol had won the last two gold medals in this event but had retired, so the event seemed much more open. The 2011 World Championship had ended in a tie between two Frenchmen, Camille Lacourt and Jérémy Stravius. Including Peirsol, the last four titles in this event had been won by Americans who were led in London by Matt Grevers, the 2008 silver medalist behind Peirsol.

The final turned into a battle between Lacourt and Grevers with Lacourt leading at the turn in 25.31, actually ahead of Peirsol’s world-record split, but he could not maintain that pace and Grevers came on strong to win in an Olympic record 52.16, the fastest ever textile time. It was the fifth straight gold medal for the United States in the event and came only a few minutes after Missy Franklin had won the women’s 100 back. Lacourt fell apart in the closing metres of the race, dropping off the podium to fourth place, as the silver went to American Nick Thoman in 52.92, with Japan’s Ryosuke Irie winning bronze in 52.97.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Matt Grevers	USA	52.92 (1 h6)	52.66 (1 h2)	52.16 (1)	Gold
2	Nick Thoman	USA	53.48 (1 h4)	53.47 (3 h2)	52.92 (2)	Silver
3	Ryosuke Irie	JPN	53.56 (3 h6)	53.29 (2 h2)	52.97 (3)	Bronze
4	Camille Lacourt	FRA	53.51 (1 h5)	53.03 (1 h1)	53.08 (4)
5	Liam Tancock	GBR	53.86 (2 h5)	53.25 (2 h1)	53.35 (5)
6	Helge Meeuw	GER	53.83 (2 h4)	53.52 (4 h2)	53.48 (6)
7	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	53.88 (5 h6)	53.74 (5 h2)	53.55 (7)
8	Cheng Feiyi	CHN	53.22 (2 h6)	53.50 (3 h1)	53.77 (8)
9	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	54.01 (3 h5)	53.79 (4 h1)	–
10	Nick Driebergen	NED	53.62 (4 h6)	53.81 (5 h1)	–
11	Jan-Philip Glania	GER	54.07 (4 h5)	53.90 (6 h2)	–
12	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	54.36 (4 h4)	53.99 (7 h2)	–
13	Gareth Kean	NZL	54.26 (6 h6)	54.00 (8 h2)	–
14	Aristidis Grigoriadis	GRE	54.52 (6 h5)	54.20 (6 h1)	–
15	Charles Francis	CAN	54.08 (5 h5)	54.42 (7 h1)	–
16	Daniel Arnamnart	AUS	54.28 (7 h6)	54.48 (8 h1)	–
17	Vladimir Morozov	RUS	54.01 (3 h4)	–	–
18	Paval Sankovich	BLR	54.53 (1 h3)	–	–
19	Mirco Di Tora	ITA	54.70 (2 h3)	–	–
20	Chris Walker-Hebborn	GBR	54.78 (3 h3)	–	–
21	He Jianbin	CHN	54.81 (4 h3)	–	–
22	Richárd Bohus	HUN	54.84 (5 h3)	–	–
23	Bastiaan Lijesen	NED	54.88 (5 h4)	–	–
24	Yakov Toumarkin	ISR	54.91 (6 h4)	–	–
25	Juan Rando	ESP	54.93 (7 h4)	–	–
26	Lavrans Solli	NOR	55.00 (6 h3)	–	–
27	Marcin Tarczyński	POL	55.06 (7 h5)	–	–
28	Daniel Orzechowski	BRA	55.16 (8 h4)	–	–
29	George Bovell	TTO	55.22 (1 h2)	–	–
30	Mathias Gydesen	DEN	55.31 (7 h3)	–	–
31	Benjamin Stasiulis	FRA	55.36 (8 h5)	–	–
=32	Omar Pinzón	COL	55.37 (2 h2)	–	–
=32	Charl Crous	RSA	55.37 (8 h6)	–	–
34	Pedro Medel	CUB	55.40 (3 h2)	–	–
35	Oleksandr Isakov	UKR	55.43 (4 h2)	–	–
36	Park Seon-Gwan	KOR	55.51 (5 h2)	–	–
37	Daniel Bell	NZL	55.53 (8 h3)	–	–
38	Aleksandr Tarabrin	KAZ	55.55 (6 h2)	–	–
39	I Gede Siman Sudartawa	INA	55.99 (7 h2)	–	–
40	Bradley Ally	BAR	56.27 (1 h1)	–	–
41	Federico Grabich	ARG	56.56 (8 h2)	–	–
42	Heshan Unamboowe	SRI	57.94 (2 h1)	–	–
43	Zane Jordan	ZAM	58.77 (3 h1)	–	–

Round One (29 July 2012 — 11:03)

Fastest 16 swimmers advanced to semi-finals

Heat One (11:03)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Bradley Ally	BAR	27.49 (1) 28.78	56.27	0.57
2	5	Heshan Unamboowe	SRI	28.18 (3) 29.76	57.94	0.57
3	3	Zane Jordan	ZAM	27.75 (2) 31.02	58.77	0.53

Heat Two (11:06)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	8	George Bovell	TTO	26.18 (1) 29.04	55.22	0.60
2	5	Omar Pinzón	COL	26.63 (3) 28.74	55.37	0.59
3	1	Pedro Medel	CUB	26.57 (2) 28.83	55.40	0.64
4	2	Oleksandr Isakov	UKR	26.77 (4) 28.66	55.43	0.70
5	7	Park Seon-Gwan	KOR	27.01 (7) 28.50	55.51	0.60
6	4	Aleksandr Tarabrin	KAZ	26.90 (5) 28.65	55.55	0.66
7	6	I Gede Siman Sudartawa	INA	26.94 (6) 29.05	55.99	0.59
8	3	Federico Grabich	ARG	27.04 (8) 29.52	56.56	0.67

Heat Three (11:09)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	1	Paval Sankovich	BLR	26.11 (1) 28.42	54.53	0.65
2	5	Mirco Di Tora	ITA	26.33 (4) 28.37	54.70	0.61
3	7	Chris Walker-Hebborn	GBR	26.25 (3) 28.53	54.78	0.62
4	4	He Jianbin	CHN	26.15 (2) 28.66	54.81	0.59
5	3	Richárd Bohus	HUN	26.42 (5) 28.42	54.84	0.58
6	8	Lavrans Solli	NOR	26.67 (8) 28.33	55.00	0.61
7	2	Mathias Gydesen	DEN	26.46 (6) 28.85	55.31	0.61
8	6	Daniel Bell	NZL	26.64 (7) 28.89	55.53	0.57

Heat Four (11:12)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Nick Thoman	USA	26.06 (2) 27.42	53.48	0.67	Q
2	5	Helge Meeuw	GER	26.17 (3) 27.66	53.83	0.62	Q
3	2	Vladimir Morozov	RUS	26.25 (4) 27.76	54.01	0.57		1
4	3	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	26.28 (5) 28.08	54.36	0.57	Q
5	6	Bastiaan Lijesen	NED	26.44 (6) 28.44	54.88	0.60
6	1	Yakov Toumarkin	ISR	26.59 (8) 28.32	54.91	0.70
7	7	Juan Rando	ESP	26.45 (7) 28.48	54.93	0.60
8	8	Daniel Orzechowski	BRA	26.03 (1) 29.13	55.16	0.60

Heat Five (11:15)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Camille Lacourt	FRA	25.94 (2) 27.57	53.51	0.70	Q
2	5	Liam Tancock	GBR	25.92 (1) 27.94	53.86	0.63	Q
3	2	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	26.50 (6) 27.51	54.01	0.69	Q
4	3	Jan-Philip Glania	GER	26.21 (3) 27.86	54.07	0.62	Q
5	8	Charles Francis	CAN	26.27 (4) 27.81	54.08	0.67	Q
6	6	Aristidis Grigoriadis	GRE	26.36 (5) 28.16	54.52	0.59	Q	2
7	1	Marcin Tarczyński	POL	26.69 (8) 28.37	55.06	0.67
8	7	Benjamin Stasiulis	FRA	26.68 (7) 28.68	55.36	0.67

Heat Six (11:18)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Matt Grevers	USA	25.57 (1) 27.35	52.92	0.62	Q
2	2	Cheng Feiyi	CHN	25.60 (2) 27.62	53.22	0.58	Q
3	5	Ryosuke Irie	JPN	26.22 (7) 27.34	53.56	0.58	Q
4	7	Nick Driebergen	NED	26.00 (=3) 27.62	53.62	0.62	Q
5	6	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	26.00 (=3) 27.88	53.88	0.61	Q
6	3	Gareth Kean	NZL	26.02 (5) 28.24	54.26	0.60	Q
7	1	Daniel Arnamnart	AUS	26.04 (6) 28.24	54.28	0.53	Q
8	8	Charl Crous	RSA	26.41 (8) 28.96	55.37	0.62

Semi-Finals (29 July 2012 — 20:28)

Fastest eight swimmers advanced to final

Heat One (20:28)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Camille Lacourt	FRA	25.45 (1) 27.58	53.03	0.70	Q
2	6	Liam Tancock	GBR	25.73 (2) 27.52	53.25	0.65	Q
3	4	Cheng Feiyi	CHN	25.91 (3) 27.59	53.50	0.62	Q
4	2	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	26.17 (4) 27.62	53.79	0.66
5	3	Nick Driebergen	NED	26.20 (5) 27.61	53.81	0.60
6	8	Aristidis Grigoriadis	GRE	26.32 (7) 27.88	54.20	0.63
7	7	Charles Francis	CAN	26.34 (8) 28.08	54.42	0.66
8	1	Daniel Arnamnart	AUS	26.23 (6) 28.25	54.48	0.52

Heat Two (20:35)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Matt Grevers	USA	25.77 (2) 26.89	52.66	0.64	Q
2	3	Ryosuke Irie	JPN	26.21 (8) 27.08	53.29	0.58	Q
3	5	Nick Thoman	USA	26.05 (5) 27.42	53.47	0.64	Q
4	6	Helge Meeuw	GER	26.09 (6) 27.43	53.52	0.62	Q
5	2	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	25.98 (4) 27.76	53.74	0.60	Q
6	7	Jan-Philip Glania	GER	26.17 (7) 27.73	53.90	0.61
7	8	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	25.89 (3) 28.10	53.99	0.59
8	1	Gareth Kean	NZL	25.69 (1) 28.31	54.00	0.57

Final (30 July 2012 — 19:58)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Matt Grevers	USA	25.36 (2) 26.8	52.16	0.63	OR
2	2	Nick Thoman	USA	25.63 (3) 27.29	52.92	0.65
3	6	Ryosuke Irie	JPN	25.82 (6) 27.15	52.97	0.57
4	5	Camille Lacourt	FRA	25.31 (1) 27.77	53.08	0.67
5	3	Liam Tancock	GBR	25.63 (3) 27.72	53.35	0.65
6	1	Helge Meeuw	GER	25.9 (8) 27.58	53.48	0.62
7	8	Hayden Stoeckel	AUS	25.85 (7) 27.7	53.55	0.63
8	7	Cheng Feiyi	CHN	25.71 (5) 28.06	53.77	0.59