| Date | 31 July 1984 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympic Swim Stadium, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 34 from 25 countries |
In 1982 Rick Carey had won the World Championships in this event and in 1983, he bettered John Naber’s vaunted world record from the Montréal Olympics. He improved that at the 1984 US Olympic Trials with 1:58.86 and was the clear favorite for gold in the 200 back. In the heats he bettered Naber’s Olympic record, finishing in 1:58.99 and hoped to improve in the final and set another world record. He won quite easily, finishing 1½ seconds ahead of France’s Frédéric Delcourt, but his time was disappointing to him – 2:00.23. Rather than celebrate he pouted on the medal podium, did not smile, and acted like a spoiled child. Not acknowledging them, the pro-American crowd responded with a chorus of boos, and the press went after him. In his post-race interview, he said, “I would have won no matter what. I didn’t feel good but no one can beat me. That’s not vanity or cockiness. I had control of the race al all times, feeling as bad as I did.”
Carey was so harshly criticized that he had to offer a formal apology. A few days later he came back to win the 100 backstroke and this time smiled, and let everyone know he was happy. He would also win a third gold medal in Los Angeles in the medley relay. A few weeks after the Olympics, Sergey Zabolotnov of the Soviet Union broke Carey’s world record at the Friendship Games.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | B Final | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 454 | Rick Carey |  USA | 1:58.99 (1 h5) | – | 2:00.23 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 181 | Frédéric Delcourt |  FRA | 2:02.59 (2 h5) | – | 2:01.75 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 88 | Cam Henning |  CAN | 2:03.36 (1 h2) | – | 2:02.37 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 65 | Ricardo Prado |  BRA | 2:04.46 (1 h1) | – | 2:03.05 (4) | |||
| 5 | – | Gary Hurring |  NZL | 2:03.29 (1 h4) | – | 2:03.10 (5) | |||
| 6 | – | Nicolaj Klapkarek |  FRG | 2:04.45 (3 h2) | – | 2:03.95 (6) | |||
| 7 | 152 | Ricardo Aldabe |  ESP | 2:03.94 (2 h2) | – | 2:04.53 (7) | |||
| 8 | 26 | David Orbell |  AUS | 2:04.00 (1 h3) | – | 2:04.61 (8) | |||
| 9 | 309 | Paolo Falchini |  ITA | 2:04.59 (3 h3) | 2:04.64 (1) | – | |||
| 10 | 106 | Mike West | CAN | 2:04.93 (2 h4) | 2:04.73 (2) | – | |||
| 11 | 434 | Michael Söderlund |  SWE | 2:05.85 (4 h4) | 2:05.02 (3) | – | |||
| 12 | 62 | Djan Madruga | BRA | 2:05.23 (5 h2) | 2:05.33 (4) | – | |||
| 13 | 209 | Stefan Peter | FRG | 2:05.22 (4 h2) | 2:05.66 (5) | – | |||
| 14 | 221 | Neil Cochran |  GBR | 2:05.58 (3 h4) | 2:05.72 (6) | – | |||
| 15 | 300 | Fabrizio Bortolon | ITA | 2:06.46 (4 h3) | 2:05.86 (7) | – | |||
| 16 | 350 | Daichi Suzuki |  JPN | 2:06.24 (2 h1) | 2:06.02 (8) | – | |||
| 17 | 488 | Jesse Vassallo | USA | 2:04.51 (2 h3) | – | – | 1 | ||
| 18 | 426 | Hans Fredin | SWE | 2:06.50 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 19 | 34 | Kim Terrell | AUS | 2:06.56 (3 h5) | – | – | |||
| 20 | 392 | Paul Kingsman | NZL | 2:06.87 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 21 | 492 | Giovanni Frigo |  VEN | 2:07.56 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 22 | – | Patrick Ferland |  SUI | 2:08.31 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 251 | Kristofer Stivenson |  GRE | 2:08.38 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 24 | 224 | Neil Harper | GBR | 2:09.48 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 25 | 286 | Lukman Niode |  INA | 2:09.79 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 26 | 380 | Ernesto Vela |  MEX | 2:10.30 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 27 | 329 | Allan Marsh |  JAM | 2:11.57 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 28 | – | Wang Hao |  CHN | 2:12.28 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 29 | 141 | Emad El-Shafei |  EGY | 2:12.90 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 30 | 396 | Alejandro Alvizuri |  PER | 2:13.30 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 31 | 43 | Dave Morley |  BAH | 2:18.17 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 32 | 149 | Salvador Salguero |  ESA | 2:21.75 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 33 | 253 | Ernesto José Degenhart |  GUA | 2:24.08 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 34 | 284 | Juan José Pino |  HON | 2:32.48 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 145 | Sharif Nour | EGY | – (DNS h3) | – | – | ||||
| – | Gordon Petersen |  FIJ | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| 244 | Ilias Malamas | GRE | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| – | Ng Wing Hon |  HKG | – (DNS h2) | – | – |
| Date | 31 July 1984 — 10:05 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ricardo Prado | BRA | 2:04.46 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Daichi Suzuki | JPN | 2:06.24 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Hans Fredin | SWE | 2:06.50 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Paul Kingsman | NZL | 2:06.87 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Kristofer Stivenson | GRE | 2:08.38 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Alejandro Alvizuri | PER | 2:13.30 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Ernesto José Degenhart | GUA | 2:24.08 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Cam Henning | CAN | 2:03.36 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Ricardo Aldabe | ESP | 2:03.94 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Nicolaj Klapkarek | FRG | 2:04.45 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Stefan Peter | FRG | 2:05.22 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Djan Madruga | BRA | 2:05.23 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Dave Morley | BAH | 2:18.17 | ||
| 1 | Ng Wing Hon | HKG | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | David Orbell | AUS | 2:04.00 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Jesse Vassallo | USA | 2:04.51 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Paolo Falchini | ITA | 2:04.59 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Fabrizio Bortolon | ITA | 2:06.46 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Giovanni Frigo | VEN | 2:07.56 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Allan Marsh | JAM | 2:11.57 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Juan José Pino | HON | 2:32.48 | ||
| 1 | Sharif Nour | EGY | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Gary Hurring | NZL | 2:03.29 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Mike West | CAN | 2:04.93 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Neil Cochran | GBR | 2:05.58 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Michael Söderlund | SWE | 2:05.85 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Patrick Ferland | SUI | 2:08.31 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Ernesto Vela | MEX | 2:10.30 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Emad El-Shafei | EGY | 2:12.90 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Salvador Salguero | ESA | 2:21.75 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rick Carey | USA | 1:58.99 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Frédéric Delcourt | FRA | 2:02.59 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Kim Terrell | AUS | 2:06.56 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Neil Harper | GBR | 2:09.48 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Lukman Niode | INA | 2:09.79 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Wang Hao | CHN | 2:12.28 | ||
| 8 | Gordon Petersen | FIJ | – | |||
| 7 | Ilias Malamas | GRE | – |
| Date | 31 July 1984 — 17:02 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Paolo Falchini | ITA | 2:04.64 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Mike West | CAN | 2:04.73 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Michael Söderlund | SWE | 2:05.02 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Djan Madruga | BRA | 2:05.33 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Stefan Peter | FRG | 2:05.66 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Neil Cochran | GBR | 2:05.72 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Fabrizio Bortolon | ITA | 2:05.86 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Daichi Suzuki | JPN | 2:06.02 |
| Date | 31 July 1984 — 16:55 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rick Carey | USA | 2:00.23 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Frédéric Delcourt | FRA | 2:01.75 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Cam Henning | CAN | 2:02.37 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Ricardo Prado | BRA | 2:03.05 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Gary Hurring | NZL | 2:03.10 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Nicolaj Klapkarek | FRG | 2:03.95 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Ricardo Aldabe | ESP | 2:04.53 | ||
| 8 | 7 | David Orbell | AUS | 2:04.61 |
