| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Men

Date	23 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul
Participants	54 from 40 countries

Hungaryian József Szabó was the favorite coming into Seoul, having won the 1986 World Championships and the 1987 Europeans, but he was recovering from knee surgery in December 1987. Szabó had pioneered a new rolling-style “wave-action” breaststroke technique and moved well ahead of his competitors, but others were learning it, notably American Mike Barrowman, almost breaking the world record at the US Olympic Trials in August. Barrowman had been taught it by Szabó’s coach, József Nagy.

The final started out at sprint pace, led by Soviet Valery Lozik, but Szabó caught him at the end of the third lap, and Lozik would drop back to fifth. Szabó could not be caught, with silver going to Britain’s Nick Gillingham and bronze to Spain’s unheralded Sergio López. Barrowman dropped back to fourth, but would dominate the event over the next quadrennium and win the gold in Barcelona.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	József Szabó	HUN	2:14.97 (2 h6)	–	2:13.52 (1)	Gold
2	Nick Gillingham	GBR	2:14.58 (1 h6)	–	2:14.12 (2)	Silver
3	Sergio López	ESP	2:17.06 (3 h6)	–	2:15.21 (3)	Bronze
4	Mike Barrowman	USA	2:15.85 (1 h7)	–	2:15.45 (4)
5	Valery Lozik	URS	2:16.31 (1 h5)	–	2:16.16 (5)
6	Vadim Alekseyev	URS	2:17.15 (4 h6)	–	2:16.70 (6)
7	Jon Cleveland	CAN	2:16.87 (2 h5)	–	2:17.10 (7)
8	Péter Szabó	HUN	2:17.10 (2 h7)	–	2:17.12 (8)
9	Alexandre Yokochi	POR	2:17.87 (5 h6)	2:18.01 (1)	–
10	Shigehiro Takahashi	JPN	2:17.69 (4 h7)	2:18.03 (2)	–
11	Sidney Appelboom	BEL	2:18.02 (1 h4)	2:18.08 (3)	–
12	Radek Beinhauer	TCH	2:18.02 (3 h5)	2:18.13 (4)	–
13	Étienne Dagon	SUI	2:18.68 (4 h5)	2:18.17 (5)	–
14	Cam Grant	CAN	2:17.62 (3 h7)	2:18.36 (6)	–
15	Alexander Marček	TCH	2:18.44 (5 h7)	2:18.51 (7)	–
16	Cédric Pénicaud	FRA	2:18.72 (6 h6)	2:18.95 (8)	–
17	Adrian Moorhouse	GBR	2:18.51 (6 h7)	–	–		1
18	Gary O'Toole	IRL	2:18.93 (5 h5)	–	–
19	Kirk Stackle	USA	2:19.47 (6 h5)	–	–
20	Pablo Restrepo	COL	2:19.58 (7 h6)	–	–
21	Ian McAdam	AUS	2:19.68 (7 h7)	–	–
22	Yun Ju-Il	KOR	2:19.94 (2 h4)	–	–
23	Javier Careaga	MEX	2:20.11 (1 h3)	–	–
24	Joaquín Fernández	ESP	2:20.34 (8 h6)	–	–
25	Ron Dekker	NED	2:20.84 (3 h4)	–	–
26	Pierre-Yves Eberle	SUI	2:20.85 (2 h3)	–	–
27	Christian Poswiat	GDR	2:20.99 (4 h4)	–	–
28	Luc Van de Vondel	BEL	2:21.50 (5 h4)	–	–
29	Petri Suominen	FIN	2:22.01 (6 h4)	–	–
30	Hironobu Nagahata	JPN	2:22.23 (7 h4)	–	–
=31	Mark Warnecke	FRG	2:22.55 (3 h3)	–	–
=31	Hartmut Wedekind	FRG	2:22.55 (7 h5)	–	–
33	Tsai Hsin-Yen	TPE	2:23.80 (1 h2)	–	–
34	Thomas Böhm	AUT	2:24.15 (4 h3)	–	–
35	Chang Qing	CHN	2:24.45 (5 h3)	–	–
36	Richard Lockhart	NZL	2:24.52 (6 h3)	–	–
37	Eyal Shtigman	ISR	2:25.18 (7 h3)	–	–
38	Jin Fu	CHN	2:26.05 (8 h4)	–	–
39	Wirmandi Sugriat	INA	2:26.17 (2 h2)	–	–
40	Manuel Gutiérrez	PAN	2:26.57 (3 h2)	–	–
41	Jan-Erick Olsen	NOR	2:26.70 (8 h7)	–	–
42	Anthony Beks	NZL	2:27.26 (1 h1)	–	–
43	Arnþór Ragnarsson	ISL	2:27.93 (4 h2)	–	–
44	Cicero Torteli	BRA	2:28.82 (5 h2)	–	–
45	Nikolaos Fokianos	GRE	2:28.91 (6 h2)	–	–
46	Patrick Concepcion	PHI	2:29.62 (8 h3)	–	–
47	Ng Yue Meng	SGP	2:30.74 (2 h1)	–	–
48	Michael Watt	HKG	2:30.78 (7 h2)	–	–
49	Kraig Singleton	ISV	2:36.45 (3 h1)	–	–
50	Quách Hoài Nam	VIE	2:39.69 (4 h1)	–	–
51	Amine El-Domyati	LBN	2:44.34 (5 h1)	–	–
52	Obaid Al-Rumaithi	UAE	2:50.49 (6 h1)	–	–
DQ	Christian Toft	DEN	– (DQ h2)	–	–
DQ	David Leblanc	FRA	– (DQ h5)	–	–

Round One (23 September 1988 — 10:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Anthony Beks	NZL	31.77 (1) 36.02 (1)	1:07.79 (1) 38.51 (1)	1:46.30 (1) 40.96 (3)	2:27.26
2	5	Ng Yue Meng	SGP	33.01 (2) 38.66 (2)	1:11.67 (2) 39.28 (2)	1:50.95 (2) 39.79 (1)	2:30.74
3	3	Kraig Singleton	ISV	35.29 (4) 39.98 (3)	1:15.27 (3) 40.34 (3)	1:55.61 (3) 40.84 (2)	2:36.45
4	6	Quách Hoài Nam	VIE	34.79 (3) 41.15 (4)	1:15.94 (4) 41.47 (4)	1:57.41 (4) 42.28 (4)	2:39.69
5	7	Amine El-Domyati	LBN	35.97 (6) 42.48 (6)	1:18.45 (6) 43.53 (5)	2:01.98 (5) 42.36 (5)	2:44.34
6	2	Obaid Al-Rumaithi	UAE	35.96 (5) 42.24 (5)	1:18.20 (5) 45.16 (6)	2:03.36 (6) 47.13 (6)	2:50.49

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Tsai Hsin-Yen	TPE	33.67 (7) 36.13 (1)	1:09.80 (2) 36.75 (1)	1:46.55 (1) 37.25 (1)	2:23.80
2	5	Wirmandi Sugriat	INA	33.18 (4) 37.35 (4)	1:10.53 (4) 37.77 (2)	1:48.30 (3) 37.87 (2)	2:26.17
3	2	Manuel Gutiérrez	PAN	32.38 (1) 36.64 (2)	1:09.02 (1) 38.31 (3)	1:47.33 (2) 39.24 (5)	2:26.57
4	8	Arnþór Ragnarsson	ISL	33.24 (5) 37.73 (6)	1:10.97 (6) 38.80 (5)	1:49.77 (5) 38.16 (3)	2:27.93
5	6	Cicero Torteli	BRA	32.90 (2) 36.99 (3)	1:09.89 (3) 38.73 (4)	1:48.62 (4) 40.20 (6)	2:28.82
6	7	Nikolaos Fokianos	GRE	33.02 (3) 37.85 (7)	1:10.87 (5) 38.94 (6)	1:49.81 (6) 39.10 (4)	2:28.91
7	1	Michael Watt	HKG	33.54 (6) 37.55 (5)	1:11.09 (7) 39.31 (7)	1:50.40 (7) 40.38 (7)	2:30.78
DQ	3	Christian Toft	DEN	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	7	Javier Careaga	MEX	31.92 (3) 35.32 (1)	1:07.24 (1) 35.97 (2)	1:43.21 (1) 36.90 (2)	2:20.11
2	3	Pierre-Yves Eberle	SUI	31.86 (2) 36.31 (4)	1:08.17 (3) 35.82 (1)	1:43.99 (2) 36.86 (1)	2:20.85
3	8	Mark Warnecke	FRG	31.61 (1) 36.20 (2)	1:07.81 (2) 36.89 (3)	1:44.70 (3) 37.85 (5)	2:22.55
4	2	Thomas Böhm	AUT	32.34 (5) 36.26 (3)	1:08.60 (4) 37.76 (6)	1:46.36 (5) 37.79 (4)	2:24.15
5	6	Chang Qing	CHN	32.29 (4) 36.58 (6)	1:08.87 (5) 37.83 (7)	1:46.70 (7) 37.75 (3)	2:24.45
6	5	Richard Lockhart	NZL	32.47 (6) 36.74 (7)	1:09.21 (7) 37.02 (4)	1:46.23 (4) 38.29 (6)	2:24.52
7	1	Eyal Shtigman	ISR	32.64 (7) 36.32 (5)	1:08.96 (6) 37.42 (5)	1:46.38 (6) 38.80 (7)	2:25.18
8	4	Patrick Concepcion	PHI	33.05 (8) 37.18 (8)	1:10.23 (8) 39.50 (8)	1:49.73 (8) 39.89 (8)	2:29.62

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Sidney Appelboom	BEL	32.37 (4) 35.73 (2)	1:08.10 (3) 34.94 (1)	1:43.04 (1) 34.98 (1)	2:18.02	q
2	2	Yun Ju-Il	KOR	32.83 (8) 35.81 (3)	1:08.64 (4) 36.23 (3)	1:44.87 (4) 35.07 (2)	2:19.94
3	8	Ron Dekker	NED	31.17 (1) 36.03 (4)	1:07.20 (2) 36.61 (5)	1:43.81 (2) 37.03 (6)	2:20.84
4	5	Christian Poswiat	GDR	32.77 (7) 36.63 (5)	1:09.40 (6) 36.32 (4)	1:45.72 (6) 35.27 (3)	2:20.99
5	7	Luc Van de Vondel	BEL	32.40 (5) 36.67 (6)	1:09.07 (5) 36.01 (2)	1:45.08 (5) 36.42 (5)	2:21.50
6	3	Petri Suominen	FIN	31.70 (2) 35.26 (1)	1:06.96 (1) 37.04 (6)	1:44.00 (3) 38.01 (7)	2:22.01
7	6	Hironobu Nagahata	JPN	32.56 (6) 36.94 (7)	1:09.50 (7) 37.41 (8)	1:46.91 (7) 35.32 (4)	2:22.23
8	1	Jin Fu	CHN	32.29 (3) 37.36 (8)	1:09.65 (8) 37.38 (7)	1:47.03 (8) 39.02 (8)	2:26.05

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Valery Lozik	URS	30.83 (1) 34.54 (2)	1:05.37 (1) 35.16 (2)	1:40.53 (1) 35.78 (3)	2:16.31	Q
2	5	Jon Cleveland	CAN	31.40 (4) 34.52 (1)	1:05.92 (2) 35.28 (3)	1:41.20 (2) 35.67 (2)	2:16.87	Q
3	7	Radek Beinhauer	TCH	31.73 (6) 36.02 (7)	1:07.75 (6) 35.07 (1)	1:42.82 (6) 35.20 (1)	2:18.02	q
4	6	Étienne Dagon	SUI	31.21 (3) 35.53 (5)	1:06.74 (4) 35.49 (4)	1:42.23 (3) 36.45 (5)	2:18.68	q
5	8	Gary O'Toole	IRL	31.44 (5) 35.38 (3)	1:06.82 (5) 35.71 (5)	1:42.53 (4) 36.40 (4)	2:18.93
6	3	Kirk Stackle	USA	31.14 (2) 35.48 (4)	1:06.62 (3) 36.08 (6)	1:42.70 (5) 36.77 (6)	2:19.47
7	2	Hartmut Wedekind	FRG	32.33 (7) 35.92 (6)	1:08.25 (7) 37.04 (7)	1:45.29 (7) 37.26 (7)	2:22.55
DQ	1	David Leblanc	FRA	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	5	Nick Gillingham	GBR	30.58 (1) 34.40 (1)	1:04.98 (1) 34.85 (3)	1:39.83 (1) 34.75 (2)	2:14.58	Q
2	4	József Szabó	HUN	31.56 (3) 34.49 (2)	1:06.05 (3) 34.58 (1)	1:40.63 (2) 34.34 (1)	2:14.97	Q
3	3	Sergio López	ESP	31.78 (4) 35.04 (4)	1:06.82 (4) 34.75 (2)	1:41.57 (4) 35.49 (4)	2:17.06	Q
4	6	Vadim Alekseyev	URS	31.06 (2) 34.58 (3)	1:05.64 (2) 35.11 (4)	1:40.75 (3) 36.40 (7)	2:17.15	Q
5	7	Alexandre Yokochi	POR	31.92 (5) 35.13 (5)	1:07.05 (5) 35.36 (6)	1:42.41 (5) 35.46 (3)	2:17.87	q
6	2	Cédric Pénicaud	FRA	32.18 (7) 35.34 (6)	1:07.52 (6) 35.67 (7)	1:43.19 (7) 35.53 (5)	2:18.72
7	8	Pablo Restrepo	COL	32.07 (6) 35.66 (7)	1:07.73 (7) 35.33 (5)	1:43.06 (6) 36.52 (8)	2:19.58
8	1	Joaquín Fernández	ESP	32.63 (8) 35.77 (8)	1:08.40 (8) 35.90 (8)	1:44.30 (8) 36.04 (6)	2:20.34

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Mike Barrowman	USA	31.39 (=3) 34.98 (=1)	1:06.37 (3) 34.83 (1)	1:41.20 (2) 34.65 (1)	2:15.85	Q
2	6	Péter Szabó	HUN	31.21 (2) 34.98 (=1)	1:06.19 (1) 34.98 (2)	1:41.17 (1) 35.93 (5)	2:17.10	Q
3	3	Cam Grant	CAN	31.13 (1) 35.22 (4)	1:06.35 (2) 35.20 (3)	1:41.55 (3) 36.07 (6)	2:17.62	q
4	7	Shigehiro Takahashi	JPN	31.39 (=3) 35.12 (3)	1:06.51 (4) 35.26 (4)	1:41.77 (4) 35.92 (4)	2:17.69	q
5	2	Alexander Marček	TCH	31.73 (6) 35.55 (6)	1:07.28 (6) 35.58 (6)	1:42.86 (7) 35.58 (2)	2:18.44	q
6	5	Adrian Moorhouse	GBR	31.76 (7) 35.67 (7)	1:07.43 (7) 35.36 (5)	1:42.79 (6) 35.72 (3)	2:18.51	q
7	1	Ian McAdam	AUS	31.61 (5) 35.34 (5)	1:06.95 (5) 35.75 (7)	1:42.70 (5) 36.98 (7)	2:19.68
8	8	Jan-Erick Olsen	NOR	32.59 (8) 36.87 (8)	1:09.46 (8) 38.15 (8)	1:47.61 (8) 39.09 (8)	2:26.70

B Final (23 September 1988 — 20:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	3	Alexandre Yokochi	POR	31.80 (5) 35.40 (3)	1:07.20 (5) 35.50 (3)	1:42.70 (=4) 35.31 (3)	2:18.01
2	5	Shigehiro Takahashi	JPN	31.50 (2) 35.33 (2)	1:06.83 (2) 35.76 (7)	1:42.59 (3) 35.44 (4)	2:18.03
3	6	Sidney Appelboom	BEL	32.11 (8) 36.06 (8)	1:08.17 (8) 34.39 (1)	1:42.56 (2) 35.52 (5)	2:18.08
4	2	Radek Beinhauer	TCH	32.05 (7) 35.74 (6)	1:07.79 (6) 35.33 (2)	1:43.12 (7) 35.01 (2)	2:18.13
5	1	Étienne Dagon	SUI	31.11 (1) 35.50 (5)	1:06.61 (1) 35.61 (4)	1:42.22 (1) 35.95 (7)	2:18.17
6	4	Cam Grant	CAN	31.51 (3) 35.48 (4)	1:06.99 (4) 35.71 (5)	1:42.70 (=4) 35.66 (6)	2:18.36
7	7	Alexander Marček	TCH	31.82 (6) 35.99 (7)	1:07.81 (7) 35.72 (6)	1:43.53 (8) 34.98 (1)	2:18.51
8	8	Cédric Pénicaud	FRA	31.76 (4) 35.22 (1)	1:06.98 (3) 35.83 (8)	1:42.81 (6) 36.14 (8)	2:18.95

Final (23 September 1988 — 20:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	5	József Szabó	HUN	30.57 (4) 34.24 (=2)	1:04.81 (3) 34.18 (1)	1:38.99 (2) 34.53 (1)	2:13.52
2	4	Nick Gillingham	GBR	30.45 (2) 34.47 (5)	1:04.92 (4) 34.33 (2)	1:39.25 (3) 34.87 (3)	2:14.12
3	7	Sergio López	ESP	31.10 (6) 34.42 (4)	1:05.52 (5) 34.63 (3)	1:40.15 (5) 35.06 (4)	2:15.21
4	3	Mike Barrowman	USA	30.85 (5) 34.80 (7)	1:05.65 (6) 35.06 (6)	1:40.71 (6) 34.74 (2)	2:15.45
5	6	Valery Lozik	URS	29.98 (1) 33.88 (1)	1:03.86 (1) 34.89 (4)	1:38.75 (1) 37.41 (8)	2:16.16
6	8	Vadim Alekseyev	URS	30.49 (3) 34.24 (=2)	1:04.73 (2) 34.98 (5)	1:39.71 (4) 36.99 (7)	2:16.70
7	2	Jon Cleveland	CAN	31.52 (8) 35.11 (8)	1:06.63 (8) 35.13 (7)	1:41.76 (8) 35.34 (5)	2:17.10
8	1	Péter Szabó	HUN	31.31 (7) 34.65 (6)	1:05.96 (7) 35.23 (8)	1:41.19 (7) 35.93 (6)	2:17.12