| | Event type

200 metres Individual Medley, Men

Date	25 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul
Participants	56 from 35 countries

Tamás Darnyi (HUN) had been the best individual medleyer since 1985 and had already won the 400 IM in Seoul. In that race, he had easily defeated American silver medalist Dave Wharton, considered to be his biggest competition. It was expected they would duel again in the 200, but Wharton inexplicably did not qualify for the final, leaving Darnyi with no real competition.

In the final, Darnyi did not take the lead early. The butterfly opener was led by Soviet Vadim Yaroshchuk, with East German Patrick Kühl taking over on the second leg, the backstroke. The three were close at 150, with Yaroshchuk leading and Darnyi in third place, but Darnyi’s freestyle put the gold medal away, as he won by almost 1½ seconds. Kühl passed Yaroshchuk on the final lap for silver.

Darnyi had just won the 200/400 IM double. Four years later, in Barcelona, he would win the two events again, becoming only the second swimmer, after East German Roland Matthes in the 1968/72 backstroke events, to double-double in a stroke or specialty. As of 2024, six other swimmers have repeat this double-double achievement, two of them in the 200/400 IM: Ukrainian Yana Klochkova in 2000-04, and American Michael Phelps in 2004-08.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	305	Tamás Darnyi	HUN	2:02.15 (1 h8)	–	2:00.17 (1)	Gold
2	261	Patrick Kühl	GDR	2:03.77 (1 h6)	–	2:01.61 (2)	Silver
3	518	Vadim Yaroshchuk	URS	2:02.77 (2 h8)	–	2:02.40 (3)	Bronze
4	542	Mikhail Zubkov	URS	2:03.79 (2 h6)	–	2:02.92 (4)
5	198	Peter Bermel	FRG	2:04.18 (4 h8)	–	2:03.81 (5)
6	10	Robert Bruce	AUS	2:04.31 (1 h7)	–	2:04.34 (6)
7	257	Raik Hannemann	GDR	2:04.03 (3 h8)	–	2:04.82 (7)
8	69	Gary Anderson	CAN	2:04.00 (3 h6)	–	2:06.35 (8)
9	582	Dave Wharton	USA	2:04.64 (2 h7)	2:03.05 (1)	–
10	236	John Davey	GBR	2:05.55 (6 h6)	2:04.17 (2)	–
11	235	Neil Cochran	GBR	2:05.56 (6 h7)	2:05.44 (3)	–
12	168	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	2:04.95 (4 h7)	2:05.51 (4)	–
13	371	Luca Sacchi	ITA	2:05.45 (5 h6)	2:05.68 (5)	–
14	276	Charalampos Papanikolaou	GRE	2:05.53 (5 h7)	2:06.61 (6)	–
15	199	Jens-Peter Berndt	FRG	2:04.80 (3 h7)	2:06.76 (7)	–
16	578	Bill Stapleton	USA	2:05.32 (4 h6)	2:06.82 (8)	–
17	33	Rob Woodhouse	AUS	2:05.87 (5 h8)	–	–
18	348	Roberto Cassio	ITA	2:05.88 (7 h6)	–	–
19	376	Takahiro Fujimoto	JPN	2:07.23 (1 h5)	–	–
20	332	Gary O'Toole	IRL	2:07.77 (8 h6)	–	–
21	91	Darren Ward	CAN	2:07.84 (6 h8)	–	–
22	386	Satoshi Takeda	JPN	2:08.11 (2 h5)	–	–
23	320	József Szabó	HUN	2:09.08 (7 h7)	–	–
24	422	Javier Careaga	MEX	2:09.38 (3 h5)	–	–
25	424	Rodrigo González	MEX	2:09.52 (4 h5)	–	–
26	56	Júlio López	BRA	2:09.62 (1 h4)	–	–
27	333	Eðvarð Þór Eðvarðsson	ISL	2:10.18 (5 h5)	–	–
28	451	Diogo Madeira	POR	2:10.21 (2 h4)	–	–
29	62	Renato Ramalho	BRA	2:10.32 (6 h5)	–	–
30	441	René Concepcion	PHI	2:10.37 (3 h4)	–	–
=31	113	Xie Jun	CHN	2:10.52 (=7 h5)	–	–
=31	152	Martín López-Zubero	ESP	2:10.52 (=7 h5)	–	–
33	49	Sidney Appelboom	BEL	2:11.55 (4 h4)	–	–
34	461	David Lim	SGP	2:11.57 (5 h4)	–	–
35	400	Lee Jae-Su	KOR	2:11.88 (1 h3)	–	–
36	153	Sergio López	ESP	2:13.48 (7 h8)	–	–
37	326	Richard Bera	INA	2:13.90 (2 h3)	–	–
38	327	Wirmandi Sugriat	INA	2:13.93 (6 h4)	–	–
39	498	Hakan Eskioğlu	TUR	2:14.32 (3 h3)	–	–
40	292	Yip Hor Man	HKG	2:14.65 (7 h4)	–	–
41	460	Desmond Koh	SGP	2:14.77 (4 h3)	–	–
42	413	Sultan Al-Otaibi	KUW	2:15.63 (1 h2)	–	–
43	123	Eric Greenwood	CRC	2:15.64 (5 h3)	–	–
44	124	Horst Niehaus	CRC	2:16.16 (2 h2)	–	–
45	284	Jonathan Sakovich	GUM	2:16.70 (6 h3)	–	–
46	341	Kraig Singleton	ISV	2:16.93 (3 h2)	–	–
47	603	Graham Thompson	ZIM	2:17.06 (4 h2)	–	–
48	285	Arthur Li	HKG	2:17.10 (7 h3)	–	–
49	496	Tsai Hsin-Yen	TPE	2:17.95 (5 h2)	–	–
50	602	Vaughan Smith	ZIM	2:18.07 (1 h1)	–	–
51	495	Chiang Chi-Li	TPE	2:18.76 (6 h2)	–	–
52	606	Mouhamed Diop	SEN	2:20.74 (7 h2)	–	–
53	503	Mohamed Bin Abid	UAE	2:29.08 (2 h1)	–	–
54	607	Bruno N'Diaye	SEN	2:29.18 (8 h2)	–	–
55	500	Mohammed Alghafri	UAE	2:31.44 (3 h1)	–	–
56	417	Rami Kantari	LBN	2:34.53 (4 h1)	–	–
DNS	440	Patrick Concepcion	PHI	– (DNS h3)	–	–

Round One

Date	25 September 1988 — 10:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	4	Tamás Darnyi	HUN	2:02.15	Q
2	5	Vadim Yaroshchuk	URS	2:02.77	Q
3	5	Patrick Kühl	GDR	2:03.77	Q
4	6	Mikhail Zubkov	URS	2:03.79	Q
5	3	Gary Anderson	CAN	2:04.00	Q
6	6	Raik Hannemann	GDR	2:04.03	Q
7	3	Peter Bermel	FRG	2:04.18	Q
8	7	Robert Bruce	AUS	2:04.31	Q
9	4	Dave Wharton	USA	2:04.64	q
10	5	Jens-Peter Berndt	FRG	2:04.80	q
11	2	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	2:04.95	q
12	4	Bill Stapleton	USA	2:05.32	q
13	2	Luca Sacchi	ITA	2:05.45	q
14	1	Charalampos Papanikolaou	GRE	2:05.53	q
15	7	John Davey	GBR	2:05.55	q
16	3	Neil Cochran	GBR	2:05.56	q
17	2	Rob Woodhouse	AUS	2:05.87
18	1	Roberto Cassio	ITA	2:05.88
19	5	Takahiro Fujimoto	JPN	2:07.23
20	8	Gary O'Toole	IRL	2:07.77
21	7	Darren Ward	CAN	2:07.84
22	2	Satoshi Takeda	JPN	2:08.11
23	6	József Szabó	HUN	2:09.08
24	3	Javier Careaga	MEX	2:09.38
25	6	Rodrigo González	MEX	2:09.52
26	2	Júlio López	BRA	2:09.62
27	1	Eðvarð Þór Eðvarðsson	ISL	2:10.18
28	5	Diogo Madeira	POR	2:10.21
29	8	Renato Ramalho	BRA	2:10.32
30	4	René Concepcion	PHI	2:10.37
=31	4	Xie Jun	CHN	2:10.52
=31	7	Martín López-Zubero	ESP	2:10.52
33	7	Sidney Appelboom	BEL	2:11.55
34	6	David Lim	SGP	2:11.57
35	6	Lee Jae-Su	KOR	2:11.88
36	8	Sergio López	ESP	2:13.48
37	8	Richard Bera	INA	2:13.90
38	8	Wirmandi Sugriat	INA	2:13.93
39	4	Hakan Eskioğlu	TUR	2:14.32
40	1	Yip Hor Man	HKG	2:14.65
41	5	Desmond Koh	SGP	2:14.77
42	1	Sultan Al-Otaibi	KUW	2:15.63
43	7	Eric Greenwood	CRC	2:15.64
44	2	Horst Niehaus	CRC	2:16.16
45	2	Jonathan Sakovich	GUM	2:16.70
46	4	Kraig Singleton	ISV	2:16.93
47	5	Graham Thompson	ZIM	2:17.06
48	3	Arthur Li	HKG	2:17.10
49	6	Tsai Hsin-Yen	TPE	2:17.95
50	4	Vaughan Smith	ZIM	2:18.07
51	3	Chiang Chi-Li	TPE	2:18.76
52	7	Mouhamed Diop	SEN	2:20.74
53	6	Mohamed Bin Abid	UAE	2:29.08
54	8	Bruno N'Diaye	SEN	2:29.18
55	2	Mohammed Alghafri	UAE	2:31.44
56	3	Rami Kantari	LBN	2:34.53
DNS	1	Patrick Concepcion	PHI	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	4	Vaughan Smith	ZIM	2:18.07	28.14 (1)	1:04.07 (1)	1:45.92 (1)	35.93 (1)	41.85 (1)	32.15 (1)
2	6	Mohamed Bin Abid	UAE	2:29.08	30.42 (2)	1:08.61 (2)	1:55.07 (2)	38.19 (2)	46.46 (3)	34.01 (3)
3	2	Mohammed Alghafri	UAE	2:31.44	33.01 (4)	1:11.29 (4)	1:57.66 (3)	38.28 (3)	46.37 (2)	33.78 (2)
4	3	Rami Kantari	LBN	2:34.53	32.11 (3)	1:10.77 (3)	1:59.20 (4)	38.66 (4)	48.43 (4)	35.33 (4)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	1	Sultan Al-Otaibi	KUW	2:15.63	29.03 (6)	1:05.26 (4)	1:44.30 (4)	36.23 (3)	39.04 (3)	31.33 (1)
2	2	Horst Niehaus	CRC	2:16.16	29.08 (7)	1:02.07 (1)	1:42.11 (1)	32.99 (1)	40.04 (4)	34.05 (6)
3	4	Kraig Singleton	ISV	2:16.93	28.48 (2)	1:03.71 (2)	1:44.04 (2)	35.23 (2)	40.33 (5)	32.89 (4)
4	5	Graham Thompson	ZIM	2:17.06	28.20 (1)	1:04.73 (3)	1:45.10 (6)	36.53 (4)	40.37 (6)	31.96 (2)
5	6	Tsai Hsin-Yen	TPE	2:17.95	28.76 (4)	1:07.40 (8)	1:44.74 (5)	38.64 (8)	37.34 (1)	33.21 (5)
6	3	Chiang Chi-Li	TPE	2:18.76	28.81 (5)	1:05.39 (5)	1:44.20 (3)	36.58 (5)	38.81 (2)	34.56 (7)
7	7	Mouhamed Diop	SEN	2:20.74	28.63 (3)	1:05.61 (6)	1:48.11 (7)	36.98 (6)	42.50 (7)	32.63 (3)
8	8	Bruno N'Diaye	SEN	2:29.18	29.23 (8)	1:06.86 (7)	1:53.65 (8)	37.63 (7)	46.79 (8)	35.53 (8)

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	6	Lee Jae-Su	KOR	2:11.88	28.13 (2)	1:02.63 (2)	1:40.73 (1)	34.50 (3)	38.10 (1)	31.15 (4)
2	8	Richard Bera	INA	2:13.90	28.82 (4)	1:03.76 (4)	1:43.99 (5)	34.94 (4)	40.23 (4)	29.91 (1)
3	4	Hakan Eskioğlu	TUR	2:14.32	29.47 (5)	1:03.71 (3)	1:42.62 (3)	34.24 (2)	38.91 (2)	31.70 (6)
4	5	Desmond Koh	SGP	2:14.77	28.78 (3)	1:03.77 (5)	1:43.13 (4)	34.99 (5)	39.36 (3)	31.64 (5)
5	7	Eric Greenwood	CRC	2:15.64	28.07 (1)	1:00.48 (1)	1:41.75 (2)	32.41 (1)	41.27 (7)	33.89 (7)
6	2	Jonathan Sakovich	GUM	2:16.70	29.96 (6)	1:05.79 (7)	1:46.29 (6)	35.83 (7)	40.50 (5)	30.41 (3)
7	3	Arthur Li	HKG	2:17.10	30.02 (7)	1:05.69 (6)	1:46.91 (7)	35.67 (6)	41.22 (6)	30.19 (2)
DNS	1	Patrick Concepcion	PHI	–	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	2	Júlio López	BRA	2:09.62	27.85 (1)	1:00.62 (1)	1:39.78 (3)	32.77 (2)	39.16 (5)	29.84 (1)
2	5	Diogo Madeira	POR	2:10.21	27.96 (3)	1:01.58 (3)	1:39.72 (2)	33.62 (3)	38.14 (4)	30.49 (3)
3	4	René Concepcion	PHI	2:10.37	27.89 (2)	1:02.29 (5)	1:38.83 (1)	34.40 (5)	36.54 (1)	31.54 (6)
4	7	Sidney Appelboom	BEL	2:11.55	29.07 (6)	1:03.84 (6)	1:40.44 (4)	34.77 (6)	36.60 (2)	31.11 (4)
5	6	David Lim	SGP	2:11.57	28.60 (5)	1:01.31 (2)	1:41.39 (5)	32.71 (1)	40.08 (7)	30.18 (2)
6	8	Wirmandi Sugriat	INA	2:13.93	29.37 (7)	1:05.69 (7)	1:42.67 (7)	36.32 (7)	36.98 (3)	31.26 (5)
7	1	Yip Hor Man	HKG	2:14.65	28.42 (4)	1:02.05 (4)	1:42.10 (6)	33.63 (4)	40.05 (6)	32.55 (7)

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	5	Takahiro Fujimoto	JPN	2:07.23	27.58 (3)	59.85 (2)	1:37.09 (1)	32.27 (2)	37.24 (3)	30.14 (2)
2	2	Satoshi Takeda	JPN	2:08.11	27.63 (4)	1:01.81 (8)	1:38.79 (3)	34.18 (7)	36.98 (2)	29.32 (1)
3	3	Javier Careaga	MEX	2:09.38	27.09 (1)	1:01.34 (6)	1:37.47 (2)	34.25 (8)	36.13 (1)	31.91 (8)
4	6	Rodrigo González	MEX	2:09.52	27.56 (2)	1:01.29 (5)	1:39.25 (5)	33.73 (6)	37.96 (5)	30.27 (4)
5	1	Eðvarð Þór Eðvarðsson	ISL	2:10.18	28.31 (7)	1:01.47 (7)	1:38.83 (4)	33.16 (5)	37.36 (4)	31.35 (7)
6	8	Renato Ramalho	BRA	2:10.32	28.56 (8)	1:00.93 (4)	1:40.12 (8)	32.37 (3)	39.19 (7)	30.20 (3)
=7	4	Xie Jun	CHN	2:10.52	27.78 (6)	1:00.91 (3)	1:40.00 (7)	33.13 (4)	39.09 (6)	30.52 (5)
=7	7	Martín López-Zubero	ESP	2:10.52	27.73 (5)	59.51 (1)	1:39.49 (6)	31.78 (1)	39.98 (8)	31.03 (6)

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	5	Patrick Kühl	GDR	2:03.77	26.40 (1)	57.33 (1)	1:33.52 (1)	30.93 (2)	36.19 (3)	30.25 (6)	Q
2	6	Mikhail Zubkov	URS	2:03.79	27.33 (6)	58.33 (4)	1:34.14 (2)	31.00 (3)	35.81 (2)	29.65 (3)	Q
3	3	Gary Anderson	CAN	2:04.00	27.30 (5)	58.86 (6)	1:35.20 (3)	31.56 (6)	36.34 (4)	28.80 (1)	Q
4	4	Bill Stapleton	USA	2:05.32	26.84 (2)	58.11 (3)	1:35.59 (6)	31.27 (4)	37.48 (7)	29.73 (4)	q
5	2	Luca Sacchi	ITA	2:05.45	27.89 (8)	1:00.34 (8)	1:35.99 (7)	32.45 (8)	35.65 (1)	29.46 (2)	q
6	7	John Davey	GBR	2:05.55	27.22 (4)	57.96 (2)	1:35.56 (5)	30.74 (1)	37.60 (8)	29.99 (5)	q
7	1	Roberto Cassio	ITA	2:05.88	27.10 (3)	58.59 (5)	1:35.44 (4)	31.49 (5)	36.85 (5)	30.44 (7)
8	8	Gary O'Toole	IRL	2:07.77	27.36 (7)	59.41 (7)	1:36.63 (8)	32.05 (7)	37.22 (6)	31.14 (8)

Heat #7

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	7	Robert Bruce	AUS	2:04.31	27.37 (4)	58.85 (4)	1:35.29 (1)	31.48 (4)	36.44 (=1)	29.02 (1)	Q
2	4	Dave Wharton	USA	2:04.64	27.14 (3)	58.60 (1)	1:35.59 (4)	31.46 (3)	36.99 (6)	29.05 (2)	q
3	5	Jens-Peter Berndt	FRG	2:04.80	27.80 (6)	58.91 (5)	1:35.35 (2)	31.11 (1)	36.44 (=1)	29.45 (5)	q
4	2	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	2:04.95	27.13 (2)	59.10 (6)	1:35.83 (5)	31.97 (6)	36.73 (5)	29.12 (3)	q
5	1	Charalampos Papanikolaou	GRE	2:05.53	27.46 (5)	58.82 (3)	1:35.43 (3)	31.36 (2)	36.61 (4)	30.10 (6)	q
6	3	Neil Cochran	GBR	2:05.56	27.08 (1)	58.70 (2)	1:36.20 (6)	31.62 (5)	37.50 (7)	29.36 (4)	q
7	6	József Szabó	HUN	2:09.08	27.96 (7)	1:01.48 (7)	1:38.03 (7)	33.52 (7)	36.55 (3)	31.05 (7)

Heat #8

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	4	Tamás Darnyi	HUN	2:02.15	27.28 (4)	58.25 (3)	1:34.11 (3)	30.97 (1)	35.86 (3)	28.04 (1)	Q
2	5	Vadim Yaroshchuk	URS	2:02.77	25.70 (1)	56.89 (1)	1:32.97 (1)	31.19 (4)	36.08 (4)	29.80 (4)	Q
3	6	Raik Hannemann	GDR	2:04.03	26.18 (2)	57.90 (2)	1:33.75 (2)	31.72 (5)	35.85 (2)	30.28 (5)	Q
4	3	Peter Bermel	FRG	2:04.18	27.56 (5)	58.62 (5)	1:34.85 (4)	31.06 (2)	36.23 (5)	29.33 (2)	Q
5	2	Rob Woodhouse	AUS	2:05.87	27.87 (6)	58.98 (6)	1:36.20 (5)	31.11 (3)	37.22 (6)	29.67 (3)
6	7	Darren Ward	CAN	2:07.84	26.58 (3)	58.57 (4)	1:37.37 (6)	31.99 (6)	38.80 (7)	30.47 (6)
7	8	Sergio López	ESP	2:13.48	29.14 (7)	1:06.05 (7)	1:41.59 (7)	36.91 (7)	35.54 (1)	31.89 (7)

B Final

Date	25 September 1988 — 20:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	4	Dave Wharton	USA	2:03.05	26.86 (1)	58.05 (1)	1:34.25 (1)	31.19 (2)	36.20 (2)	28.80 (1)
2	1	John Davey	GBR	2:04.17	27.44 (4)	58.72 (3)	1:35.30 (2)	31.28 (3)	36.58 (3)	28.87 (2)
3	8	Neil Cochran	GBR	2:05.44	27.31 (2)	59.05 (4)	1:36.34 (4)	31.74 (5)	37.29 (6)	29.10 (4)
4	3	Christophe Bordeau	FRA	2:05.51	27.42 (3)	59.54 (6)	1:36.48 (=5)	32.12 (7)	36.94 (4)	29.03 (3)
5	2	Luca Sacchi	ITA	2:05.68	28.17 (8)	1:00.53 (8)	1:36.48 (=5)	32.36 (8)	35.95 (1)	29.20 (5)
6	7	Charalampos Papanikolaou	GRE	2:06.61	27.78 (7)	59.65 (7)	1:36.86 (7)	31.87 (6)	37.21 (5)	29.75 (6)
7	5	Jens-Peter Berndt	FRG	2:06.76	27.49 (5)	58.64 (2)	1:36.11 (3)	31.15 (1)	37.47 (7)	30.65 (8)
8	6	Bill Stapleton	USA	2:06.82	27.56 (6)	59.24 (5)	1:37.02 (8)	31.68 (4)	37.78 (8)	29.80 (7)

Final Round

Date	25 September 1988 — 20:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	4	Tamás Darnyi	HUN	2:00.17	27.06 (5)	57.33 (2)	1:32.44 (3)	30.27 (1)	35.11 (2)	27.73 (1)	WR
2	3	Patrick Kühl	GDR	2:01.61	26.59 (3)	57.56 (3)	1:32.37 (2)	30.97 (3)	34.81 (1)	29.24 (3)
3	5	Vadim Yaroshchuk	URS	2:02.40	25.60 (1)	56.24 (1)	1:32.20 (1)	30.64 (2)	35.96 (5)	30.20 (6)
4	6	Mikhail Zubkov	URS	2:02.92	27.18 (7)	58.45 (8)	1:33.97 (4)	31.27 (6)	35.52 (3)	28.95 (2)
5	1	Peter Bermel	FRG	2:03.81	27.29 (8)	58.31 (7)	1:34.19 (5)	31.02 (4)	35.88 (4)	29.62 (5)
6	8	Robert Bruce	AUS	2:04.34	26.69 (4)	58.14 (5)	1:34.73 (7)	31.45 (7)	36.59 (7)	29.61 (4)
7	7	Raik Hannemann	GDR	2:04.82	26.25 (2)	58.12 (4)	1:34.46 (6)	31.87 (8)	36.34 (6)	30.36 (7)
8	2	Gary Anderson	CAN	2:06.35	27.10 (6)	58.23 (6)	1:35.63 (8)	31.13 (5)	37.40 (8)	30.72 (8)