| | Event type

50 metres Freestyle, Men

Date	30 July 1992
Status	Olympic
Location	Piscinas Bernat Picornell, Barcelona
Participants	75 from 51 countries

Coming in to Barcelona Tom Jager and Matt Biondi had 23 of the 24 fastest times in the event. They had set the last nine world records, with six by Jager. At Seoul, they had won gold and silver, with Biondi winning the gold in a slight upset. But apparently Russian Aleksandr Popov had not read all this. He had already won gold in Barcelona in the 100 free. In May he had set a European record of 22.30 in this event and he led the qualifiers with another record of 22.21, although well off Jager’s world record of 21.81. Popov won the final in 21.91, the third fastest performance ever, with Biondi second and Jager third. Popov would return to Atlanta in four years and defend both titles in the 50 and 100 free, winning the sprint freestyle double-double. Between 1994 and 2003 he would five individual World titles in the events, three in 100 free and two in 50 free.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Aleksandr Popov	EUN	22.21 (1 h8)	–	21.91 (1)	Gold
2	Matt Biondi	USA	22.32 (1 h10)	–	22.09 (2)	Silver
3	Tom Jager	USA	22.45 (1 h9)	–	22.30 (3)	Bronze
=4	Christophe Kalfayan	FRA	22.70 (=3 h9)	–	22.50 (=4)
=4	Peter Williams	RSA	22.65 (2 h9)	–	22.50 (=4)
6	Mark Foster	GBR	22.72 (3 h10)	–	22.52 (6)
7	Gennady Prigoda	EUN	22.57 (2 h10)	–	22.54 (7)
8	Nils Rudolph	GER	22.70 (=3 h9)	–	22.73 (8)
9	Darren Lange	AUS	23.01 (=3 h8)	22.69 (1)	–
10	Raimundas Mažuolis	LTU	22.77 (2 h8)	22.71 (2)	–
=11	Mark Pinger	GER	22.88 (5 h9)	22.88 (=3)	–
=11	Pär Lindström	SWE	22.92 (=4 h10)	22.88 (=3)	–
13	Gustavo Borges	BRA	23.10 (5 h8)	23.01 (5)	–
14	René Gusperti	ITA	22.92 (=4 h10)	23.04 (6)	–
15	Angus Waddell	AUS	23.10 (6 h10)	23.06 (7)	–
16	Dano Halsall	SUI	23.15 (6 h8)	23.18 (8)	–
17	Stéphan Caron	FRA	23.01 (=3 h8)	–	–		1
18	Krzysztof Cwalina	POL	23.20 (7 h8)	–	–
19	Mike Fibbens	GBR	23.27 (7 h10)	–	–
20	Stavros Michailidis	CYP	23.34 (1 h6)	–	–
21	Allan Murray	BAH	23.35 (6 h9)	–	–
22	Darryl Cronje	RSA	23.39 (7 h9)	–	–
23	Mladen Kapor	IOA	23.42 (1 h1)	–	–
24	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	23.44 (1 h7)	–	–
25	Stéfan Voléry	SUI	23.47 (2 h7)	–	–
26	Nikos Paleokrassas	GRE	23.51 (3 h7)	–	–
27	Rodrigo González	MEX	23.52 (4 h7)	–	–
28	Nikos Steliou	GRE	23.55 (5 h7)	–	–
29	Franz Mortensen	DEN	23.61 (8 h10)	–	–
30	Janne Blomqvist	FIN	23.63 (1 h5)	–	–
31	Indrek Sei	EST	23.68 (8 h8)	–	–
32	Yoav Bruck	ISR	23.72 (6 h7)	–	–
33	Enrico Linscheer	SUR	23.74 (2 h6)	–	–
=34	Nick Sanders	NZL	23.79 (7 h7)	–	–
=34	Todd Torres	PUR	23.79 (1 h4)	–	–
36	Paulo Trindade	POR	23.81 (8 h7)	–	–
=37	Mohamed El-Azoul	EGY	23.87 (=3 h6)	–	–
=37	Mark Weldon	NZL	23.87 (=3 h6)	–	–
39	Michael Wright	HKG	23.90 (5 h6)	–	–
40	Stephen Clarke	CAN	23.95 (2 h5)	–	–
=41	Teófilo Ferreira	BRA	24.13 (3 h5)	–	–
=41	Musa Bakare	NGR	24.13 (6 h6)	–	–
43	Pedro Lima	ANG	24.14 (4 h5)	–	–
44	Geri Mewett	BER	24.20 (5 h5)	–	–
45	Ian Raynor	BER	24.23 (6 h5)	–	–
46	Ivor Le Roux	ZIM	24.32 (1 h3)	–	–
47	Toshiaki Kurasawa	JPN	24.61 (2 h4)	–	–
48	Laurent Alfred	ISV	24.66 (3 h4)	–	–
49	Mouhamed Diop	SEN	24.69 (2 h1)	–	–
50	Frank Leskaj	ALB	24.72 (7 h6)	–	–
51	Rory McGown	ZIM	24.75 (4 h4)	–	–
52	Patrick Sagisi	GUM	24.78 (5 h4)	–	–
53	Marc Verbeeck	BEL	24.85 (7 h5)	–	–
54	Adrian Romero	GUM	25.12 (1 h2)	–	–
55	Plutarco Castellanos	HON	25.27 (2 h3)	–	–
56	Kenneth Yeo	SGP	25.29 (6 h4)	–	–
57	Bruno N'Diaye	SEN	25.35 (3 h1)	–	–
58	Ivan Roberts	SEY	25.44 (2 h2)	–	–
59	Wu Tat Cheung	HKG	25.45 (3 h3)	–	–
60	Andrés Sedano	GUA	25.53 (4 h3)	–	–
61	Émile Lahoud	LBN	25.76 (5 h3)	–	–
62	Mohamed Bin Abid	UAE	25.79 (3 h2)	–	–
63	Gustavo Búcaro	GUA	25.84 (6 h3)	–	–
64	Ahmad Faraj	UAE	25.91 (7 h3)	–	–
65	Carl Probert	FIJ	26.31 (4 h2)	–	–
66	Filippo Piva	SMR	26.41 (5 h2)	–	–
67	Roberto Pellandra	SMR	26.51 (6 h2)	–	–
68	Kenny Roberts	SEY	26.78 (7 h2)	–	–
69	Gilles Coudray	CGO	28.11 (4 h1)	–	–
70	Foy Gordon Chung	FIJ	28.75 (5 h1)	–	–
71	Ahmed Imthiyaz	MDV	29.27 (6 h1)	–	–
72	Mohamed Rasheed	MDV	30.37 (7 h1)	–	–
DQ	Tsutomu Nakano	JPN	– (DQ h4)	–	–
DQ	Yves Clausse	LUX	– (DQ h5)	–	–
DQ	José Mossiane	MOZ	– (DQ h4)	–	–
DNS	Joakim Holmquist	SWE	– (DNS h9)	–	–

Round One (30 July 1992 — 13:30)

Fastest eight advanced to the final. Swimmers placing 9th-16th advanced to the B Final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	6	Mladen Kapor	IOA	– (–) –	23.42
2	7	Mouhamed Diop	SEN	– (–) –	24.69
3	2	Bruno N'Diaye	SEN	– (–) –	25.35
4	1	Gilles Coudray	CGO	– (–) –	28.11
5	4	Foy Gordon Chung	FIJ	– (–) –	28.75
6	5	Ahmed Imthiyaz	MDV	– (–) –	29.27
7	3	Mohamed Rasheed	MDV	– (–) –	30.37

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Adrian Romero	GUM	– (–) –	25.12
2	3	Ivan Roberts	SEY	– (–) –	25.44
3	5	Mohamed Bin Abid	UAE	– (–) –	25.79
4	7	Carl Probert	FIJ	– (–) –	26.31
5	2	Filippo Piva	SMR	– (–) –	26.41
6	6	Roberto Pellandra	SMR	– (–) –	26.51
7	1	Kenny Roberts	SEY	– (–) –	26.78

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Ivor Le Roux	ZIM	– (–) –	24.32
2	4	Plutarco Castellanos	HON	– (–) –	25.27
3	3	Wu Tat Cheung	HKG	– (–) –	25.45
4	2	Andrés Sedano	GUA	– (–) –	25.53
5	6	Émile Lahoud	LBN	– (–) –	25.76
6	1	Gustavo Búcaro	GUA	– (–) –	25.84
7	7	Ahmad Faraj	UAE	– (–) –	25.91

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	7	Todd Torres	PUR	– (–) –	23.79
2	1	Toshiaki Kurasawa	JPN	– (–) –	24.61
3	3	Laurent Alfred	ISV	– (–) –	24.66
4	8	Rory McGown	ZIM	– (–) –	24.75
5	6	Patrick Sagisi	GUM	– (–) –	24.78
6	2	Kenneth Yeo	SGP	– (–) –	25.29
DQ	5	José Mossiane	MOZ	– (–) –	–
DQ	4	Tsutomu Nakano	JPN	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Janne Blomqvist	FIN	– (–) –	23.63
2	3	Stephen Clarke	CAN	– (–) –	23.95
3	7	Teófilo Ferreira	BRA	– (–) –	24.13
4	4	Pedro Lima	ANG	– (–) –	24.14
5	1	Geri Mewett	BER	– (–) –	24.20
6	2	Ian Raynor	BER	– (–) –	24.23
7	8	Marc Verbeeck	BEL	– (–) –	24.85
DQ	6	Yves Clausse	LUX	– (–) –	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Stavros Michailidis	CYP	– (–) –	23.34
2	2	Enrico Linscheer	SUR	– (–) –	23.74
=3	1	Mark Weldon	NZL	– (–) –	23.87
=3	4	Mohamed El-Azoul	EGY	– (–) –	23.87
5	3	Michael Wright	HKG	– (–) –	23.90
6	6	Musa Bakare	NGR	– (–) –	24.13
7	8	Frank Leskaj	ALB	– (–) –	24.72

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	Ricardo Busquets	PUR	– (–) –	23.44
2	4	Stéfan Voléry	SUI	– (–) –	23.47
3	5	Nikos Paleokrassas	GRE	– (–) –	23.51
4	8	Rodrigo González	MEX	– (–) –	23.52
5	3	Nikos Steliou	GRE	– (–) –	23.55
6	7	Yoav Bruck	ISR	– (–) –	23.72
7	1	Nick Sanders	NZL	– (–) –	23.79
8	6	Paulo Trindade	POR	– (–) –	23.81

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Aleksandr Popov	EUN	– (–) –	22.21	Q
2	5	Raimundas Mažuolis	LTU	– (–) –	22.77	q
=3	3	Darren Lange	AUS	– (–) –	23.01	q
=3	6	Stéphan Caron	FRA	– (–) –	23.01	q
5	2	Gustavo Borges	BRA	– (–) –	23.10	q
6	7	Dano Halsall	SUI	– (–) –	23.15
7	8	Krzysztof Cwalina	POL	– (–) –	23.20
8	1	Indrek Sei	EST	– (–) –	23.68

Heat Nine

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Tom Jager	USA	– (–) –	22.45	Q
2	3	Peter Williams	RSA	– (–) –	22.65	Q
=3	6	Christophe Kalfayan	FRA	– (–) –	22.70	Q
=3	5	Nils Rudolph	GER	– (–) –	22.70	Q
5	2	Mark Pinger	GER	– (–) –	22.88	q
6	1	Allan Murray	BAH	– (–) –	23.35
7	8	Darryl Cronje	RSA	– (–) –	23.39
DNS	7	Joakim Holmquist	SWE	– (–) –	–

Heat Ten

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Matt Biondi	USA	– (–) –	22.32	Q
2	1	Gennady Prigoda	EUN	– (–) –	22.57	Q
3	5	Mark Foster	GBR	– (–) –	22.72	Q
=4	3	Pär Lindström	SWE	– (–) –	22.92	q
=4	7	René Gusperti	ITA	– (–) –	22.92	q
6	2	Angus Waddell	AUS	– (–) –	23.10	q
7	6	Mike Fibbens	GBR	– (–) –	23.27
8	8	Franz Mortensen	DEN	– (–) –	23.61

B Final (30 July 1992 — 20:30)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	Darren Lange	AUS	– (–) –	22.69
2	4	Raimundas Mažuolis	LTU	– (–) –	22.71
=3	6	Pär Lindström	SWE	– (–) –	22.88
=3	5	Mark Pinger	GER	– (–) –	22.88
5	1	Gustavo Borges	BRA	– (–) –	23.01
6	3	René Gusperti	ITA	– (–) –	23.04
7	7	Angus Waddell	AUS	– (–) –	23.06
8	8	Dano Halsall	SUI	– (–) –	23.18

Final (30 July 1992 — 20:30)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Aleksandr Popov	EUN	– (–) –	21.91	OR
2	5	Matt Biondi	USA	– (–) –	22.09
3	3	Tom Jager	USA	– (–) –	22.30
=4	2	Christophe Kalfayan	FRA	– (–) –	22.50
=4	1	Peter Williams	RSA	– (–) –	22.50
6	8	Mark Foster	GBR	– (–) –	22.52
7	6	Gennady Prigoda	EUN	– (–) –	22.54
8	7	Nils Rudolph	GER	– (–) –	22.73