| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Men

Date	15 – 16 August 2004
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiako Kentro Ugrou Stivou, Olympiako Athletiko Kentro Athinon Spiros Loues, Athina (Main Pool)
Participants	44 from 38 countries

As the clear winner of both backstroke events at the 2003 World Championships, Aaron Peirsol was an obvious favourite to match this feat at the Athens Olympics and nothing happened in either heat or semi-final to discourage the opinion that the American would be Olympic champion. Peirsol trailed early leader Matt Welsh at the halfway point then took the race apart on the final length, winning comfortably ahead of Markus Rogan of Austria with Japan’s Tomomi Morita touching ahead of defending champion, Lenny Krayzelburg, by a mere two hundredths of a second. Peirsol’s victory was the 12th win by an American in this event but, in contrast, Rogan’s medal the first by Austrian for 92 years. Piersol would return in 2008 to become the first man to successfully defend his Olympic title since Roland Matthes in 1972.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Aaron Peirsol	USA	54.65 (2 h6)	54.34 (1 h1)	54.06 (1)	Gold
2	Markus Rogan	AUT	54.87 (1 h5)	54.42 (2 h1)	54.35 (2)	Silver
3	Tomomi Morita	JPN	54.41 (1 h6)	54.62 (1 h2)	54.36 (3)	Bronze
4	Lenny Krayzelburg	USA	54.87 (3 h6)	54.63 (2 h2)	54.38 (4)
5	Matt Welsh	AUS	55.35 (3 h5)	54.69 (3 h2)	54.52 (5)
6	László Cseh, Jr.	HUN	54.80 (1 h4)	54.86 (4 h2)	54.61 (6)
7	Steffen Driesen	GER	54.92 (2 h5)	54.64 (3 h1)	54.63 (7)
8	Marco di Carli	GER	55.58 (4 h4)	55.03 (5 h2)	55.27 (8)
9	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	55.17 (2 h4)	55.20 (6 h2)	–
10	Răzvan Florea	ROU	55.77 (6 h6)	55.27 (7 h2)	–
11	Ouyang Kunpeng	CHN	55.50 (3 h4)	55.28 (4 h1)	–
12	Gregor Tait	GBR	55.77 (5 h5)	55.31 (5 h1)	–
13	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	55.62 (4 h5)	55.76 (6 h1)	–
14	Gordan Kožulj	CRO	55.80 (1 h3)	56.02 (7 h1)	–
15	Alex Lim	MAS	55.22 (4 h6)	56.08 (8 h1)	–
16	Simon Dufour	FRA	55.76 (5 h6)	56.15 (8 h2)	–
=17	Aris Grigoriadis	GRE	55.85 (2 h3)	–	–
=17	Josh Watson	AUS	55.85 (6 h5)	–	–
19	Yevgeny Alyoshin	RUS	55.91 (5 h4)	–	–
20	Ryan Pini	PNG	55.97 (3 h3)	–	–
21	Pierre Roger	FRA	56.07 (7 h5)	–	–
22	Cam Gibson	NZL	56.14 (6 h4)	–	–
23	Adam Mania	POL	56.20 (7 h4)	–	–
24	Darius Grigalionis	LTU	56.21 (4 h3)	–	–
25	Nicky Neckles	BAR	56.32 (1 h2)	–	–
26	Derya Büyükuncu	TUR	56.34 (5 h3)	–	–
=27	Ľuboš Križko	SVK	56.62 (2 h2)	–	–
=27	Matt Rose	CAN	56.62 (8 h5)	–	–
=27	Volodymyr Nikolaichuk	UKR	56.62 (8 h4)	–	–
30	Seong Min	KOR	56.78 (3 h2)	–	–
31	Ahmed Hussain	EGY	56.86 (6 h3)	–	–
32	Paulo Machado	BRA	57.07 (7 h3)	–	–
33	Eduardo Otero	ARG	57.28 (8 h3)	–	–
34	Péter Horváth	HUN	57.29 (7 h6)	–	–
35	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	57.35 (8 h6)	–	–
36	Matti Mäki	FIN	57.57 (4 h2)	–	–
37	George Gleason	ISV	57.64 (5 h2)	–	–
38	Chris Vythoulkas	BAH	58.31 (1 h1)	–	–
39	Brendan Ashby	ZIM	58.91 (6 h2)	–	–
40	Igor Beretić	SCG	59.38 (7 h2)	–	–
41	Stanislav Osinsky	KAZ	59.92 (2 h1)	–	–
42	Alexandru Ivlev	MDA	1:00.13 (3 h1)	–	–
43	Danil Bugakov	UZB	1:02.28 (8 h2)	–	–
44	Omar Abu-Fares	JOR	1:02.36 (4 h1)	–	–
DNS	Donnie Defreitas	VIN	– (DNS h1)	–	–

Round One

Date	15 August 2004
Format	Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Tomomi Morita	JPN	54.41	Q
2	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	54.65	Q
3	–	László Cseh, Jr.	HUN	54.80	Q
=4	–	Markus Rogan	AUT	54.87	Q
=4	–	Lenny Krayzelburg	USA	54.87	Q
6	–	Steffen Driesen	GER	54.92	Q
7	–	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	55.17	Q
8	–	Alex Lim	MAS	55.22	Q
9	–	Matt Welsh	AUS	55.35	Q
10	–	Ouyang Kunpeng	CHN	55.50	Q
11	–	Marco di Carli	GER	55.58	Q
12	–	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	55.62	Q
13	–	Simon Dufour	FRA	55.76	Q
=14	–	Gregor Tait	GBR	55.77	Q
=14	–	Răzvan Florea	ROU	55.77	Q
16	–	Gordan Kožulj	CRO	55.80	Q
=17	–	Aris Grigoriadis	GRE	55.85
=17	–	Josh Watson	AUS	55.85
19	–	Yevgeny Alyoshin	RUS	55.91
20	–	Ryan Pini	PNG	55.97
21	–	Pierre Roger	FRA	56.07
22	–	Cam Gibson	NZL	56.14
23	–	Adam Mania	POL	56.20
24	–	Darius Grigalionis	LTU	56.21
25	–	Nicky Neckles	BAR	56.32
26	–	Derya Büyükuncu	TUR	56.34
=27	–	Ľuboš Križko	SVK	56.62
=27	–	Volodymyr Nikolaichuk	UKR	56.62
=27	–	Matt Rose	CAN	56.62
30	–	Seong Min	KOR	56.78
31	–	Ahmed Hussain	EGY	56.86
32	–	Paulo Machado	BRA	57.07
33	–	Eduardo Otero	ARG	57.28
34	–	Péter Horváth	HUN	57.29
35	–	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	57.35
36	–	Matti Mäki	FIN	57.57
37	–	George Gleason	ISV	57.64
38	–	Chris Vythoulkas	BAH	58.31
39	–	Brendan Ashby	ZIM	58.91
40	–	Igor Beretić	SCG	59.38
41	–	Stanislav Osinsky	KAZ	59.92
42	–	Alexandru Ivlev	MDA	1:00.13
43	–	Danil Bugakov	UZB	1:02.28
44	–	Omar Abu-Fares	JOR	1:02.36
DNS	–	Donnie Defreitas	VIN	–

Heat #1

Time	11:11

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Chris Vythoulkas	BAH	58.31	0.69	28.43 (1)	29.88 (1)
2	–	Stanislav Osinsky	KAZ	59.92	0.77	29.06 (2)	30.86 (3)
3	–	Alexandru Ivlev	MDA	1:00.13	0.57	29.30 (3)	30.83 (2)
4	–	Omar Abu-Fares	JOR	1:02.36	0.62	29.94 (4)	32.42 (4)
DNS	–	Donnie Defreitas	VIN	–	–	– (–)	–

Heat #2

Time	11:14

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Nicky Neckles	BAR	56.32	0.60	27.30 (2)	29.02 (1)
2	–	Ľuboš Križko	SVK	56.62	0.60	27.00 (1)	29.62 (3)
3	–	Seong Min	KOR	56.78	0.54	27.32 (3)	29.46 (2)
4	–	Matti Mäki	FIN	57.57	0.75	27.91 (5)	29.66 (4)
5	–	George Gleason	ISV	57.64	0.80	27.82 (4)	29.82 (5)
6	–	Brendan Ashby	ZIM	58.91	0.66	28.31 (6)	30.60 (6)
7	–	Igor Beretić	SCG	59.38	0.72	28.49 (7)	30.89 (7)
8	–	Danil Bugakov	UZB	1:02.28	0.65	29.45 (8)	32.83 (8)

Heat #3

Time	11:17

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Gordan Kožulj	CRO	55.80	0.75	27.17 (2)	28.63 (=1)	Q
2	–	Aris Grigoriadis	GRE	55.85	0.72	27.22 (3)	28.63 (=1)
3	–	Ryan Pini	PNG	55.97	0.74	26.93 (1)	29.04 (5)
4	–	Darius Grigalionis	LTU	56.21	0.60	27.49 (=6)	28.72 (3)
5	–	Derya Büyükuncu	TUR	56.34	0.57	27.38 (4)	28.96 (4)
6	–	Ahmed Hussain	EGY	56.86	0.60	27.49 (=6)	29.37 (6)
7	–	Paulo Machado	BRA	57.07	0.66	27.68 (8)	29.39 (7)
8	–	Eduardo Otero	ARG	57.28	0.68	27.41 (5)	29.87 (8)

Heat #4

Time	11:20

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	László Cseh, Jr.	HUN	54.80	0.66	26.76 (=2)	28.04 (1)	Q
2	–	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	55.17	0.88	27.02 (4)	28.15 (2)	Q
3	–	Ouyang Kunpeng	CHN	55.50	0.56	26.65 (1)	28.85 (7)	Q
4	–	Marco di Carli	GER	55.58	0.59	26.76 (=2)	28.82 (=5)	Q
5	–	Yevgeny Alyoshin	RUS	55.91	0.71	27.17 (6)	28.74 (3)
6	–	Cam Gibson	NZL	56.14	0.80	27.37 (7)	28.77 (4)
7	–	Adam Mania	POL	56.20	0.55	27.14 (5)	29.06 (8)
8	–	Volodymyr Nikolaichuk	UKR	56.62	0.70	27.80 (8)	28.82 (=5)

Heat #5

Time	11:23

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Markus Rogan	AUT	54.87	0.75	26.89 (4)	27.98 (1)	Q
2	–	Steffen Driesen	GER	54.92	0.69	26.85 (2)	28.07 (2)	Q
3	–	Matt Welsh	AUS	55.35	0.69	27.23 (8)	28.12 (3)	Q
4	–	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	55.62	0.75	26.87 (3)	28.75 (5)	Q
5	–	Gregor Tait	GBR	55.77	0.69	27.07 (6)	28.70 (4)	Q
6	–	Josh Watson	AUS	55.85	0.68	27.04 (5)	28.81 (6)
7	–	Pierre Roger	FRA	56.07	0.70	26.60 (1)	29.47 (7)
8	–	Matt Rose	CAN	56.62	0.58	27.09 (7)	29.53 (8)

Heat #6

Time	11:26

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Tomomi Morita	JPN	54.41	0.56	26.73 (3)	27.68 (1)	Q
2	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	54.65	0.70	26.43 (1)	28.22 (4)	Q
3	–	Lenny Krayzelburg	USA	54.87	0.67	26.82 (4)	28.05 (2)	Q
4	–	Alex Lim	MAS	55.22	0.63	26.54 (2)	28.68 (6)	Q
5	–	Simon Dufour	FRA	55.76	0.71	27.68 (7)	28.08 (3)	Q
6	–	Răzvan Florea	ROU	55.77	0.66	27.10 (5)	28.67 (5)	Q
7	–	Péter Horváth	HUN	57.29	0.67	28.05 (8)	29.24 (7)
8	–	Aschwin Wildeboer	ESP	57.35	0.64	27.15 (6)	30.20 (8)

Semi-Finals

Date	15 August 2004
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	54.34	Q
2	–	Markus Rogan	AUT	54.42	Q
3	–	Tomomi Morita	JPN	54.62	Q
4	–	Lenny Krayzelburg	USA	54.63	Q
5	–	Steffen Driesen	GER	54.64	Q
6	–	Matt Welsh	AUS	54.69	Q
7	–	László Cseh, Jr.	HUN	54.86	Q
8	–	Marco di Carli	GER	55.03	Q
9	–	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	55.20
10	–	Răzvan Florea	ROU	55.27
11	–	Ouyang Kunpeng	CHN	55.28
12	–	Gregor Tait	GBR	55.31
13	–	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	55.76
14	–	Gordan Kožulj	CRO	56.02
15	–	Alex Lim	MAS	56.08
16	–	Simon Dufour	FRA	56.15

Heat #1

Time	20:30

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	54.34	0.68	26.39 (1)	27.95 (2)	Q
2	–	Markus Rogan	AUT	54.42	0.73	26.68 (3)	27.74 (1)	Q
3	–	Steffen Driesen	GER	54.64	0.70	26.67 (2)	27.97 (3)	Q
4	–	Ouyang Kunpeng	CHN	55.28	0.53	26.99 (7)	28.29 (4)
5	–	Gregor Tait	GBR	55.31	0.61	26.75 (4)	28.56 (5)
6	–	Gerhard Zandberg	RSA	55.76	0.76	26.93 (6)	28.83 (7)
7	–	Gordan Kožulj	CRO	56.02	0.68	27.31 (8)	28.71 (6)
8	–	Alex Lim	MAS	56.08	0.66	26.80 (5)	29.28 (8)

Heat #2

Time	20:35

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Tomomi Morita	JPN	54.62	0.53	26.34 (1)	28.28 (3)	Q
2	–	Lenny Krayzelburg	USA	54.63	0.62	26.42 (2)	28.21 (1)	Q
3	–	Matt Welsh	AUS	54.69	0.66	26.45 (3)	28.24 (2)	Q
4	–	László Cseh, Jr.	HUN	54.86	0.62	26.53 (4)	28.33 (4)	Q
5	–	Marco di Carli	GER	55.03	0.57	26.57 (6)	28.46 (6)	Q
6	–	Arkady Vyatchanin	RUS	55.20	0.89	26.55 (5)	28.65 (7)
7	–	Răzvan Florea	ROU	55.27	0.63	26.84 (8)	28.43 (5)
8	–	Simon Dufour	FRA	56.15	0.68	26.66 (7)	29.49 (8)

Final Round

Date	16 August 2004 — 19:59

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Aaron Peirsol	USA	54.06	0.67	26.10 (2)	27.96 (3)
2	–	Markus Rogan	AUT	54.35	0.76	26.88 (8)	27.47 (1)
3	–	Tomomi Morita	JPN	54.36	0.54	26.72 (=6)	27.64 (2)
4	–	Lenny Krayzelburg	USA	54.38	0.67	26.38 (3)	28.00 (5)
5	–	Matt Welsh	AUS	54.52	0.63	25.88 (1)	28.64 (8)
6	–	László Cseh, Jr.	HUN	54.61	0.61	26.48 (4)	28.13 (6)
7	–	Steffen Driesen	GER	54.63	0.68	26.64 (5)	27.99 (4)
8	–	Marco di Carli	GER	55.27	0.58	26.72 (=6)	28.55 (7)