Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke
| Men's 200 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad | ||||||||||
| Venue | Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | August 18, 2004 (heats & semifinals) August 19, 2004 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 36 from 30 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 1:54.95 OR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming events at the 2004 Summer Olympics  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freestyle | ||||
| 50 m | men | women | ||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| 800 m | women | |||
| 1500 m | men | |||
| Backstroke | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Breaststroke | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Butterfly | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Individual medley | ||||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| Freestyle relay | ||||
| 4×100 m | men | women | ||
| 4×200 m | men | women | ||
| Medley relay | ||||
| 4×100 m | men | women | ||
The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2004 Olympic Games was contested at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece on August 18 and 19.[1]
U.S. swimmer Aaron Peirsol won a gold medal in this event, with an Olympic record time of 1:54.95. Markus Rogan added another silver for Austria in the same stroke, in an outstanding time of 1:57.35. Romania's Răzvan Florea, who finished behind Rogan by 0.21 of a second, earned a bronze in 1:57.56. Peirsol became the fifth swimmer and fourth American in Olympic history to claim titles in two backstroke events.[2]
In the final, Peirsol won the race but was disqualified for a noncontinuous backstroke turn[3] (in backstroke, a swimmer is allowed to rotate onto his/her stomach going into a turn, as long as 1) only one arm pull occurs while the swimmer is on his/her stomach and 2) the turn is one smooth motion [4]). Peirsol's disqualification was appealed, and overturned, reinstating his time and finish. The British team have announced their intention to appeal to a higher body in an attempt to get their fourth-place swimmer James Goddard for a bronze medal.[5]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
| World record |  Aaron Peirsol (USA) | 1:54.74 | Long Beach, United States | 12 July 2004 |
| Olympic record | Lenny Krayzelburg (USA) | 1:56.76 | Sydney, Australia | 21 September 2000 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 August | Semifinal | Aaron Peirsol | United States | 1:55.14 | OR |
| 19 August | Final | Aaron Peirsol | United States | 1:54.95 | OR |
Results
Heats
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Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | James Goddard |  Great Britain | 1:57.25 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Răzvan Florea |  Romania | 1:58.20 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Simon Dufour |  France | 1:58.96 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Tomomi Morita |  Japan | 1:59.52 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Gordan Kožulj |  Croatia | 1:59.61 | |
| 6 | 1 | Arkady Vyatchanin |  Russia | 1:59.80 | |
| 7 | 6 | Jorge Sánchez |  Spain | 2:00.12 | |
| 8 | 2 | Nathaniel O'Brien |  Canada | 2:00.13 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Aaron Peirsol | United States | 1:55.14 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 5 | Markus Rogan |  Austria | 1:57.50 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Gregor Tait | Great Britain | 1:58.75 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Blaž Medvešek |  Slovenia | 1:59.37 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Bryce Hunt | United States | 1:59.74 | |
| 6 | 1 | Keith Beavers | Canada | 1:59.98 | |
| 7 | 7 | Rogério Romero |  Brazil | 2:00.48 | |
| 8 | 2 | Emanuele Merisi | .svg.png){kind=small} Italy | 2:00.83 | |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Aaron Peirsol | United States | 1:54.95 | OR |
 | 3 | Markus Rogan | Austria | 1:57.35 | |
 | 6 | Răzvan Florea | Romania | 1:57.56 | |
| 4 | 5 | James Goddard | Great Britain | 1:57.76 | |
| 5 | 8 | Tomomi Morita | Japan | 1:58.40 | AS |
| 6 | 7 | Simon Dufour | France | 1:58.49 | |
| 7 | 2 | Gregor Tait | Great Britain | 1:59.28 | |
| 8 | 1 | Blaž Medvešek | Slovenia | 2:00.06 |
References
- ↑ "Swimming schedule". BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- ↑ "Peirsol gets gold after all". ESPN. 19 August 2004. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
- ↑ Svrluga, Barry (19 August 2004). "Beard: Worth their wait in gold". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ↑ "FINA Rules for Backstroke". FINA. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ↑ "Peirsol wins gold after DQ overturned". NBC Sports. 20 August 2004. Retrieved 21 March 2013.