Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

This was the 21st appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres.{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/7628 |work=Olympedia |title=100 metres Freestyle, Men |access-date=17 December 2020 |archive-date=14 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314213350/https://www.olympedia.org/results/7628 |url-status=live }}

Five of the eight finalists from the 1988 Games returned: gold medalist Matt Biondi of the United States, bronze medalist Stéphan Caron of France, fourth-place finisher Gennadiy Prigoda of the Soviet Union (now competing for the Unified Team), sixth-place finisher Andrew Baildon of Australia, and eighth-place finisher Tommy Werner of Sweden.

Biondi was the favorite, having also won the 1991 World Championship and his 1988 world record still standing. Caron and 1991 European Champion Alexander Popov were also contenders.

Albania, Lithuania, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia, and the Seychelles each made their debut in the event; some former Soviet republics competed as the Unified Team and competitors from Yugoslavia competed as Independent Olympic Participants. The United States made its 20th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

This freestyle swimming competition used the A/B final format instituted in 1984. The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and finals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the A final, competing for medals through 8th place. The swimmers with the next 8 times in the semifinals competed in the B final for 9th through 16th place. Swim-offs were used as necessary to determine advancement.

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

{{World Olympic Record

| world_athlete = {{flagathlete|Matt Biondi|USA}}

| world_mark = 48.42

| world_place = Austin, United States

| world_date = 10 August 1988

| olympic_athlete = {{flagIOCathlete|Matt Biondi|USA|1988 Summer}}

| olympic_mark = 48.63

| olympic_place = Seoul, South Korea

| olympic_date = 22 September 1988

}}

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. Gustavo Borges set a new South American area record, and two national records were set: the Russian record by Alexander Popov and the Puerto Rican record by Ricardo Busquets.

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q).{{cite web|title=Barcelona 1992: Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Heats|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1992/1992s5.pdf|format=PDF|work=Barcelona 1992|publisher=LA84 Foundation|page=358|accessdate=27 August 2017|archive-date=5 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105214547/http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1992/1992s5.pdf|url-status=live}}

{{cite web|title=Barcelona 1992: Swimming – Men's 100m Freestyle Finals|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1992/1992s5.pdf|format=PDF|work=Barcelona 1992|publisher=LA84 Foundation|page=358|accessdate=27 August 2017|archive-date=5 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105214547/http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1992/1992s5.pdf|url-status=live}}

Popov won, well ahead of everyone else. An equipment error resulted in the scoreboard initially displaying Caron as the second-place swimmer and Borges as last. Borges last was an obvious mistake to anyone watching; he had been fighting for second. His touchpad had malfunctioned. Officials reviewed film of "his" finish, assigning him a time of 49.53—equal to Biondi; they then realized that the film had been of Biondi. Looking at the correct finish, the officials gave Borges a time of 49.43, good for the silver medal.

{{reflist}}

• [http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1992/1992s5.pdf Official Report]

{{Footer Olympic Champions 100 m Freestyle Men}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming At The 1992 Summer Olympics - Men's 100 Metre Freestyle}}

Category:Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Category:Men's events at the 1992 Summer Olympics