Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke


The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
On the wake of Aaron Peirsol's official retirement in 2011, U.S. swimmer Matt Grevers continued to build an American supremacy in the event by following the former champion's footsteps towards his first individual gold. He held off a challenge from France's Camille Lacourt down the final stretch to touch the wall first in a sterling time of 52.16, eclipsing Peirsol's 2008 Olympic record by 0.38 seconds. Grevers also enjoyed his teammate Nick Thoman taking home the silver in 52.92, as the Americans climbed again on top of the podium for an eleventh time in the event's Olympic history and for a second straight 1–2 finish since 2008. Moving from behind at the final turn, Japan's Ryosuke Irie came up with a stalwart swim to capture the bronze in 52.97.
Leading the race early on the initial length, Lacourt dropped off the podium to a fourth-place time in 53.08. Great Britain's Liam Tancock, Germany's Helge Meeuw, Australia's defending bronze medalist Hayden Stoeckel, and China's Cheng Feiyi also vied for an Olympic medal to round out the finale.
Other notable swimmers featured Russian duo Arkady Vyatchanin, reigning Olympic bronze medalist, who missed the final roster with a ninth-place effort ; and Vladimir Morozov, who later scratched the semifinals to focus on his 4×100 m freestyle relay duty, allowing Greece's three-time Olympian Aristeidis Grigoriadis to occupy his slot.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following records were established during the competition:
DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
30 JulyFinalMatt Grevers52.16

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
164Matt Grevers52.92Q
262Cheng Feiyi53.22Q, NR
344Nick Thoman53.48Q
454Camille Lacourt53.51Q
565Ryosuke Irie53.56Q
667Nick Driebergen53.62Q, NR
745Helge Meeuw53.83Q
855Liam Tancock53.86Q
966Hayden Stoeckel53.88Q
1042Vladimir Morozov54.01Q,
1052Arkady Vyatchanin54.01Q
1253Jan-Philip Glania54.07Q
1358Charles Francis54.08Q
1463Gareth Kean54.26Q
1561Daniel Arnamnart54.28Q
1643Aschwin Wildeboer54.36Q
1756Aristeidis Grigoriadis54.52Q
1831Pavel Sankovich54.53NR
1935Mirco di Tora54.70
2037Chris Walker-Hebborn54.78
2134He Jianbin54.81
2233Richárd Bohus54.84
2346Bastiaan Lijesen54.88
2441Yakov-Yan Toumarkin54.91
2547Juan Miguel Rando Galvez54.93
2638Lavrans Solli55.00
2751Marcin Tarczyński55.06
2848Daniel Orzechowski55.16
2928George Bovell55.22NR
3032Mathias Gydesen55.31
3157Benjamin Stasiulis55.36
3225Omar Pinzón55.37
3368Charl Crous55.37
3421Pedro Medel55.40NR
3522Oleksandr Isakov55.43
3627Park Seon-kwan55.51
3736Daniel Bell55.53
3824Alexandr Tarabrin55.55
3926I Gede Siman Sudartawa55.99
4014Bradley Ally56.27
4123Federico Grabich56.56
4215Heshan Unamboowe57.94
4313Zane Jordan58.77

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
4Matt Grevers52.16
2Nick Thoman52.92
6Ryosuke Irie52.97
45Camille Lacourt53.08
53Liam Tancock53.35
61Helge Meeuw53.48
78Hayden Stoeckel53.55
87Cheng Feiyi53.77