Men 200m Backstroke Swimming XXIV Olympic Games 1988 Seoul, South Korea - Thursday, 22nd September - Igor Polyanski, Soviet Union 
Final   time   gap L Y 50m 100m 150m 1. Igor Polyanski   Soviet Union1:59.37     6 21 27.14s 57.49. 1:28.20 2. Frank Baltrusch   East Germany1:59.60   +0.23s 5 24 27.98s 58.57. 1:29.02 3. Paul Kingsman   New Zealand2:00.48   +1.11s 1 21 28.74s 59.48. 1:29.53 4. Sergey Zabolotnov   Soviet Union2:00.52   +1.15s 4 25 27.23s 57.53. 1:28.97 5. Dirk Richter   East Germany2:01.67   +2.30s 3 24 28.99s 59.94. 1:30.77 6. Jens-Peter Berndt   West Germany2:01.84   +2.47s 7 25 28.69s 59.42. 1:30.66 7. Dan Veatch   United States2:02.26   +2.89s 2 23 28.63s 59.75. 1:30.82 8. Rogerio Aoki Romero   Brazil2:02.28   +2.91s 8 18 28.52s 59.79. 1:31.41 
World Record: Igor Polyanski, Soviet Union 1:58.14  Erfurt, East Germany 3rd March 1985 Olympic Record: Rick Carey, United States 1:58.19  Los Angeles, United States 31st July 1984 
2:13.10  LCM-time done since Jan 1, 1987
 
2:06.60  SCM-time done since Sep 1, 1987
 
Final B   time   gap L Y 50m 100m 150m 9. Frank Hoffmeister   West Germany2:01.65     6 22 28.38s 59.61. 1:30.60 10.Steven G Bigelow   United States2:02.95   +1.30s 7 17 28.90s 1:00.01 1:31.58 11.Martin Lopez-Zubero   Spain2:03.70   +2.05s 3 19 29.08s 1:00.33 1:32.11 12.Mark Tewksbury   Canada2:03.79   +2.14s 8 20 29.05s 1:00.28 1:32.54 13.Georgi Mikhalev   Bulgaria2:04.24   +2.59s 4 20 28.64s 59.70. 1:32.09 14.Tamas Deutsch   Hungary2:04.42   +2.77s 5 18 29.01s 1:00.92 1:32.90 15.Daichi Suzuki   Japan2:04.67   +3.02s 2 21 28.59s 59.85. 1:32.24 16.Gary Binfield   Great Britain2:04.90   +3.25s 1 22 28.55s 1:00.21 1:32.32 
 
 
      
 
 Igor Polyansky (URS) came into Seoul as the heavy favorite in this event, having lost only one race since 1985, that at the 1987 European Championships to his teammate, [Sergey Zabolotnov]. They had set the last two world records, with Zabolotnov setting his at the 1984 Friendship Games in Moscow, just after the Los Angeles Olympics, but Polyansky broke that record in 1985 with 1:58.14. In the Seoul final, Zabolotnov led at 100 metres, but Polyansky took the lead on the third lap. He held on for the gold medal and East German Frank Baltrusch finished quickly for silver, as Zabolotnov fell off the medal stand and placed fourth. 
 The bronze medal went to New Zealander Paul Kingsman, whose best previous international finish had been a third at the 1987 Pan Pacs. The awards ceremony would not go so well for him or for Polyansky. First, Kingsman was introduced as from the Soviet Union. Then Polyansky had to stand there as they corrected that, but they overdid it, and announced the playing of the New Zealand national anthem. Fortunately that was corrected and the Soviet anthem was actually played.
                  Heats  - Thursday, 22nd September 10:00
Heat 6   time   gap L Y Rk Butter Back Breast 1. Sergey Zabolotnov   Soviet Union2:01.27 Q   - 25 1. 27.31s 57.91s 1:29.54 4. Igor Polyanski   Soviet Union2:01.70 Q +0.43s - 21 2. 27.20s 58.11s 1:28.76 6. Jens-Peter Berndt   West Germany2:01.77 Q +0.50s - 25 3. 28.76s 59.48s 1:30.56 7. Paul Kingsman   New Zealand2:02.20 Q +0.93s - 21 4. 29.08s 1:00.10 1:30.65 10.Tamas Deutsch   Hungary2:03.17 q +1.90s - 18 5. 28.36s 59.73s 1:31.88 21.David Holderbach   France2:04.83   +3.56s - 17 6. 29.26s 1:00.69 1:32.77 22.Simon Upton   Australia2:05.08   +3.81s - 19 7. 29.36s 1:01.04 1:33.02 26.Lars Sorensen   Denmark2:05.73   +4.46s - 20 8. 29.39s 1:00.89 1:33.19 
Heat 5   time   gap L Y Rk Butter Back Breast 2. Frank Baltrusch   East Germany2:01.49 Q +0.22s - 24 1. 28.18s 58.45s 1:29.38 8. Rogerio Aoki Romero   Brazil2:02.26 Q +0.99s - 18 2. 28.23s 59.51s 1:30.64 11.Martin Lopez-Zubero   Spain2:03.33 q +2.06s - 19 3. 29.02s 1:00.29 1:31.88 13.Daichi Suzuki   Japan2:03.36 q +2.09s - 21 4. 27.80s 59.39s 1:31.43 14.Stefano Battistelli   Italy2:03.63 WD +2.36s - 18 5. 28.87s 1:00.32 1:31.39 18.Mark Tewksbury   Canada2:04.02 q +2.75s - 20 6. 27.94s 58.71s 1:30.35 24.Edvard Edvardsson   Iceland2:05.61   +4.34s - 21 7. 28.50s 1:00.12 1:32.69 -. Tamas Darnyi   HungaryDSQ     - 21         
Heat 4   time   gap L Y Rk Butter Back Breast 3. Dirk Richter   East Germany2:01.54 Q +0.27s - 24 1. 28.50s 58.99s 1:30.11 5. Dan Veatch   United States2:01.73 Q +0.46s - 23 2. 28.15s 58.82s 1:29.84 9. Georgi Mikhalev   Bulgaria2:02.71 q +1.44s - 20 3. 28.70s 59.65s 1:31.22 12.Frank Hoffmeister   West Germany2:03.34 q +2.07s - 22 4. 27.88s 58.86s 1:29.57 15.Steven G Bigelow   United States2:03.64 q +2.37s - 17 5. 28.60s 59.95s 1:31.54 17.Sean Murphy   Canada2:03.81 WD +2.54s - 24 6. 28.22s 59.69s 1:31.00 28.Pavel Vokoun   Czechoslovakia2:07.24   +5.97s - 18 7. 28.62s 1:00.19 1:33.01 
Heat 3   time   gap L Y Rk Butter Back Breast 16.Gary Binfield   Great Britain2:03.79 q +2.52s - 22 1. 28.53s 59.46s 1:31.00 19.Alejandro Alvizuri   Peru2:04.29   +3.02s - 20 2. 28.13s 59.08s 1:31.06 20.John Davey   Great Britain2:04.70   +3.43s - 23 3. 28.73s 1:00.42 1:32.32 22.Ernesto Vila   Mexico2:05.08   +3.81s - 19 4. 29.53s 1:01.12 1:33.07 25.Richard Gheel   Ireland2:05.71   +4.44s - 19 5. 29.39s 1:00.99 1:32.72 27.Stephen Cullen   Ireland2:06.98   +5.71s - 17 1. 29.52s 1:01.48 1:33.74 30.Laijiu Lin   China2:08.28   +7.01s - 20 6. 29.03s 1:01.47 1:34.33 32.Shigemori Maruyama   Japan2:09.16   +7.89s - 21 7. 28.58s 1:00.42 1:33.94 -. Charalambos Papanikolaou   GreeceDSQ     - 19 -.       -. Dong-Pil Park   South KoreaDSQ     - 20 -.       
Heat 2   time   gap L Y Rk Butter Back Breast 29.Patrick Ferland   Switzerland2:07.77   +6.50s - 23 2. 28.56s 1:00.30 1:33.33 31.David Lim   Singapore2:08.65   +7.38s - 22 3. 29.50s 1:02.18 1:34.98 33.Wladimir Ribeiro   Brazil2:11.48   +10.21s - 21 4. 29.28s 1:02.31 1:36.12 34.Horst Niehaus   Costa Rica2:12.83   +11.56s - 20 5. 30.36s 1:03.46 1:37.44 35.Eric Greenwood   Costa Rica2:15.42   +14.15s - 21 6. 29.77s 1:03.30 1:38.64 36.Patrick Sagisi   Guam2:15.82   +14.55s - 17 7. 31.15s 1:05.84 1:39.77 
Heat 1   time   gap L Y Rk Butter Back Breast 37.Brett Halford   Zimbabwe2:17.84   +16.57s - 17 1. 30.91s 1:05.77 1:41.08 38.Rodolfo Barahona   Honduras2:21.61   +20.34s - 18 2. 32.54s 1:07.84 1:44.49 39.Mohammed Abdulla   UA Emirates2:29.64   +28.37s -   3. 33.37s 1:11.62 1:51.10 40.Mohamed Bin Abid   UA Emirates2:36.21   +34.94s - 19 4. 34.83s 1:14.25 1:55.83 41.Rami Kantari   Lebanon2:40.29   +39.02s - 25 5. 34.39s 1:14.64 1:57.66 
 
 
Final   time   gap L Y 50m 100m 150m 1. Igor Polyanski   Soviet Union1:59.37     6 21 27.14s 57.49. 1:28.20 2. Frank Baltrusch   East Germany1:59.60   +0.23s 5 24 27.98s 58.57. 1:29.02 3. Paul Kingsman   New Zealand2:00.48   +1.11s 1 21 28.74s 59.48. 1:29.53 4. Sergey Zabolotnov   Soviet Union2:00.52   +1.15s 4 25 27.23s 57.53. 1:28.97 5. Dirk Richter   East Germany2:01.67   +2.30s 3 24 28.99s 59.94. 1:30.77 6. Jens-Peter Berndt   West Germany2:01.84   +2.47s 7 25 28.69s 59.42. 1:30.66 7. Dan Veatch   United States2:02.26   +2.89s 2 23 28.63s 59.75. 1:30.82 8. Rogerio Aoki Romero   Brazil2:02.28   +2.91s 8 18 28.52s 59.79. 1:31.41 Final B   time   gap L Y 50m 100m 150m 9. Frank Hoffmeister   West Germany2:01.65     6 22 28.38s 59.61. 1:30.60 10.Steven G Bigelow   United States2:02.95   +1.30s 7 17 28.90s 1:00.01 1:31.58 11.Martin Lopez-Zubero   Spain2:03.70   +2.05s 3 19 29.08s 1:00.33 1:32.11 12.Mark Tewksbury   Canada2:03.79   +2.14s 8 20 29.05s 1:00.28 1:32.54 13.Georgi Mikhalev   Bulgaria2:04.24   +2.59s 4 20 28.64s 59.70. 1:32.09 14.Tamas Deutsch   Hungary2:04.42   +2.77s 5 18 29.01s 1:00.92 1:32.90 15.Daichi Suzuki   Japan2:04.67   +3.02s 2 21 28.59s 59.85. 1:32.24 16.Gary Binfield   Great Britain2:04.90   +3.25s 1 22 28.55s 1:00.21 1:32.32 Heats   time   gap L Y Butter Back Breast 1. Sergey Zabolotnov   Soviet Union2:01.27 Q   - 25 27.31s 57.91s 1:29.54 2. Frank Baltrusch   East Germany2:01.49 Q +0.22s - 24 28.18s 58.45s 1:29.38 3. Dirk Richter   East Germany2:01.54 Q +0.27s - 24 28.50s 58.99s 1:30.11 4. Igor Polyanski   Soviet Union2:01.70 Q +0.43s - 21 27.20s 58.11s 1:28.76 5. Dan Veatch   United States2:01.73 Q +0.46s - 23 28.15s 58.82s 1:29.84 6. Jens-Peter Berndt   West Germany2:01.77 Q +0.50s - 25 28.76s 59.48s 1:30.56 7. Paul Kingsman   New Zealand2:02.20 Q +0.93s - 21 29.08s 1:00.10 1:30.65 8. Rogerio Aoki Romero   Brazil2:02.26 Q +0.99s - 18 28.23s 59.51s 1:30.64 9. Georgi Mikhalev   Bulgaria2:02.71 q +1.44s - 20 28.70s 59.65s 1:31.22 10.Tamas Deutsch   Hungary2:03.17 q +1.90s - 18 28.36s 59.73s 1:31.88 11.Martin Lopez-Zubero   Spain2:03.33 q +2.06s - 19 29.02s 1:00.29 1:31.88 12.Frank Hoffmeister   West Germany2:03.34 q +2.07s - 22 27.88s 58.86s 1:29.57 13.Daichi Suzuki   Japan2:03.36 q +2.09s - 21 27.80s 59.39s 1:31.43 14.Stefano Battistelli   Italy2:03.63 WD +2.36s - 18 28.87s 1:00.32 1:31.39 15.Steven G Bigelow   United States2:03.64 q +2.37s - 17 28.60s 59.95s 1:31.54 16.Gary Binfield   Great Britain2:03.79 q +2.52s - 22 28.53s 59.46s 1:31.00 17.Sean Murphy   Canada2:03.81 WD +2.54s - 24 28.22s 59.69s 1:31.00 18.Mark Tewksbury   Canada2:04.02 q +2.75s - 20 27.94s 58.71s 1:30.35 19.Alejandro Alvizuri   Peru2:04.29   +3.02s - 20 28.13s 59.08s 1:31.06 20.John Davey   Great Britain2:04.70   +3.43s - 23 28.73s 1:00.42 1:32.32 21.David Holderbach   France2:04.83   +3.56s - 17 29.26s 1:00.69 1:32.77 22.Simon Upton   Australia2:05.08   +3.81s - 19 29.36s 1:01.04 1:33.02 22.Ernesto Vila   Mexico2:05.08   +3.81s - 19 29.53s 1:01.12 1:33.07 24.Edvard Edvardsson   Iceland2:05.61   +4.34s - 21 28.50s 1:00.12 1:32.69 25.Richard Gheel   Ireland2:05.71   +4.44s - 19 29.39s 1:00.99 1:32.72 26.Lars Sorensen   Denmark2:05.73   +4.46s - 20 29.39s 1:00.89 1:33.19 27.Stephen Cullen   Ireland2:06.98   +5.71s - 17 29.52s 1:01.48 1:33.74 28.Pavel Vokoun   Czechoslovakia2:07.24   +5.97s - 18 28.62s 1:00.19 1:33.01 29.Patrick Ferland   Switzerland2:07.77   +6.50s - 23 28.56s 1:00.30 1:33.33 30.Laijiu Lin   China2:08.28   +7.01s - 20 29.03s 1:01.47 1:34.33 31.David Lim   Singapore2:08.65   +7.38s - 22 29.50s 1:02.18 1:34.98 32.Shigemori Maruyama   Japan2:09.16   +7.89s - 21 28.58s 1:00.42 1:33.94 33.Wladimir Ribeiro   Brazil2:11.48   +10.21s - 21 29.28s 1:02.31 1:36.12 34.Horst Niehaus   Costa Rica2:12.83   +11.56s - 20 30.36s 1:03.46 1:37.44 35.Eric Greenwood   Costa Rica2:15.42   +14.15s - 21 29.77s 1:03.30 1:38.64 36.Patrick Sagisi   Guam2:15.82   +14.55s - 17 31.15s 1:05.84 1:39.77 37.Brett Halford   Zimbabwe2:17.84   +16.57s - 17 30.91s 1:05.77 1:41.08 38.Rodolfo Barahona   Honduras2:21.61   +20.34s - 18 32.54s 1:07.84 1:44.49 39.Mohammed Abdulla   UA Emirates2:29.64   +28.37s -   33.37s 1:11.62 1:51.10 40.Mohamed Bin Abid   UA Emirates2:36.21   +34.94s - 19 34.83s 1:14.25 1:55.83 41.Rami Kantari   Lebanon2:40.29   +39.02s - 25 34.39s 1:14.64 1:57.66 -. Tamas Darnyi   HungaryDSQ     - 21       -. Charalambos Papanikolaou   GreeceDSQ     - 19       -. Dong-Pil Park   South KoreaDSQ     - 20       
 
 
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Last updated: 15 Apr 2023Facebook Todor Krastev