Swimming at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke
October 19, 2023
The men's 200 metre backstroke event for the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal. The event took place on 24 July.[1] There were 33 competitors from 23 nations, with each nation having up to 3 swimmers. The event was won by John Naber of the United States in world-record time; he was the first person to swim the event in under 2 minutes (1:59.19). It was Naber's fifth medal (fourth gold) of the Games: completing a double in the backstroke events as well as golds in the medley relay and the 4×200 free relay, along with a silver in the 200 free. It was the second American victory and second American medal sweep in the men's 200 metre backstroke, after 1968; of the 12 medals from 1968 through 1976, 10 were won by Americans and the other two (both gold) by Roland Matthes. Peter Rocca (silver) and Dan Harrigan (bronze) were the other two Americans, along with Naber, to reach the podium in 1976. The rules changed in 1984 to limit nations to two swimmers each, preventing further sweeps.[2]
This was the fifth appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event. It was first held in 1900. The event did not return until 1964; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. From 1904 to 1960, a men's 100 metre backstroke was held instead. In 1964, only the 200 metres was held. Beginning in 1968 and ever since, both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held.[2]
One of the 8 finalists from the 1972 Games returned: seventh-place finisher Zoltán Verrasztó of Hungary. Two-time reigning Olympic champion, world champion, and world record holder from 1970 to a month before the Games Roland Matthes of East Germany was entered in the event but did not start. The favourite was John Naber of the United States, who had broken Matthes' world record at the U.S. Olympic trials as well as beating Matthes in the 100 metre backstroke event five days earlier.[2] Matthes had won the inaugural World Championship in 1973, with Verrasztó second and Naber third; Verrasztó was the World Champion in 1975.
Bulgaria, Poland, and Portugal each made their debut in the event. The Netherlands made its fifth appearance, the only nation to have competed at each appearance of the event to that point (Italy did not compete in the event for the first time).
Competition formatEdit
The competition used a two-round (heats and final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 5 heats of up to 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.
The heats saw two swimmers break the Olympic record: Dan Harrigan in heat 2, with 2:02.25, then John Naber in heat 5 with 2:02.01. In the final, Naber broke the world record and the 2-minute barrier, swimming 1:59.19. Peter Rocca, in second-place, was also under the previous world record time.
Naber set a strong pace to start, hitting the 50-metre turn at 27.73—already a full second ahead of Rocca and Harrigan. Naber's second turn, at 100 metres, came at 57.45 (which would have been 5th place in the 100 metre final) and pushed his lead further. In the final 50 metres, Rocca closed the lead somewhat; he finished with what would have been a new world record except that he was still 1.36 seconds behind Naber.[2]
^. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
^ abcd"200 metres Backstroke, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
External linksEdit
October 19, 2023
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The men s 200 metre backstroke event for the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal The event took place on 24 July 1 There were 33 competitors from 23 nations with each nation having up to 3 swimmers The event was won by John Naber of the United States in world record time he was the first person to swim the event in under 2 minutes 1 59 19 It was Naber s fifth medal fourth gold of the Games completing a double in the backstroke events as well as golds in the medley relay and the 4 200 free relay along with a silver in the 200 free It was the second American victory and second American medal sweep in the men s 200 metre backstroke after 1968 of the 12 medals from 1968 through 1976 10 were won by Americans and the other two both gold by Roland Matthes Peter Rocca silver and Dan Harrigan bronze were the other two Americans along with Naber to reach the podium in 1976 The rules changed in 1984 to limit nations to two swimmers each preventing further sweeps 2 Men s 200 metre backstrokeat the Games of the XXI OlympiadGold medalist John NaberVenueOlympic Pool MontrealDate24 July heats final Competitors33 from 23 nationsWinning time1 59 19 WRMedalistsJohn Naber United StatesPeter Rocca United StatesDan Harrigan United States 19721980 Contents 1 Background 2 Competition format 3 Records 4 Schedule 5 Results 5 1 Heats 5 2 Final 6 References 7 External linksBackground EditThis was the fifth appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event It was first held in 1900 The event did not return until 1964 since then it has been on the programme at every Summer Games From 1904 to 1960 a men s 100 metre backstroke was held instead In 1964 only the 200 metres was held Beginning in 1968 and ever since both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held 2 One of the 8 finalists from the 1972 Games returned seventh place finisher Zoltan Verraszto of Hungary Two time reigning Olympic champion world champion and world record holder from 1970 to a month before the Games Roland Matthes of East Germany was entered in the event but did not start The favourite was John Naber of the United States who had broken Matthes world record at the U S Olympic trials as well as beating Matthes in the 100 metre backstroke event five days earlier 2 Matthes had won the inaugural World Championship in 1973 with Verraszto second and Naber third Verraszto was the World Champion in 1975 Bulgaria Poland and Portugal each made their debut in the event The Netherlands made its fifth appearance the only nation to have competed at each appearance of the event to that point Italy did not compete in the event for the first time Competition format EditThe competition used a two round heats and final format The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952 A swimmer s place in the heat was not used to determine advancement instead the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used There were 5 heats of up to 8 swimmers each The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final Swim offs were used as necessary to break ties This swimming event used backstroke Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long this race consisted of four lengths of the pool Records EditThese were the standing world and Olympic records in seconds prior to the 1964 Summer Olympics World record nbsp John Naber USA 2 00 64 Long Beach United States 19 June 1976Olympic record nbsp Roland Matthes GDR 2 02 82 Munich West Germany 2 September 1972The heats saw two swimmers break the Olympic record Dan Harrigan in heat 2 with 2 02 25 then John Naber in heat 5 with 2 02 01 In the final Naber broke the world record and the 2 minute barrier swimming 1 59 19 Peter Rocca in second place was also under the previous world record time Schedule EditAll times are Eastern Daylight Time UTC 4 Date Time RoundSaturday 24 July 1976 9 3020 30 HeatsFinalResults EditHeats Edit Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes1 5 John Naber nbsp United States 2 02 01 Q OR2 2 Dan Harrigan nbsp United States 2 02 25 Q OR3 4 Peter Rocca nbsp United States 2 03 31 Q4 1 Mark Kerry nbsp Australia 2 03 54 Q5 4 Mark Tonelli nbsp Australia 2 05 10 Q6 5 Miloslav Roľko nbsp Czechoslovakia 2 05 33 Q7 3 Zoltan Verraszto nbsp Hungary 2 05 93 Q8 5 Robert Rudolf nbsp Hungary 2 06 37 Q9 4 Mike Scarth nbsp Canada 2 07 1610 5 Romulo Arantes Filho nbsp Brazil 2 07 3811 2 Leif Ericsson nbsp Sweden 2 07 5712 1 Daryl Skilling nbsp Canada 2 07 7713 1 Igor Omelchenk o nbsp Soviet Union 2 07 9514 2 Lutz Wanja nbsp East Germany 2 08 0215 3 Jim Carter nbsp Great Britain 2 08 0516 3 Steve Hardy nbsp Canada 2 08 5617 1 Santiago Esteva nbsp Spain 2 08 6318 2 Reinhold Becker nbsp West Germany 2 09 5419 3 Krasimir Stoykov nbsp Bulgaria 2 09 6720 4 Jose Urueta nbsp Mexico 2 09 7421 5 Conrado Porta nbsp Argentina 2 09 7522 2 Ivan Mikolutsky nbsp Soviet Union 2 09 7823 5 Peter Lerpiniere nbsp Great Britain 2 09 8824 3 Ignacio Alvarez nbsp Mexico 2 11 0825 1 Carlos Berrocal nbsp Puerto Rico 2 11 1426 2 Nenad Milos nbsp Yugoslavia 2 11 2527 3 Karim Ressang nbsp Netherlands 2 11 2528 4 Predrag Milos nbsp Yugoslavia 2 12 2129 1 Ryszard Zugaj nbsp Poland 2 12 5330 4 Thomas Hofer nbsp Switzerland 2 12 7531 5 Gerardo Rosario nbsp Philippines 2 13 8932 2 Chiang Jin Choon nbsp Malaysia 2 21 0433 1 Antonio de Melo nbsp Portugal 2 26 65Final Edit Naber set a strong pace to start hitting the 50 metre turn at 27 73 already a full second ahead of Rocca and Harrigan Naber s second turn at 100 metres came at 57 45 which would have been 5th place in the 100 metre final and pushed his lead further In the final 50 metres Rocca closed the lead somewhat he finished with what would have been a new world record except that he was still 1 36 seconds behind Naber 2 Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes nbsp John Naber nbsp United States 1 59 19 WR nbsp Peter Rocca nbsp United States 2 00 55 nbsp Dan Harrigan nbsp United States 2 01 354 Mark Tonelli nbsp Australia 2 03 175 Mark Kerry nbsp Australia 2 04 076 Miloslav Roľko nbsp Czechoslovakia 2 05 817 Robert Rudolf nbsp Hungary 2 07 308 Zoltan Verraszto nbsp Hungary 2 08 23References Edit Swimming at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games Men s 200 metres Backstroke Sports Reference Archived from the original on 17 April 2020 Retrieved 8 December 2016 a b c d 200 metres Backstroke Men Olympedia Retrieved 9 July 2021 External links EditOfficial Olympic Report Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Swimming at the 1976 Summer Olympics Men 27s 200 metre backstroke amp oldid 1117442736, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
