2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Men's 50 metre freestyle explained

Event:	Men's 50 metre freestyle
Competition:	2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)
Venue:	Manchester Arena
Location:	Manchester, England
Dates:	10 April (heats and semis) 11 April (final)
Competitors:	108
Nations:	74
Win Value:	20.81
Gold:	Duje Draganja
Gold Nation:	CRO
Silver:	Mark Foster
Silver Nation:	GBR
Bronze:	Gerhard Zandberg
Bronze Nation:	RSA
Previous:	2006
Next:	2010

The men's 50 metre freestyle competition of the 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) was held on 10 and 11 April 2008 at the Manchester Arena.

The event was won by the defending champion Croatian Duje Draganja in a new world record time of 20.81 seconds, breaking the previous mark set by Sweden's Stefan Nystrand six months earlier by 0.12 seconds. Swimming in lane 1 in the final, Draganja also broke the championship record of 21.31 set by Cullen Jones of the United States in Shanghai in 2006.

Great Britain's Mark Foster won the silver medal, finishing a half a second behind Draganja while Gerhard Zandberg of South Africa finished third in 21.33.^[1]

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.^[2]

	Name	Nation	Time	Location	Date
World record			20.93		18 November 2007
Championship record			21.31		6 April 2006

Results

Heats

data-sort-type=number	Rank !	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	12	8			21.44	Q
2	13	4			21.60	Q
3	6	1			21.61	Q
4	14	4			21.67	Q
	12	6			21.77	Q
	14	1
7	14	8			21.81	Q
8	12	1			21.88	Q
9	9	5			21.89	Q
	11	3			21.92	Q
	13	5
12	12	4			21.98	Q
13	14	2			22.00	Q
14	10	2			22.03	Q
	12	5			22.06	Q
	14	5
17	12	2			22.11
18	12	3			22.20
19	13	2			22.21
20	13	7			22.23
21	14	7			22.24
22	13	3			22.25
	13	6			22.32
	14	3
25	10	3			22.34
26	11	8			22.37
27	9	4			22.38
28	14	6			22.44
29	9	1			22.56
30	10	8			22.61
31	11	7			22.64
32	10	4			22.70
33	11	1			22.79
	9	3			22.87
	10	6
36	11	2			22.93
37	12	7			22.94
38	11	6			22.97
39	5	1			23.08
40	9	8			23.12
41	10	1			23.14
42	8	1			23.19
43	10	7			23.25
44	8	6			23.30
45	10	5			23.31
46	9	7			23.59
47	9	6			23.62
48	13	1			23.89
49	9	2			23.90
50	8	3			23.93
51	7	3			23.94
52	1	4			23.96
53	8	8			24.00
	7	2			24.03
	8	5
56	7	5			24.16
57	6	5			24.35
58	8	4			24.41
59	8	7			24.45
60	7	8			24.50
61	7	6			24.59
62	7	1			24.77
63	4	6			24.80
64	5	5			24.86
65	6	4			24.88
66	6	6			24.90
67	5	3			24.95
68	6	7			24.96
69	6	2			24.98
70	4	5			25.03
71	4	7			25.05
72	6	3			25.07
	5	2			25.14
	6	8
75	4	4			25.23
76	5	4			25.29
77	4	1			25.32
78	4	3			25.43
79	4	2			25.50
80	5	8			25.60
81	5	6			25.67
82	3	7			25.75
83	2	6			25.80
84	5	7			26.03
85	3	4			26.34
86	7	7			26.39
87	3	6			26.40
88	3	3			26.59
89	3	5			26.72
90	3	2			26.74
91	4	8			26.99
92	2	2			27.70
93	3	8			28.10
94	3	1			28.49
95	2	1			30.92
96	1	6			34.21
	1	3
	1	5
	2	3
	2	5		Mauritania
	2	7
	2	8
	7	4
	8	2
	11	4
	13	8
	2	4
	11	5

Semifinals

The semifinals were held at 19:53.^[3]

data-sort-type=number	Rank !	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	4			21.32	Q
2	2	1			21.43	Q
3	2	5			21.46	Q
4	2	4			21.55	Q
5	2	3			21.57	Q
6	2	6			21.58	Q
7	1	5			21.63	Q
8	1	7			21.72	Q
	1	3			21.77
	2	7
11	2	8			21.80
12	2	2			21.85
13	1	1			21.90
	1	8			21.97
	1	6
	1	2

Finals

The final was held at 20:50.^[4]

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	1			20.81
	4			21.31
	8			21.33
4	3			21.44
5	5			21.48
6	2			21.68
7	7			21.74
8	6			21.77

Notes and References

1. Web site: World Short Course Championships: Flash! Duje Draganja Defends 50 Free Title With World Record. Swimming World. 11 April 2018. 26 August 2018.
2. Web site: Heat results of the men's 50 metre freestyle at the 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m). FINA. 10 April 2018. pdf.
3. Web site: Semifinal results of the men's 50 metre freestyle at the 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m). FINA. 10 April 2018. pdf.
4. Web site: Final results of the men's 50 metre freestyle at the 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m). FINA. 11 April 2018. pdf.