Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke explained

Event:	Men's 100 metre backstroke
Games:	2000 Summer
Venue:	Sydney International Aquatic Centre
Date:	September 17, 2000 (heats &<br />semifinals) September 18, 2000 (final)
Competitors:	55
Nations:	50
Win Value:	53.72
Gold:	Lenny Krayzelburg
Goldnoc:	USA
Silver:	Matt Welsh
Silvernoc:	AUS
Bronze:	Stev Theloke
Bronzenoc:	GER
Prev:	1996
Next:	2004

The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.^[1]

Lenny Krayzelburg, a Ukrainian-born American whose swimming career began in the old Soviet system, shattered a new Olympic record to claim a gold medal in the event, slashing 0.14 seconds off an eight-year-old standard set by Jeff Rouse in Barcelona.^{[2] [3]} He seized the lead on the first length, and held off a challenge from Australia's overwhelming favorite Matt Welsh down the final lap to touch the wall first in 53.72.^{[4] [5]} Delighted by the frenzied home crowd, Welsh took home with a silver medal in an Oceanian record of 54.07. Meanwhile, Germany's Stev Theloke stormed home from behind to wrest a bronze in 54.82, edging out another Aussie Josh Watson (55.01) by almost two-tenths of a second (0.20).^[6]

Poland's Bartosz Kizierowski finished fifth with a time of 55.04, and was followed in the sixth spot by U.S. swimmer Neil Walker in 55.14. Theloke's teammate Steffen Driesen (55.27) and Israel's Eithan Urbach (55.74) closed out the field.^[6]

Records

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

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Results

Heats

Rank	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	7	4			54.38	Q
2	6	4			54.70	Q, OC
3	5	5			55.00	Q
4	7	5			55.09	Q
5	5	1			55.14	Q
6	5	4			55.34	Q
7	6	3			55.39	Q
8	5	3			55.43	Q
9	5	2			55.44	Q, NR
10	7	3			55.58	Q
11	6	5			55.61	Q
12	6	6			55.80	Q
13	7	2			55.81	Q
14	7	8			55.85	Q
15	4	5			56.01	Q
16	7	1			56.19	Q
17	6	1			56.21
18	6	7			56.26
19	4	2			56.26
20	5	7			56.27
21	5	8			56.35
	4	7				NR
23	5	6			56.44
24	6	2			56.47
25	7	6			56.50
26	7	7			56.71
27	4	4			56.81
28	4	1			56.95
	4	8
30	6	8			57.06
31	2	3			57.12
32	3	2			57.26
33	3	7			57.35
34	4	6			57.47
35	3	4			57.50
36	3	3			57.51
37	3	5			57.86
38	1	2			57.91
39	3	8			58.03
40	4	3			58.09
41	2	1			58.18	NR
42	3	6			58.25
43	2	8			58.48
44	3	1			58.67
45	2	4			58.69
46	2	2			58.74
47	1	3			58.90
48	2	7			59.06
49	2	5			59.86
50	1	4			59.94
51	2	6			1:00.19
52	1	6			1:01.02
53	1	7			1:01.15
54	1	5			1:05.17
55	1	1			1:12.38

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4			54.52	Q, OC
2	5			54.93	Q
3	3			55.20	Q
4	1			55.70
5	2			56.07
6	6			56.26
7	7			56.33
8	8			56.34

Semifinal 2

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4			54.32	Q
2	5			54.95	Q
3	2			55.31	Q, NR
4	3			55.34	Q
5	6			55.41	Q
6	7			55.59
7	1			55.65
8	8			55.79

Final

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	4			53.72
	5			54.07	OC
	6			54.82
4	3			55.01
5	1			55.04
6	2			55.14
7	8			55.27
8	7			55.74

External links

• Official Olympic Report

Notes and References

1. Web site: Swimming schedule . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. 14 May 2013.
2. News: Robertson. Linda. Krayzelburg, Quann Pan Olympic Gold. Chicago Tribune. 19 September 2000. 23 May 2013.
3. News: Americans Krayzelburg, Quann up U.S. golds to five. Sports Illustrated. CNN. 18 September 2000. 23 May 2013.
4. News: Krayzelburg sets Olympic record. ESPN. 18 September 2000. 23 May 2013.
5. News: Longman. Jere. Sydney 2000: Swimming; Thorpe Comes Up a Big Hand Short to a Flying Dutchman. New York Times. 19 September 2000. 2 June 2013.
6. News: Whitten. Phillip. Olympic Day 3 Finals (100 Breast, 100 Back M, 100 Back W, 200 Free). Swimming World Magazine. 18 September 2000. 23 May 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154738/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/1799.asp. 30 September 2007.