Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's EAD 50 metre freestyle explained

Event:	Men's EAD 50 metre freestyle
Games:	2002
Venue:	Manchester Aquatics Centre^[1]
Dates:	3 August (semifinals, heats) 4 August (final)
Competitors:	51
Nations:	13
Win Value:	−0.34
Gold:	Ben Austin
Goldcga:	AUS
Silver:	Philippe Gagnon
Silvercga:	CAN
Bronze:	Benoit Huot
Bronzecga:	CAN
Next:	2006

The Men's EAD 50 metre freestyle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games was held on 1 August at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Classification

The events were run on a multi-disability format, which included both physically disabled and visually impaired swimmers i.e. the International Paralympic Committee’s Swimming Classification S1 – S13.^[2]

Classes S1 – S10 are allocated to swimmers with a physical disability ranging from swimmers with a severe disability (S1) to those with a minimal disability (S10).
Classes S11 – S13 are allocated to swimmers with a visual impairment ranging from swimmers with no vision or may have light perception (S11) to those with some visual acuity (S13).

Format

All classes, 1 through 13 swan together in 3 heats and a final event. Positions were determined by each athlete’s time relative to the current world record for the appropriate classification of the swimmer. This may have meant that the swimmer touching first may not have been the winner.

World records were time standardised to identify both the finalists and medal winners throughout the competition. This meant that the same ‘time marker’ was used in the heats and the final irrespective of whether the world record had been broken during the course of competition.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world records were as follows;

Class	Time	Date
S1	1:11.30	31 July 2001
S2	1:10.11	27 October 2000
S3	49.03	27 October 2000
S4	38.84	27 October 2000
S5	33.33	26 July 2002
S6	31.26	25 August 1996
S7	28.58	28 October 2000
S8	27.93
S9	26.36	28 October 2000
S10	25.04	24 March 2002
S11	25.96	1 January 1987
S12	25.79	28 October 2000
S13	24.67	28 October 2000

The following records were established during the competition:

Date	Event	Class	Name	Nationality	Time	Result	Record
1 August	Heats	S5			47.34	+13.20	GR
1 August	Heats	S6			37.31	+6.05	GR
1 August	Heats	S6			35.74	+4.48	GR
1 August	Heats	S7			29.50	+0.92	GR
1 August	Final	S7			28.71	+0.13	GR
1 August	Heats	S8			27.48	−0.45	WR
1 August	Heats	S9			28.88	+2.52	GR
1 August	Heats	S10			25.41	+0.37	GR
1 August	Heats	S10			25.23	+0.19	GR
1 August	Final	S10			25.04	0.00	GR
1 August	Heats	S11			40.74	+14.78	GR
1 August	Heats	S12	align=left rowspan=2			26.10	+0.31	GR
1 August	Final	S12		25.91	+0.12	GR
1 August	Heats	S13			26.09	+1.42	GR

Results

Heats

The 8 fastest swimmers in the heats qualified for the semifinals.^[3]

Rank	Heat	Lane	Class	Time	Result	Notes
1	3	3	S8	27.48	−0.45	Q, WR, GR
2	2	6	S7	28.75	+0.17	Q, GR
3	3	4	S10	25.23	+0.19	Q, GR
4	1	4	S12	26.10	+0.31	Q, GR
5	2	4	S10	25.41	+0.37	Q, GR
6	2	5	S12	26.35	+0.56	Q
7	1	6	S7	29.50	+0.92	Q, GR
7	3	6	S7	29.50	+0.92	Q
9	2	3	S12	27.21	+1.42
9	3	5	S13	26.09	+1.42	GR
11	1	3	S9	28.88	+2.52	GR
12	2	2	S7	31.52	+2.94
13	1	5	S10	28.03	+2.99	GR
14	3	2	S10	29.34	+4.30
15	3	7	S6	35.74	+4.48	GR
16	2	7	S12	31.27	+5.48
17	1	7	S6	37.31	+6.05	GR
18	1	2	S10	36.11	+11.07
19	1	1	S5	47.34	+13.20	GR
20	2	1	S6	44.90	+13.64
21	3	1	S11	40.74	+14.78	GR

Final

The final was held on 1 August at 19:37.^[4]

Rank	Lane	Class	Time	Result	Notes
	4	S8	27.59	−0.34
	2	S10	25.04	0.00	GR
	3	S10	25.07	+0.03	GR
4	6	S12	25.91	+0.12	GR
5	5	S7	28.71	+0.13	GR
6	1	S7	29.00	+0.42
7	7	S12	26.55	+0.76
8	8	S7	29.55	+0.97

Notes and References

Web site: The interior of the Manchester Aquatics Centre, showing the competition pool with the arched roof above, at around the time of its completion (JLP01/20/003/12/008) Archive Item - John Laing Photographic Collection Historic England . historicengland.org.uk . 6 December 2023 . en.
Web site: EAD. m2002.thecgf.com.
Web site: Results. m2002.thecgf.com.
Web site: Results. m2002.thecgf.com.