Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Swimming
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Swimming; at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Venue	Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Dates	18 – 25 September 1988
No. of events	31
	← 1984 1992 →

The 1988 Summer Olympics took place in Seoul, South Korea. The swimming competition, held from September 18 to September 25, was notable for the seven medals, including five golds, won by Matt Biondi, the six golds won by Kristin Otto, and the three individual golds won by Janet Evans. 633 participants from 77 countries were competing.^[1]^[2]

Medal table


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	East Germany (GDR)	11	8	9	28
2	United States (USA)	8	6	4	18
3	Hungary (HUN)	4	2	0	6
4	Soviet Union (URS)	2	2	5	9
5	Australia (AUS)	1	1	1	3
	Bulgaria (BUL)	1	1	1	3
	Great Britain (GBR)	1	1	1	3
	West Germany (FRG)	1	1	1	3
9	Japan (JPN)	1	0	0	1
9	Suriname (SUR)	1	0	0	1
11	China (CHN)	0	3	1	4
12	Canada (CAN)	0	1	1	2
12	Romania (ROU)	0	1	1	2
14	Costa Rica (CRC)	0	1	0	1
	Denmark (DEN)	0	1	0	1
	Netherlands (NED)	0	1	0	1
	Sweden (SWE)	0	1	0	1
18	France (FRA)	0	0	2	2
18	New Zealand (NZL)	0	0	2	2
20	Italy (ITA)	0	0	1	1
	Poland (POL)	0	0	1	1
	Spain (ESP)	0	0	1	1
Totals (22 entries)		31	31	32	94

Events

The swimming program for 1988 included two new events, the men's and women's 50 m freestyle, bringing the total number of events to 31.

The following events were contested:

Freestyle: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m (women), 1500 m (men),
Backstroke: 100 m, 200 m
Breaststroke: 100 m, 200 m
Butterfly: 100 m, 200 m
Individual Medley: 200 m, 400 m
Relay: 4 × 100 m free, 4 × 200 m free (men); 4 × 100 m medley

Competition schedule

All dates are in 1988.

date	Morning session	Afternoon session
Sept.18	no competition	women's 100 freestyle (prelims) men's 100 breaststroke (prelims) women's 400 I.M. (prelims) men's 200 freestyle (prelims)
Sept.19	women's 100 freestyle (finals) men's 100 breaststroke (finals) women's 400 I.M. (finals) men's 200 freestyle (finals)
Sept.20	men's 100 butterfly (prelims) women's 200 freestyle (prelims) men's 400 I.M. (prelims) women's 200 breaststroke (prelims) men's 4x200 Freestyle Relay (prelims)
Sept.21		men's 100 butterfly (finals) women's 200 freestyle (finals) men's 400 I.M. (finals) women's 200 breaststroke (finals) men's 4x200 Freestyle Relay (finals)
Sept.22	women's 400 freestyle (prelims) men's 100 freestyle (prelims) women's 100 backstroke (prelims) men's 200 backstroke (prelims) women's 4x100 Free Relay	women's 400 freestyle (finals) men's 100 freestyle (finals) women's 100 backstroke (finals) men's 200 backstroke (finals) women's 4x100 Freestyle Relay (finals)
Sept.23	men's 400 freestyle (prelims) women's 100 butterfly (prelims) men's 200 breaststroke (prelims) women's 100 breaststroke (prelims) men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay (prelims) women's 800 freestyle (prelims)	men's 400 freestyle (final) women's 100 butterfly (finals) men's 200 breaststroke (finals) women's 100 breaststroke (finals) men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay (finals)
Sept.24	men's 200 butterfly (prelims) women's 200 I.M. (prelims) men's 50 freestyle (prelims) men's 100 backstroke (prelims) women's 4x100 Medley Relay (prelims) men's 1500 freestyle (prelims)	women's 200 I.M. (finals) men's 200 butterfly (finals) men's 50 freestyle (finals) women's 800 freestyle (finals) men's 100 backstroke (finals) women's 4 × 100 medley relay (finals)
Sept.25	women's 200 butterfly (prelims) men's 200 I.M. (prelims) women's 50 freestyle (prelims) men's 4 × 100 medley relay (prelims) women's 200 backstroke (prelims)	men's 200 I.M. (finals) women's 200 butterfly (finals) women's 50 freestyle (finals) men's 1500 freestyle (finals) women's 200 backstroke (finals) men's 4 × 100 medley relay (finals)

Medal summary

Men’s events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
50 m freestyle details	Matt Biondi United States	22.14 WR	Tom Jager United States	22.36	Gennadiy Prigoda Soviet Union	22.71
100 m freestyle details	Matt Biondi United States	48.63 OR	Chris Jacobs United States	49.08	Stéphan Caron France	49.62
200 m freestyle details	Duncan Armstrong Australia	1:47.25 WR	Anders Holmertz Sweden	1:47.89	Matt Biondi United States	1:47.99
400 m freestyle details	Uwe Dassler East Germany	3:46.95 WR	Duncan Armstrong Australia	3:47.15 OC	Artur Wojdat Poland	3:47.34
1500 m freestyle details	Vladimir Salnikov Soviet Union	15:00.40	Stefan Pfeiffer West Germany	15:02.69	Uwe Dassler East Germany	15:06.15
100 m backstroke details	Daichi Suzuki Japan	55.05 AS	David Berkoff United States	55.18	Igor Polyansky Soviet Union	55.20
200 m backstroke details	Igor Polyansky Soviet Union	1:59.37	Frank Baltrusch East Germany	1:59.60	Paul Kingsman New Zealand	2:00.48 NR
100 m breaststroke details	Adrian Moorhouse Great Britain	1:02.04 NR	Károly Güttler Hungary	1:02.05	Dmitry Volkov Soviet Union	1:02.20
200 m breaststroke details	József Szabó Hungary	2:13.52 ER	Nick Gillingham Great Britain	2:14.12	Sergio López Miró Spain	2:15.21 NR
100 m butterfly details	Anthony Nesty Suriname	53.00 OR	Matt Biondi United States	53.01	Andy Jameson Great Britain	53.30
200 m butterfly details	Michael Gross West Germany	1:56.94 OR	Benny Nielsen Denmark	1:58.24 NR	Anthony Mosse New Zealand	1:58.28 NR
200 m individual medley details	Tamás Darnyi Hungary	2:00.17 WR	Patrick Kühl East Germany	2:01.61	Vadim Yaroshchuk Soviet Union	2:02.40
400 m individual medley details	Tamás Darnyi Hungary	4:14.75 WR	David Wharton United States	4:17.36	Stefano Battistelli Italy	4:18.01
4 × 100 m freestyle relay details	United States (USA) Chris Jacobs Troy Dalbey Tom Jager Matt Biondi Doug Gjertsen* Brent Lang* Shaun Jordan*	3:16.53 WR	Soviet Union (URS) Gennadiy Prigoda Yuri Bashkatov Nikolai Yevseyev Vladimir Tkachenko Raimundas Mažuolis* Oleksiy Boryslavskiy*	3:18.33 ER	East Germany (GDR) Dirk Richter Thomas Flemming Lars Hinneburg Steffen Zesner	3:19.82
4 × 200 m freestyle relay details	United States (USA) Troy Dalbey Matt Cetlinski Doug Gjertsen Matt Biondi Craig Oppel* Dan Jorgensen*	7:12.51 (WR)	East Germany (GDR) Uwe Daßler Sven Lodziewski Thomas Flemming Steffen Zesner Lars Hinneburg*	7:13.68	West Germany (FRG) Erik Hochstein Thomas Fahrner Rainer Henkel Michael Gross Peter Sitt* Stefan Pfeiffer*	7:14.35
4 × 100 m medley relay details	United States (USA) David Berkoff Richard Schroeder Matt Biondi Chris Jacobs Jay Mortenson* Tom Jager*	3:36.93	Canada (CAN) Mark Tewksbury Victor Davis Tom Ponting Sandy Goss	3:39.28	Soviet Union (URS) Igor Polyansky Dmitry Volkov Vadim Yaroshchuk Gennadiy Prigoda Sergey Zabolotnov* Valeriy Lozik* Konstantin Petrov* Nikolay Yevseyev*	3:39.96

* Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

Women’s events

Games	Gold		Silver		Bronze
50 m freestyle details	Kristin Otto East Germany	25.49 (OR)	Yang Wenyi China	25.64	Jill Sterkel United States	25.71
50 m freestyle details	Kristin Otto East Germany	25.49 (OR)	Yang Wenyi China	25.64	Katrin Meissner East Germany	25.71
100 m freestyle details	Kristin Otto East Germany	54.93	Zhuang Yong China	55.47	Catherine Plewinski France	55.49
200 m freestyle details	Heike Friedrich East Germany	1:57.65 (OR)	Silvia Poll Costa Rica	1:58.67	Manuela Stellmach East Germany	1:59.01
400 m freestyle details	Janet Evans United States	4:03.85 (WR)	Heike Friedrich East Germany	4:05.94	Anke Möhring East Germany	4:06.62
800 m freestyle details	Janet Evans United States	8:20.20 (OR)	Astrid Strauß East Germany	8:22.09	Julie McDonald Australia	8:22.93
100 m backstroke details	Kristin Otto East Germany	1:00.89	Krisztina Egerszegi Hungary	1:01.56	Cornelia Sirch East Germany	1:01.57
200 m backstroke details	Krisztina Egerszegi Hungary	2:09.29 (OR)	Katrin Zimmermann East Germany	2:10.61	Cornelia Sirch East Germany	2:11.45
100 m breaststroke details	Tanya Dangalakova Bulgaria	1:07.95 (OR)	Antoaneta Frenkeva Bulgaria	1:08.74	Silke Hörner East Germany	1:08.83
200 m breaststroke details	Silke Hörner East Germany	2:26.71 (WR)	Huang Xiaomin China	2:27.49	Antoaneta Frenkeva Bulgaria	2:28.34
100 m butterfly details	Kristin Otto East Germany	59.00 (OR)	Birte Weigang East Germany	59.45	Hong Qian China	59.52
200 m butterfly details	Kathleen Nord East Germany	2:09.51	Birte Weigang East Germany	2:09.91	Mary T. Meagher United States	2:10.80
200 m individual medley details	Daniela Hunger East Germany	2:12.59 (OR)	Yelena Dendeberova Soviet Union	2:13.31	Noemi Lung Romania	2:14.85
400 m individual medley details	Janet Evans United States	4:37.76	Noemi Lung Romania	4:39.46	Daniela Hunger East Germany	4:39.76
4 × 100 m freestyle relay details	East Germany (GDR) Kristin Otto Katrin Meissner Daniela Hunger Manuela Stellmach Sabina Schulze* Heike Friedrich*	3:40.63	Netherlands (NED) Marianne Muis Mildred Muis Conny van Bentum Karin Brienesse Diana van der Plaats*	3:43.39	United States (USA) Mary Wayte Mitzi Kremer Laura Walker Dara Torres Paige Zemina* Jill Sterkel*	3:44.25
4 × 100 m medley relay details	East Germany (GDR) Kristin Otto Silke Hörner Birte Weigang Katrin Meissner Cornelia Sirch* Manuela Stellmach*	4:03.74	United States (USA) Beth Barr Tracey McFarlane Janel Jorgensen Mary Wayte Betsy Mitchell* Mary T. Meagher* Dara Torres*	4:07.90	Canada (CAN) Lori Melien Allison Higson Jane Kerr Andrea Nugent Keltie Duggan* Patricia Noall*	4:10.49

* Swimmers who participated in the heats only and received medals.

Participating nations

633 swimmers from 77 nations competed.^[1]

Angola (8)
Argentina (2)
Australia (25)
Austria (6)
Bahamas (1)
Bangladesh (2)
Barbados (1)
Belgium (7)
Bermuda (1)
Bolivia (1)
Brazil (15)
Bulgaria (8)
Canada (31)
China (24)
Chinese Taipei (8)
Colombia (1)
Costa Rica (8)
Czechoslovakia (6)
Denmark (15)
East Germany (26)
Egypt (5)
Fiji (5)
Finland (1)
France (25)
Great Britain (38)
Greece (4)
Guam (4)
Guatemala (1)
Honduras (3)
Hong Kong (10)
Hungary (13)
Iceland (6)
India (1)
Indonesia (2)
Ireland (5)
Israel (1)
Italy (21)
Japan (23)
Kuwait (2)
Lebanon (4)
Luxembourg (2)
Malaysia (2)
Mexico (10)
Mozambique (2)
Netherlands (11)
Netherlands Antilles (1)
Norway (2)
New Zealand (7)
Panama (1)
Peru (2)
Philippines (4)
Poland (5)
Portugal (12)
Puerto Rico (3)
Romania (5)
San Marino (2)
Senegal (2)
Singapore (5)
South Korea (15)
Soviet Union (27)
Spain (11)
Sri Lanka (2)
Suriname (1)
Swaziland (2)
Sweden (18)
Switzerland (10)
Trinidad and Tobago (1)
Tunisia (1)
Turkey (2)
United Arab Emirates (6)
United States (44)
Virgin Islands (6)
Uruguay (1)
Vietnam (2)
West Germany (29)
Yugoslavia (3)
Zimbabwe (4)

References

^ ^a ^b "Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
^ "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2023-12-17.

[SportsRef-1] "Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2016.

[2] "Olympedia – Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2023-12-17.

[1]

[2]

v t e Swimming at the Summer Olympics
Editions	1896 1900 1904 1906 (Intercalated) 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Current events	50 m free 100 m free 200 m free 400 m free 800 m free 1500 m free 100 m back 200 m back 100 m breast 200 m breast 100 m fly 200 m fly 200 m IM 400 m IM 4 × 100 m free relay 4 × 200 m free relay 4 × 100 m medlay relay 10 km
Past events	500 m free (1896) 1000 m free (1900) 1200 m free (1896) 4000 m free (1900) 400 m breast 1904 1912 1920 4 × 100 yd free relay (1904) 200 m team (1900) 200 m obstacle (1900) underwater (1900) 100 m free sailors (1896)
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