Quick Facts Men's 200 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, Venue ...

Men's 200 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Silver medalist Frank Baltrusch (earlier in 1988)
Venue	Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool
Date	22 September 1988 (heats & finals)
Competitors	44 from 32 nations
Winning time	1:59.37
Medalists
Igor Polyansky  Soviet Union Frank Baltrusch  East Germany Paul Kingsman  New Zealand
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The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 22 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.^[1] There were 44 competitors from 32 nations.^[2] Each nation had been limited to two swimmers in the event since 1984. The event was won by Igor Polyansky of the Soviet Union. Frank Baltrusch of East Germany took silver, while Paul Kingsman of New Zealand earned bronze. The medals were the first in the men's 200 metre backstroke for the Soviet Union and New Zealand; East Germany had not medaled in the event since Roland Matthes won gold in 1968 and 1972. For the first time, the United States competed and did not earn at least silver.

The award ceremony did not go smoothly. Kingsman was erroneously introduced as being from the Soviet Union. When his nationality was corrected to New Zealand, it was also announced that the New Zealand national anthem would be played. This had to be corrected as well, and the Soviet anthem (for the winner, Polyansky) was played.^[2]

This was the eighth 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]

None of the 8 finalists from the 1984 Games returned. The medalists at the 1986 World Aquatics Championships had been Igor Polyansky of the Soviet Union, Frank Baltrusch of East Germany, and Frank Hoffmeister of West Germany. All three competed in Seoul. Polyansky was also the world record holder, having set it in a Soviet-East German dual meet in 1985. He was the heavy favourite in the event, with his only loss since 1985 being the European championship (to fellow Soviet Sergei Zabolotnov).^[2]

Costa Rica, Guam, Iceland, Lebanon, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe each made their debut in the event. Australia and Great Britain each made their seventh appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

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. A "consolation final" had been added in 1984. There were 6 heats of up to 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. The next 8 (9th through 16th) competed in a consolation 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.

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

World record	Igor Polyansky (URS)	1:58.14	Erfurt, East Germany	3 March 1985
Olympic record	Rick Carey (USA)	1:58.99	Los Angeles, United States	31 July 1984

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)