# Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. There will be approximately 30 competitors from approximately 20 nations, with the ultimate numbers determined through the ongoing selection process, including universality places.

## Background

This was the 16th 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.
Of the 2016 finalists, defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy returned, along with bronze medalist Evgeny Rylov of Russia (competing under the ROC banner), fourth-place finisher Xu Jiayu of China, seventh-place finisher Christian Diener of Germany, and eighth-place finisher (and 2012 silver medalist) Ryosuke Irie of Japan. Rylov had won the 2017 and 2019 World Championships with Murphy finishing second both times.

## Summary

After his win in the shorter backstroke event days earlier, Russia's Evgeny Rylov set an Olympic record of 1:53.27 to take gold and complete the backstroke double. While he led wire-to-wire after the first lap, Rylov extended his margin over the field to collect his second individual gold. The U.S.' Ryan Murphy trailed Great Britain's Luke Greenbank at the 50 m mark, but moved through the field to collect silver in 1:54.15 – almost a second behind Rylov. Meanwhile, Greenbank could not maintain his margin over Murphy after the first turn, taking bronze in 1:54.72.
The U.S.' Bryce Mefford could not join his teammate Murphy on the podium, falling to fourth place to 1:55.49. Hungary's Ádám Telegdy touched in 1:56.15, edging out Poland's Radosław Kawęcki (1:56.39) by 0.24 seconds. Competing at his fourth Olympics, Japanese backstroke stalwart and 2012 silver medallist Ryosuke Irie (1:57.32) came seventh while Spain's Nicolás García (1:59.06) rounded out the field.

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 1:57.50. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 2:01.03. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events was reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place.

## Competition format

The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Aaron Peirsol (USA) | 1:51.92 | Rome, Italy | 31 July 2009 |
| Olympic record | Tyler Clary (USA) | 1:53.41 | London, United Kingdom | 2 August 2012 |
The following records was established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
| July 30 | Final | Evgeny Rylov | ROC | 1:53.27 | OR |

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Date | Time | Round |
| 28 July 2021 | 19:21 | Heats |
| 29 July 2021 | 11:04 | Semifinals |
| 30 July 2021 | 10:50 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advance to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | Luke Greenbank | Great Britain | 1:54.63 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | Evgeny Rylov | ROC | 1:56.02 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | Bryce Mefford | United States | 1:56.37 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | Lee Ju-ho | South Korea | 1:56.77 | Q, NR |
| 5 | 1 | 4 | Grigory Tarasevich | ROC | 1:56.82 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 6 | Radosław Kawęcki | Poland | 1:56.83 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | 4 | Ryan Murphy | United States | 1:56.92 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | 5 | Ryosuke Irie | Japan | 1:56.97 | Q |
| 9 | 4 | 3 | Keita Sunama | Japan | 1:57.07 | Q |
| 10 | 4 | 2 | Tristan Hollard | Australia | 1:57.24 | Q |
| 11 | 3 | 6 | Roman Mityukov | Switzerland | 1:57.45 | Q |
| 12 | 4 | 6 | Brodie Williams | Great Britain | 1:57.48 | Q |
| 13 | 4 | 8 | Nicolás García | Spain | 1:57.62 | Q |
| 14 | 2 | 3 | Ádám Telegdy | Hungary | 1:57.70 | Q |
| 15 | 3 | 5 | Xu Jiayu | China | 1:57.76 | Q, WD |
| 16 | 2 | 7 | Markus Thormeyer | Canada | 1:57.85 | Q |
| 17 | 3 | 3 | Yohann Ndoye-Brouard | France | 1:57.96 | Q |
| 18 | 4 | 7 | Jan Čejka | Czech Republic | 1:58.02 | |
| 19 | 4 | 1 | Christian Diener | Germany | 1:58.27 | |
| 20 | 3 | 2 | Matteo Restivo | Italy | 1:58.36 | |
| 21 | 1 | 5 | Martin Binedell | South Africa | 1:58.47 | |
| 22 | 3 | 1 | Francisco Santos | Portugal | 1:58.58 | |
| 23 | 2 | 8 | Berke Saka | Turkey | 1:58.66 | |
| 24 | 2 | 2 | Kaloyan Levterov | Bulgaria | 1:58.96 | |
| 25 | 3 | 7 | Mewen Tomac | France | 1:59.02 | |
| 26 | 1 | 6 | Robert Glință | Romania | 1:59.18 | |
| 27 | 3 | 8 | Jakub Skierka | Poland | 1:59.30 | |
| 28 | 1 | 3 | Yakov Toumarkin | Israel | 1:59.65 | |
| 29 | 1 | 2 | Merdan Ataýew | Turkmenistan | 2:03.68 | |

### Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Evgeny Rylov | ROC | 1:54.45 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Luke Greenbank | Great Britain | 1:54.98 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 6 | Ryan Murphy | United States | 1:55.38 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | Ádám Telegdy | Hungary | 1:56.19 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | Nicolás García | Spain | 1:56.35 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 5 | Bryce Mefford | United States | 1:56.37 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 3 | Radosław Kawęcki | Poland | 1:56.68 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 6 | Ryosuke Irie | Japan | 1:56.69 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 8 | Yohann Ndoye-Brouard | France | 1:56.83 | |
| 10 | 1 | 2 | Tristan Hollard | Australia | 1:56.92 | |
| 11 | 1 | 5 | Lee Ju-ho | South Korea | 1:56.93 | |
| 12 | 2 | 3 | Grigory Tarasevich | ROC | 1:57.06 | |
| 13 | 2 | 7 | Roman Mityukov | Switzerland | 1:57.07 | |
| 14 | 2 | 2 | Keita Sunama | Japan | 1:57.16 | |
| 15 | 1 | 7 | Brodie Williams | Great Britain | 1:57.73 | |
| 16 | 2 | 8 | Markus Thormeyer | Canada | 1:59.36 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Evgeny Rylov | ROC | 1:53.27 | OR |
| | 3 | Ryan Murphy | United States | 1:54.15 | |
| | 5 | Luke Greenbank | Great Britain | 1:54.72 | |
| 4 | 7 | Bryce Mefford | United States | 1:55.49 | |
| 5 | 6 | Ádám Telegdy | Hungary | 1:56.15 | |
| 6 | 1 | Radosław Kawęcki | Poland | 1:56.39 | |
| 7 | 8 | Ryosuke Irie | Japan | 1:57.32 | |
| 8 | 2 | Nicolás García | Spain | 1:59.06 | |