# Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle

The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 30 July to 1 August 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's tenth appearance, first held in 1904 (as 50 yards) and then at every edition since 1988. The event is nicknamed the "splash and dash" event.
The winning margin was 0.48 seconds which as of 2023 is the only time this event has been won by more than 0.25 seconds at the Olympics.

## Summary

U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel led from start to finish as he surged to an Olympic record time of 21.07, only 0.03 off his personal best time. By doing so, Dressel became the third male swimmer in history (joining Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz) to win three individual titles at a single Games.
At 0.48 seconds behind Dressel, Florent Manaudou claimed his second successive Olympic silver in this event following his triumph in 2012. Brazil's Bruno Fratus finished in 21.57 to win the bronze and his first career Olympic medal at the age of 32. Meanwhile, Dressel's teammate Michael Andrew narrowly missed the podium by two one-hundredths of a second.
Great Britain's Ben Proud and Greece's Kristian Gkolomeev came equal fifth in 21.72, while Lorenzo Zazzeri of Italy and Thom De Boer of the Netherlands rounded out the finalists.
The medals for competition were presented by Anant Singh, South African IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Husain Al-Musallam, FINA President.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | César Cielo (BRA) | 20.91 | São Paulo, Brazil | 18 December 2009 |
| Olympic record | César Cielo (BRA) | 21.30 | Beijing, China | 16 August 2008 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
| August 1 | Final | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 21.07 | OR |

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 22.01 seconds. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 22.67 seconds. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a male swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place.

## Competition format

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

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 30 July 2021 | 19:00 | Heats |
| Saturday, 31 July 2021 | 11:11 | Semifinals |
| Sunday, 1 August 2021 | 10:30 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 10 | 4 | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 21.32 | Q |
| 2 | 10 | 3 | Florent Manaudou | France | 21.65 | Q |
| 3 | 9 | 5 | Kristian Gkolomeev | Greece | 21.66 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | 4 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil | 21.67 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | 4 | Vladyslav Bukhov | Ukraine | 21.73 | Q |
| 6 | 8 | 3 | Thom de Boer | Netherlands | 21.75 | Q |
| 7 | 8 | 7 | Jesse Puts | Netherlands | 21.84 | Q |
| 8 | 8 | 2 | Brent Hayden | Canada | 21.85 | Q |
| 9 | 10 | 7 | Lorenzo Zazzeri | Italy | 21.86 | Q |
| 10 | 9 | 1 | Kliment Kolesnikov | ROC | 21.88 | Q |
| 11 | 8 | 5 | Michael Andrew | United States | 21.89 | Q |
| 12 | 9 | 4 | Vladimir Morozov | ROC | 21.92 | Q |
| 13 | 10 | 5 | Benjamin Proud | Great Britain | 21.93 | Q |
| 14 | 9 | 8 | Alberto Mestre | Venezuela | 21.96 | Q |
| 15 | 8 | 6 | Maxime Grousset | France | 21.97 | Q |
| 15 | 10 | 6 | Paweł Juraszek | Poland | 21.97 | Q |
| 17 | 9 | 7 | Meiron Cheruti | Israel | 22.01 | |
| 18 | 8 | 1 | Joshua Liendo | Canada | 22.03 | |
| 19 | 7 | 7 | Santo Condorelli | Italy | 22.14 | |
| 19 | 8 | 8 | Nikola Miljenić | Croatia | 22.14 | |
| 19 | 9 | 2 | Yu Hexin | China | 22.14 | |
| 22 | 7 | 8 | Heiko Gigler | Austria | 22.17 | |
| 23 | 9 | 6 | Björn Seeliger | Sweden | 22.19 | |
| 24 | 7 | 6 | Ali Khalafalla | Egypt | 22.22 | |
| 24 | 10 | 8 | Brad Tandy | South Africa | 22.22 | |
| 26 | 9 | 3 | Ari-Pekka Liukkonen | Finland | 22.25 | |
| 26 | 10 | 2 | Maxim Lobanovskij | Hungary | 22.25 | |
| 28 | 6 | 4 | Andrej Barna | Serbia | 22.29 | |
| 29 | 10 | 1 | Cameron McEvoy | Australia | 22.31 | |
| 30 | 7 | 1 | Gabriel Castaño | Mexico | 22.32 | |
| 31 | 7 | 2 | Konrad Czerniak | Poland | 22.33 | |
| 32 | 7 | 3 | Ian Ho | Hong Kong | 22.45 | |
| 33 | 6 | 7 | Dylan Carter | Trinidad and Tobago | 22.46 | |
| 33 | 6 | 8 | Brett Fraser | Cayman Islands | 22.46 | |
| 35 | 6 | 1 | Enzo Martínez | Uruguay | 22.52 | |
| 36 | 6 | 5 | Renzo Tjon-A-Joe | Suriname | 22.56 | |
| 37 | 7 | 5 | Oussama Sahnoune | Algeria | 22.61 | |
| 38 | 6 | 3 | Santiago Grassi | Argentina | 22.67 | |
| 39 | 6 | 6 | Hwang Sun-woo | South Korea | 22.74 | |
| 40 | 6 | 2 | David Popovici | Romania | 22.77 | |
| 41 | 5 | 5 | Luke Gebbie | Philippines | 22.84 | |
| 42 | 5 | 4 | Emir Muratović | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 22.91 | |
| 43 | 5 | 3 | Artur Barseghyan | Armenia | 23.14 | |
| 44 | 5 | 2 | Alaa Maso | Refugee Olympic Team | 23.30 | |
| 45 | 5 | 6 | Nikolas Antoniou | Cyprus | 23.38 | |
| 46 | 5 | 7 | Ghirmai Efrem | Eritrea | 23.94 | |
| 47 | 5 | 8 | Filipe Gomes | Malawi | 24.00 | |
| 48 | 5 | 1 | Myagmaryn Delgerkhüü | Mongolia | 24.63 | |
| 49 | 4 | 5 | Shane Cadogan | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 24.71 | |
| 50 | 4 | 4 | Alassane Seydou Lancina | Niger | 24.75 | |
| 51 | 4 | 3 | Mohammed Ariful Islam | Bangladesh | 24.81 | |
| 52 | 4 | 6 | Puch Hem | Cambodia | 24.91 | |
| 53 | 4 | 7 | Marc Dansou | Benin | 24.99 | |
| 54 | 4 | 8 | Adama Ouedraogo | Burkina Faso | 25.22 | NR |
| 55 | 4 | 1 | Eloi Maniraguha | Rwanda | 25.38 | |
| 56 | 4 | 2 | Shaquille Moosa | Zambia | 25.54 | |
| 57 | 3 | 6 | Mawupemon Otogbe | Togo | 25.68 | |
| 58 | 3 | 5 | Troy Pina | Cape Verde | 25.97 | |
| 59 | 3 | 4 | Santisouk Inthavong | Laos | 26.04 | |
| 60 | 3 | 3 | Olimjon Ishanov | Tajikistan | 26.12 | |
| 61 | 3 | 2 | Mamadou Bah | Guinea | 26.52 | |
| 62 | 3 | 8 | Abdelmalik Muktar | Ethiopia | 26.65 | |
| 63 | 3 | 7 | Simanga Dlamini | Eswatini | 26.94 | |
| 64 | 2 | 2 | Charly Ndjoume | Cameroon | 27.22 | |
| 65 | 2 | 6 | Houssein Gaber Ibrahim | Djibouti | 27.41 | |
| 66 | 2 | 5 | Ebrima Buaro | The Gambia | 27.44 | |
| 67 | 2 | 4 | Shawn Dingilius-Wallace | Palau | 27.46 | |
| 68 | 1 | 5 | Adam Girard de Langlade Mpali | Gabon | 27.66 | |
| 69 | 2 | 3 | Fahim Anwari | Afghanistan | 27.67 | |
| 70 | 2 | 7 | Phillip Kinono | Marshall Islands | 27.86 | |
| 71 | 3 | 1 | Joshua Wyse | Sierra Leone | 27.90 | |
| 72 | 1 | 4 | José da Silva Viegas | Timor-Leste | 28.59 | |
| 73 | 1 | 3 | Diosdado Miko Eyanga | Equatorial Guinea | 31.03 | |

### Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 21.42 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | Florent Manaudou | France | 21.53 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil | 21.60 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 5 | Kristian Gkolomeev | Greece | 21.60 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | Benjamin Proud | Great Britain | 21.67 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 7 | Michael Andrew | United States | 21.67 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | Lorenzo Zazzeri | Italy | 21.75 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | Thom de Boer | Netherlands | 21.78 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 2 | Kliment Kolesnikov | ROC | 21.82 | |
| 9 | 1 | 6 | Brent Hayden | Canada | 21.82 | |
| 11 | 2 | 3 | Vladyslav Bukhov | Ukraine | 21.83 | |
| 12 | 2 | 6 | Jesse Puts | Netherlands | 21.87 | |
| 12 | 2 | 8 | Maxime Grousset | France | 21.87 | |
| 14 | 1 | 8 | Paweł Juraszek | Poland | 21.88 | |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | Alberto Mestre | Venezuela | 22.22 | |
| 16 | 1 | 7 | Vladimir Morozov | ROC | 22.25 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Caeleb Dressel | United States | 21.07 | OR |
| | 5 | Florent Manaudou | France | 21.55 | |
| | 3 | Bruno Fratus | Brazil | 21.57 | |
| 4 | 7 | Michael Andrew | United States | 21.60 | |
| 5 | 2 | Benjamin Proud | Great Britain | 21.72 | |
| 5 | 6 | Kristian Gkolomeev | Greece | 21.72 | |
| 7 | 1 | Lorenzo Zazzeri | Italy | 21.78 | |
| 8 | 8 | Thom de Boer | Netherlands | 21.79 | |