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

The men's 200 metre butterfly event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held in 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's seventeenth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1956.

## Summary

After breaking Michael Phelps' decade-long world record in the event in 2019, Hungary's Kristóf Milák finally won his first individual Olympic title. Overcoming a suit malfunction minutes before the start of the race, Milák dominated the race to win gold in an Olympic record of 1:51.25. Despite overhauling the field by more than two seconds, Milák expressed disappointment in not breaking the world record due to his suit change.
Fourth at the final turn, Japan's Tomoru Honda rallied to join Milák on the podium and deliver the host nation a silver medal in 1:53.73. Meanwhile, Italy's Federico Burdisso moved from third to second at the 150 m mark, but could not hold off Honda in the final lap, settling for bronze in 1:54.45. Hungary's Tamás Kenderesi (1:54.52) eclipsed South Africa's 2012 champion Chad le Clos (1:54.93), who faded in the closing stages after commanding a brief lead, by 0.41 seconds to take fourth. Outside the 1:54 club, Brazil's Leonardo de Deus (1:55.19), the U.S.' Gunnar Bentz (1:55.46) and Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski (1:55.88) rounded out the championship field.
Notably, it marked the first time in the 21st century where U.S. great Michael Phelps did not appear in the event.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Kristóf Milák (HUN) | 1:50.73 | Gwangju, South Korea | 24 July 2019 |
| Olympic record | Michael Phelps (USA) | 1:52.03 | Beijing, China | 13 August 2008 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
| July 28 | Final | Kristóf Milák | Hungary | 1:51.25 | OR |

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 1:56.48. 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 1:59.97. 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 |
| 26 July 2021 | 19:17 | Heats |
| 27 July 2021 | 11:35 | Semifinals |
| 28 July 2021 | 10:49 | 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 | 5 | 4 | Kristóf Milák | Hungary | 1:53.58 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | Wang Kuan-hung | Chinese Taipei | 1:54.44 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 5 | 7 | Leonardo de Deus | Brazil | 1:54.83 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | 6 | Zach Harting | United States | 1:54.92 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | 6 | Noè Ponti | Switzerland | 1:55.05 | Q, NR |
| 6 | 5 | 3 | Tomoru Honda | Japan | 1:55.10 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | 5 | Federico Burdisso | Italy | 1:55.14 | Q |
| 8 | 3 | 4 | Tamás Kenderesi | Hungary | 1:55.18 | Q |
| 9 | 4 | 4 | Daiya Seto | Japan | 1:55.26 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | 1 | Giacomo Carini | Italy | 1:55.33 | Q |
| 11 | 3 | 2 | Gunnar Bentz | United States | 1:55.46 | Q |
| 12 | 4 | 7 | Aleksandr Kudashev | ROC | 1:55.54 | Q |
| 13 | 5 | 1 | Krzysztof Chmielewski | Poland | 1:55.77 | Q |
| 14 | 4 | 1 | Louis Croenen | Belgium | 1:55.78 | Q |
| 15 | 3 | 7 | Léon Marchand | France | 1:55.85 | Q |
| 16 | 5 | 5 | Chad le Clos | South Africa | 1:55.96 | Q |
| 17 | 5 | 6 | David Thomasberger | Germany | 1:56.04 | |
| 18 | 5 | 2 | Matthew Temple | Australia | 1:56.25 | |
| 19 | 2 | 1 | Tomoe Zenimoto Hvas | Norway | 1:56.30 | NR |
| 20 | 3 | 5 | Antani Ivanov | Bulgaria | 1:56.36 | |
| 21 | 3 | 3 | Denys Kesyl | Ukraine | 1:56.37 | |
| 22 | 2 | 6 | Quah Zheng Wen | Singapore | 1:56.42 | |
| 23 | 2 | 3 | Brendan Hyland | Ireland | 1:57.09 | |
| 24 | 2 | 4 | Sajan Prakash | India | 1:57.22 | |
| 25 | 2 | 2 | Kregor Zirk | Estonia | 1:57.26 | |
| 26 | 2 | 7 | Alexei Sancov | Moldova | 1:57.55 | NR |
| 27 | 3 | 8 | Jakub Majerski | Poland | 1:57.91 | |
| 28 | 4 | 8 | Moon Seung-woo | South Korea | 1:58.09 | |
| 29 | 2 | 5 | Ihor Troianovskyi | Ukraine | 1:58.37 | |
| 30 | 5 | 8 | Ethan du Preez | South Africa | 1:58.50 | |
| 31 | 2 | 8 | Luis Vega Torres | Cuba | 1:59.00 | |
| 32 | 1 | 6 | Ayman Kelzi | Syria | 1:59.57 | NR |
| 33 | 1 | 2 | Matin Balsini | Iran | 1:59.97 | NR |
| 34 | 1 | 3 | Keanan Dols | Jamaica | 2:00.25 | |
| 35 | 4 | 2 | David Morgan | Australia | 2:00.27 | |
| 36 | 1 | 5 | Navaphat Wongcharoen | Thailand | 2:01.43 | |
| 37 | 1 | 4 | Richard Nagy | Slovakia | 2:01.91 | |
| 38 | 1 | 7 | Simon Bachmann | Seychelles | 2:03.54 | |

### 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 | Kristóf Milák | Hungary | 1:52.22 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | 5 | Leonardo de Deus | Brazil | 1:54.97 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 8 | Chad le Clos | South Africa | 1:55.06 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 6 | Federico Burdisso | Italy | 1:55.11 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | 6 | Tamás Kenderesi | Hungary | 1:55.17 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 7 | Gunnar Bentz | United States | 1:55.28 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 1 | Krzysztof Chmielewski | Poland | 1:55.29 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | Tomoru Honda | Japan | 1:55.31 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 5 | Zach Harting | United States | 1:55.35 | |
| 10 | 2 | 3 | Noè Ponti | Switzerland | 1:55.37 | |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | Daiya Seto | Japan | 1:55.50 | |
| 12 | 1 | 7 | Aleksandr Kudashev | ROC | 1:55.51 | |
| 13 | 1 | 4 | Wang Kuan-hung | Chinese Taipei | 1:55.52 | |
| 14 | 2 | 8 | Léon Marchand | France | 1:55.68 | |
| 15 | 1 | 2 | Giacomo Carini | Italy | 1:55.95 | |
| 16 | 1 | 1 | Louis Croenen | Belgium | 1:56.67 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Kristóf Milák | Hungary | 1:51.25 | OR |
| | 8 | Tomoru Honda | Japan | 1:53.73 | |
| | 6 | Federico Burdisso | Italy | 1:54.45 | |
| 4 | 2 | Tamás Kenderesi | Hungary | 1:54.52 | |
| 5 | 3 | Chad le Clos | South Africa | 1:54.93 | |
| 6 | 5 | Leonardo de Deus | Brazil | 1:55.19 | |
| 7 | 7 | Gunnar Bentz | United States | 1:55.46 | |
| 8 | 1 | Krzysztof Chmielewski | Poland | 1:55.88 | |