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

The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twelfth appearance, having been first held in 1968 and 1972 and then at every edition since 1984.

## Summary

China's defending bronze medallist Wang Shun came from behind to win Asia's first title in the event. Leading after the halfway mark but eclipsed by the U.S.' Michael Andrew after the breaststroke leg, Wang used a scintillating final freestyle leg to touch first in an Asian record of 1:55.00. With the performance, Wang became the third fastest performer in the event behind the famed U.S. duo of Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps.
Great Britain's Duncan Scott similarly charged home in the freestyle leg but could not catch Wang, settling for his second silver at these Games in 1:55.28. Fourth after the breaststroke leg, Switzerland's Jérémy Desplanches (1:56.17) edged out the home favourite Daiya Seto (1:56.22) on the home straight by 5-hundredths of a second for bronze. Meanwhile, after failing to make the final in the longer medley event days earlier, the reigning World champion Seto again fell short of the podium, taking fourth.
Coming into the Olympics as the fastest swimmer in the world in 2021 by 0.76 seconds, the U.S.' Michael Andrew used his typical "fly-and-die" strategy to establish a one second lead on the field at the 150 m mark. However, Andrew faded dramatically over the freestyle lap, splitting 30.69 to finish fifth in 1:57.31 - two seconds behind his personal best time from trials. Japan's defending silver medallist Kosuke Hagino (1:57.40) could not repeat his podium finish from five years earlier, taking sixth in his last Olympics performance. Though Hungarian legend László Cseh (1:57.68) was second after the butterfly leg, he was soon overtaken by the field to finish in seventh. With this event being his only one at these Games, Cseh announced his retirement from competitive swimming after the race. New Zealand's Lewis Clareburt (1:57.70), finalist in the longer medley event days earlier, rounded out the championship field.
Notably, the U.S.' 4-time defending champion Michael Phelps did not contest the event following his retirement in 2016.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Ryan Lochte (USA) | 1:54.00 | Shanghai, China | 28 July 2011 |
| Olympic record | Michael Phelps (USA) | 1:54.23 | Beijing, China | 15 August 2008 |

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 1:59.67. 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 2:03.26. 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 |
| 28 July 2021 | 19:54 | Heats |
| 29 July 2021 | 12:08 | Semifinals |
| 30 July 2021 | 11:16 | 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 | 6 | 4 | Michael Andrew | United States | 1:56.40 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | 3 | Jérémy Desplanches | Switzerland | 1:56.89 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | 1 | Lewis Clareburt | New Zealand | 1:57.27 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 5 | 3 | Chase Kalisz | United States | 1:57.38 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | 2 | Kosuke Hagino | Japan | 1:57.39 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | 5 | Duncan Scott | Great Britain | 1:57.39 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | Wang Shun | China | 1:57.42 | Q |
| 8 | 5 | 6 | Alberto Razzetti | Italy | 1:57.46 | Q |
| 9 | 4 | 4 | Mitch Larkin | Australia | 1:57.50 | Q |
| 10 | 4 | 7 | László Cseh | Hungary | 1:57.51 | Q |
| 11 | 4 | 5 | Hugo González | Spain | 1:57.61 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | 7 | Tomoe Zenimoto Hvas | Norway | 1:57.64 | Q, NR |
| 13 | 4 | 3 | Philip Heintz | Germany | 1:57.72 | Q |
| 14 | 5 | 2 | Andrey Zhilkin | ROC | 1:57.94 | Q |
| 15 | 4 | 2 | Matthew Sates | South Africa | 1:58.08 | Q |
| 16 | 5 | 4 | Daiya Seto | Japan | 1:58.15 | Q |
| 17 | 4 | 1 | Finlay Knox | Canada | 1:58.29 | |
| 18 | 5 | 1 | Léon Marchand | France | 1:58.30 | |
| 19 | 6 | 7 | Caio Pumputis | Brazil | 1:58.36 | |
| 20 | 6 | 6 | Hubert Kós | Hungary | 1:58.47 | |
| 21 | 4 | 8 | Gabriel Lopes | Portugal | 1:58.56 | |
| 22 | 3 | 4 | Brendon Smith | Australia | 1:58.57 | |
| 23 | 3 | 6 | Jacob Heidtmann | Germany | 1:58.80 | |
| 24 | 5 | 8 | Andreas Vazaios | Greece | 1:58.84 | |
| 25 | 2 | 5 | Vinicius Lanza | Brazil | 1:58.92 | |
| 26 | 4 | 6 | Qin Haiyang | China | 1:58.95 | |
| 26 | 3 | 1 | Ron Polonsky | Israel | 1:58.95 | |
| 28 | 6 | 8 | Alexis Santos | Portugal | 1:59.32 | |
| 29 | 3 | 5 | Maxim Stupin | ROC | 1:59.39 | |
| 30 | 2 | 1 | Arjan Knipping | Netherlands | 1:59.44 | NR |
| 30 | 2 | 4 | Gal Cohen Groumi | Israel | 1:59.44 | |
| 32 | 3 | 8 | Bernhard Reitshammer | Austria | 1:59.56 | |
| 33 | 3 | 3 | Danas Rapšys | Lithuania | 1:59.90 | |
| 34 | 5 | 7 | Joe Litchfield | Great Britain | 2:00.11 | |
| 35 | 2 | 6 | Apostolos Papastamos | Greece | 2:00.38 | |
| 36 | 2 | 7 | Tomas Peribonio | Ecuador | 2:00.62 | |
| 37 | 3 | 2 | Wang Hsing-hao | Chinese Taipei | 2:00.72 | |
| 38 | 2 | 2 | José Ángel Martínez | Mexico | 2:01.34 | |
| 39 | 2 | 8 | Jarod Arroyo | Puerto Rico | 2:01.92 | |
| 40 | 1 | 3 | Tyler Christianson | Panama | 2:02.70 | NR |
| 41 | 1 | 6 | Munzer Kabbara | Lebanon | 2:03.08 | NR |
| 42 | 2 | 3 | Raphaël Stacchiotti | Luxembourg | 2:03.17 | |
| 43 | 1 | 4 | Keanan Dols | Jamaica | 2:04.29 | |
| 44 | 1 | 5 | Christoph Meier | Liechtenstein | 2:04.34 | |
| 45 | 1 | 2 | Tasi Limtiaco | Federated States of Micronesia | 2:07.69 | |

### Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 6 | Wang Shun | China | 1:56.22 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | Duncan Scott | Great Britain | 1:56.69 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 8 | Daiya Seto | Japan | 1:56.86 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 4 | Michael Andrew | United States | 1:57.08 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | 4 | Jérémy Desplanches | Switzerland | 1:57.38 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 3 | Kosuke Hagino | Japan | 1:57.47 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 5 | Lewis Clareburt | New Zealand | 1:57.55 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 2 | László Cseh | Hungary | 1:57.64 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 6 | Alberto Razzetti | Italy | 1:57.70 | |
| 10 | 2 | 2 | Mitch Larkin | Australia | 1:57.80 | |
| 11 | 2 | 7 | Hugo González | Spain | 1:57.96 | |
| 12 | 1 | 5 | Chase Kalisz | United States | 1:58.03 | |
| 13 | 2 | 1 | Philip Heintz | Germany | 1:58.13 | |
| 14 | 2 | 8 | Matthew Sates | South Africa | 1:58.75 | |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | Andrey Zhilkin | ROC | 1:59.05 | |
| 16 | 1 | 7 | Tomoe Zenimoto Hvas | Norway | 2:00.21 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Wang Shun | China | 1:55.00 | AS |
| | 5 | Duncan Scott | Great Britain | 1:55.28 | NR |
| | 2 | Jérémy Desplanches | Switzerland | 1:56.17 | NR |
| 4 | 3 | Daiya Seto | Japan | 1:56.22 | |
| 5 | 6 | Michael Andrew | United States | 1:57.31 | |
| 6 | 7 | Kosuke Hagino | Japan | 1:57.49 | |
| 7 | 8 | László Cseh | Hungary | 1:57.68 | |
| 8 | 1 | Lewis Clareburt | New Zealand | 1:57.70 | |