# Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1984 Summer Olympics was held in the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on July 31, 1984. There were 68 competitors from 45 nations. Nations were limited to two swimmers each, down from three in prior Games. The event was won by Rowdy Gaines of the United States, the nation's third victory in four Games—with only the boycotted 1980 Olympics missing. Overall, it was the eleventh victory for an American in the men's 100 metre freestyle, most of any nation. Mark Stockwell of Australia took silver. Swedish swimmer Per Johansson repeated as bronze medalist, only the seventh man to earn multiple medals in the event.

## Background

This was the 19th appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres.
One of the eight finalists from the 1980 Games returned: bronze medalist Per Johansson of Sweden. The reigning gold medalist, and 1982 world champion, Jörg Woithe of East Germany, was absent due to the Soviet-led boycott. World runner-up Rowdy Gaines had missed the 1980 Games due to the American-led boycott at the peak of his ability; four years later, he was still favored. Johansson had taken third at worlds.
With a large field and a reduced maximum per nation, many nations new to the event were able to compete. The Bahamas, Bahrain, the People's Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Fiji, Honduras, the Netherlands Antilles, San Marino, Suriname, Swaziland, and Uganda each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 18th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

## Competition format

This freestyle swimming competition used a new A/B final format. The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and finals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the A final, competing for medals through 8th place. The swimmers with the next 8 times in the semifinals competed in the B final for 9th through 16th place. Swim-offs were used as necessary to determine advancement.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Rowdy Gaines (USA) | 49.36 | Austin, United States | 3 April 1981 |
| Olympic record | Jim Montgomery (USA) | 49.99 | Montreal, Canada | 25 July 1976 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
| 31 July | Final A | Rowdy Gaines | United States | 49.80 | OR |

## Schedule

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Tuesday, 31 July 1984 | 9:10 16:35 16:40 | Heats Final A Final B |

## Results
### Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A, while the next eight to final B.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | 4 | Mark Stockwell | Australia | 50.27 | Q |
| 2 | 9 | 4 | Mike Heath | United States | 50.39 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | 4 | Rowdy Gaines | United States | 50.41 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | 3 | Per Johansson | Sweden | 50.57 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | 3 | Dano Halsall | Switzerland | 50.91 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | 4 | Alberto Mestre | Venezuela | 50.99 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 3 | Dirk Korthals | West Germany | 51.02 | Q |
| 8 | 3 | 4 | Stéphan Caron | France | 51.13 | Q |
| 9 | 7 | 5 | Hans Kroes | Netherlands | 51.19 | q |
| 9 | 9 | 5 | Thomas Lejdström | Sweden | 51.19 | q |
| 11 | 4 | 4 | Michael Delany | Australia | 51.22 | q, WD |
| 12 | 2 | 4 | Stéfan Voléry | Switzerland | 51.24 | q |
| 13 | 8 | 3 | Edsard Schlingemann | Netherlands | 51.33 | q |
| 14 | 6 | 5 | Peter Rohde | Denmark | 51.40 | q, NR |
| 15 | 3 | 3 | Ang Peng Siong | Singapore | 51.66 | q |
| 16 | 4 | 3 | David Lowe | Great Britain | 51.68 | q |
| 17 | 8 | 5 | Fabrizio Rampazzo | Italy | 51.71 | q |
| 18 | 3 | 5 | Cyro Delgado | Brazil | 51.74 | |
| 19 | 7 | 4 | Fernando Cañales | Puerto Rico | 51.75 | |
| 20 | 7 | 3 | Alexander Schowtka | West Germany | 51.78 | |
| 21 | 1 | 3 | Paul Easter | Great Britain | 51.83 | |
| 22 | 9 | 3 | David Churchill | Canada | 51.85 | |
| 23 | 6 | 6 | Ramiro Estrada | Mexico | 52.07 | |
| 24 | 2 | 5 | Franz Mortensen | Denmark | 52.22 | |
| 25 | 1 | 5 | Alexander Pilhatsch | Austria | 52.25 | |
| 26 | 8 | 6 | Marco Colombo | Italy | 52.34 | |
| 27 | 3 | 6 | Antonio Portela | Portugal | 52.47 | NR |
| 28 | 4 | 5 | Ronald Menezes | Brazil | 52.49 | |
| 29 | 5 | 5 | Blair Hicken | Canada | 52.74 | |
| 30 | 4 | 2 | Michael Miao | Chinese Taipei | 52.76 | NR |
| 31 | 5 | 6 | Mu Lati | China | 52.82 | |
| 32 | 9 | 2 | Shen Jianqiang | China | 52.84 | |
| 33 | 4 | 6 | Shigeo Ogata | Japan | 52.96 | NR |
| 34 | 9 | 3 | Mohamed Youssef | Egypt | 53.19 | NR |
| 35 | 6 | 2 | Kemal Sadri Özün | Turkey | 53.39 | |
| 36 | 1 | 6 | Li Khai-kam | Hong Kong | 53.48 | |
| 37 | 5 | 4 | Sean Nottage | Bahamas | 53.66 | |
| 38 | 8 | 2 | Fabián Ferrari | Argentina | 53.69 | |
| 39 | 2 | 6 | Satoshi Sumida | Japan | 53.83 | |
| 40 | 3 | 2 | Hilton Woods | Netherlands Antilles | 53.92 | |
| 41 | 8 | 7 | Lukman Niode | Indonesia | 54.10 | |
| 42 | 1 | 2 | Oon Jin Gee | Singapore | 54.17 | |
| 43 | 5 | 2 | Gökhan Attaroğlu | Turkey | 54.22 | |
| 44 | 7 | 2 | Fernando Rodríguez | Peru | 54.61 | |
| 45 | 9 | 6 | Deryck Marks | Jamaica | 54.63 | |
| 45 | 2 | 7 | William Wilson | Philippines | 54.63 | |
| 47 | 3 | 7 | Erik Rosskopf | Virgin Islands | 54.80 | |
| 48 | 7 | 7 | César Sánchez | Mexico | 54.94 | |
| 49 | 6 | 7 | Anthony Nesty | Suriname | 54.99 | |
| 50 | 5 | 7 | Ahmed Said | Egypt | 55.01 | |
| 51 | 2 | 2 | Evert Johan Kroon | Netherlands Antilles | 55.20 | |
| 52 | 7 | 6 | Gordon Scarlett | Jamaica | 55.34 | |
| 53 | 4 | 7 | Collier Woolard | Virgin Islands | 55.67 | |
| 54 | 5 | 1 | Samuela Tupou | Fiji | 55.85 | |
| 55 | 1 | 7 | Ingi Jónsson | Iceland | 56.31 | |
| 56 | 7 | 1 | Jean-Luc Adorno | Monaco | 56.38 | |
| 57 | 8 | 1 | Warren Sorby | Fiji | 56.75 | |
| 58 | 3 | 1 | Rodrigo Leal | Guatemala | 56.80 | |
| 59 | 6 | 1 | Khaled Al-Assaf | Kuwait | 56.91 | |
| 60 | 4 | 1 | Ernesto-José Degenhart | Guatemala | 57.20 | |
| 61 | 8 | 8 | Hamad Bader | Bahrain | 58.16 | |
| 62 | 7 | 8 | Trevor Ncala | Swaziland | 58.22 | |
| 63 | 9 | 8 | Michele Piva | San Marino | 59.26 | |
| 64 | 5 | 8 | Rodolfo Torres | Honduras | 1:00.92 | |
| 65 | 6 | 8 | Domingos Chivavele | Mozambique | 1:01.38 | |
| 66 | 2 | 1 | Percy Sayegh | Lebanon | 1:01.88 | |
| 67 | 1 | 1 | Rami Kantari | Lebanon | 1:01.96 | |
| 68 | 9 | 1 | Daniel Mulumba | Uganda | 1:07.86 | |

### Finals
#### Final B

| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 9 | 7 | Ang Peng Siong | Singapore | 51.09 | NR |
| 10 | 3 | Stéfan Voléry | Switzerland | 51.42 | |
| 11 | 1 | David Lowe | Great Britain | 51.48 | |
| 12 | 8 | Fabrizio Rampazzo | Italy | 51.56 | |
| 13 | 4 | Hans Kroes | Netherlands | 51.64 | |
| 13 | 5 | Thomas Lejdström | Sweden | 51.64 | |
| 15 | 6 | Edsard Schlingemann | Netherlands | 51.74 | |
| 16 | 2 | Peter Rohde | Denmark | 51.98 | |

#### Final A

The Australian team protested the final, requesting another race. The Americans had experience with the starter and knew he had a tendency toward a quick trigger. The Australian protest was disallowed.
| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 3 | Rowdy Gaines | United States | 49.80 | OR |
| | 4 | Mark Stockwell | Australia | 50.24 | OC |
| | 6 | Per Johansson | Sweden | 50.31 | |
| 4 | 5 | Mike Heath | United States | 50.41 | |
| 5 | 2 | Dano Halsall | Switzerland | 50.50 | NR |
| 6 | 7 | Alberto Mestre | Venezuela | 50.70 | NR |
| 6 | 8 | Stéphan Caron | France | 50.70 | NR |
| 8 | 1 | Dirk Korthals | West Germany | 50.93 | |