Tokyo 2020 Men’s 100 Free Final: Fastest Qualification Times in History

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games

• When: Pool swimming: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
  • Open Water swimming: Wednesday, August 4 – Thursday, August 5, 2021
• Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
• Heats: 7 PM / Semifinals & Finals: 10:30 AM (Local time)
• Full aquatics schedule
• SwimSwam Event Previews
• Entry Lists
• Live Results

Men’s 100 Freestyle

• World Record: Cesar Cielo (BRA) – 46.91 (2009)
• Olympic Record: Eamon Sullivan (AUS) – 47.05 (2008)
• World Junior Record: David Popovici (ROU) – 47.30 (2021)
• 2016 Olympic Champion: Kyle Chalmers (AUS) – 47.58
• SwimSwam Event Preview – Men’s 100 freestyle

One of the most anticipated finals on Day 5 in Tokyo will the that of the men’s 100 freestyle. While it is a perennial favorite with fans the world over, what makes this year’s race even more exciting is its potential to be the fastest 100 freestyle final in history.

On the potential chopping block will be Eamon Sullivan’s Olympic Record of 47.05 from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and Cesar Cielo’s World Record of 46.91 from the 2009 World Championships in Rome. Both records were set during the “super suit” era, when swimmers raced in full-body suits that incorporated polyurethane, a rubbery substance, with woven elastane-nylon into the suit’s material, giving swimmers extra buoyancy and reducing fatigue. Beginning in 2010, FINA banned the super suits and only allowed suits made out of textiles.

Over 200 World Records were broken in 2008 and 2009 combined.

Now, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the finalist in the men’s 100 freestyle have finally shown themselves to be the fastest in history. The men’s final, scheduled for Thursday morning in Tokyo, will have been the hardest to qualify for, with the fastest qualifier in lane 4 – Russian Olympic Committee’s Kliment Kolesnikov (47.11) – and the fastest qualifier in lane 8 – France’s Maxime Grousset (47.82). Meanwhile, USA’s Caeleb Dressel is the only finalist who has already been under 47 seconds in his career.

In fact, Serbia’s Andrej Barna (47.94), who finished 9th in the semifinals, would have made the final in 2009 ahead of South Africa’s Lyndon Ferns (47.96) and France’s Frederick Bousquet (47.98). And Barna, Russia’s Andrei Minakov (48.08), USA’s Zach Apple (48.04), Italy’s Thomas Ceccon (48.05), Great Britain’s Jacob Whittle (48.11), and Canada’s Joshua Liendo (48.19) were all faster than 2016’s 8th qualifier, Marcelo Chierighini of Brazil (48.23).

Top 8 Qualifiers for Final (2009 vs 2016 vs 2020)

Below are the top eight finishers out of the semifinals of the 2009 World Championships, where the World Record was set, the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo:

13 out of the top 20 men’s 100 free performances of all time, and 5 of the top-10 performers, come out of the 2008-2009 era. Kolesnikov’s 47.11 made him the 8th-fastest performer. All eyes will be on Kolesnikov, USA’s Caeleb Dressel, defending Olympic Champion Kyle Chalmers of Australia, World Junior Record-holder David Popovici of Romania, and the rest of the field as they try to make history tomorrow morning.

ALL-TIME PERFORMERS

ALL-TIME PERFORMANCES