Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre backstroke

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 10–11 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. There were 26 competitors from 19 nations.

Summary
The American tradition of excellence continued in the distance backstroke, as Ryan Murphy made a historic milestone to claim the country's sixth straight title, and strike a backstroke double for the first time since Aaron Peirsol did so in 2004. He held off a stiff competition from Australia's reigning world champion Mitch Larkin down the home stretch to earn his second individual gold at the Games with a time of 1:53.62. Leading the race early on the initial length, Larkin pulled closer to Murphy about the midway through the final lap, but could not catch him near the wall to finish with a silver-medal time in 1:53.96. Meanwhile, Russia's Evgeny Rylov finished with the bronze in 1:53.97, a hundredth of a second behind Larkin.

Trailing the top three by over a second, China's Xu Jiayu, runner-up to Murphy in the 100 m backstroke on night three, took the fourth spot in 1:55.16, while his teenage teammate Li Guangyuan posted a sixth-place time in 1:55.89. U.S. swimmer Jacob Pebley, who had upset the defending champion Tyler Clary at the Olympic trials one month earlier, split the Chinese duo to finish fifth with a 1:55.52. Germany's Christian Diener (1:56.27), along with double London 2012 medalist Ryosuke Irie of Japan (1:56.36), rounded out the field.

The medals for the competition were presented by Yumilka Ruiz, Cuba, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Dmitris Diathestopoulos, Member of the FINA Bureau.

Background
This was the 15th appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event. It was first held in 1900. The event did not return until 1964; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. From 1904 to 1960, a men's 100 metre backstroke was held instead. In 1964, only the 200 metres was held. Beginning in 1968 and ever since, both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held.

Three of the 8 finalists from the 2012 Games returned: silver medalist Ryosuke Irie of Japan, fourth-place finisher Radosław Kawęcki of Poland, and eighth-place finisher Mitch Larkin of Australia. Larkin, Kawęcki, and Evgeny Rylov of Russia had reached the podium at the 2015 World Championships, with Irie 4th and American Ryan Murphy taking 5th. Larkin was the favourite, though Murphy had a strong showing at the U.S. Olympic trials and had already won the 100 metre backstroke in Rio (defeating Larkin, who finished fourth).

Azerbaijan, Belarus, and the Virgin Islands each made their debut in the event. Australia made its 14th appearance, most among nations to that point.

Qualification
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to two swimmers if both met the Olympic Qualifying Time (or "OQT"). An NOC with no swimmers meeting the OQT but at least one swimmer meeting the Olympic Selection Time (or "OST") was not guaranteed a place, but was eligible for selection to fill the overall 900 swimmer quota for the Games. For 2016, the OQT was 1:58.22 while the OST was 2:02.36. The qualifying window was 1 March 2015 to 3 July 2016; only approved meets (generally international competitions and national Olympic trials) during that period could be used to meet the standards. There were also universality places available; if no male swimmer from a nation qualified in any event, the NOC could enter one male swimmer in an event.

The two swimmers per NOC limit had been in place since the 1984 Games.

Competition format
The competition followed the format established in 2000, with three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. The top 16 swimmers from the heats advanced to the semifinals. The top 8 semifinalists advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule
All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3)