Medalists
| Gold |
 Ryan Lochte
United States (USA) |
| Silver |
Aaron Peirsol
United States (USA) |
| Bronze |
 Arkady Vyatchanin
Russia (RUS) |
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World Record |
Ryan Lochte (USA)
Aaron Peirsol (USA) |
1:54.32 |
Melbourne, Australia
Omaha, United States |
30 March 2007
4 July 2008 |
| Olympic Record |
Aaron Peirsol (USA) |
1:54.95 |
Athens, Greece |
19 September 2004 |
The record now stands as recorded below:
| World Record |
Ryan Lochte (USA) |
1:53.94 |
Beijing, China |
15 August 2008 |
| Olympic Record |
Ryan Lochte (USA) |
1:53.94 |
Beijing, China |
15 August 2008 |
Heats
Heat 1
| Rank |
Lane |
Name |
Nationality |
Time |
Notes |
| 1 |
4 |
Brett Fraser |
Cayman Islands |
2:01.17 |
|
| 2 |
5 |
Oleg Rabota |
Russia |
2:01.95 |
|
| 3 |
3 |
Sergey Pankov |
Hungary |
2:03.51 |
|
Heat 2
| Rank |
Lane |
Name |
Nationality |
Time |
Notes |
| 1 |
5 |
Itai Chammah |
Israel |
2:00.93 |
|
| 2 |
1 |
Pedro Medel |
Cuba |
2:01.32 |
|
| 3 |
2 |
Květoslav Svoboda |
Czech Republic |
2:03.12 |
|
| 4 |
4 |
Jian Deng |
China |
2:03.34 |
|
| 5 |
6 |
Oleksandr Isakov |
Ukraine |
2:03.59 |
|
| 6 |
3 |
Andres Olvik |
Estonia |
2:03.66 |
|
|
6 |
Simon Sjödin |
Sweden |
DNS |
|
Heat 3
| Rank |
Lane |
Name |
Nationality |
Time |
Notes |
| 1 |
7 |
George du Rand |
South Africa |
1:58.62 |
Q, AF |
| 2 |
4 |
Tobias Oriwol |
Canada |
1:58.94 |
Q |
| 3 |
1 |
Omar Pinzon |
Colombia |
1:59.11 |
|
| 4 |
6 |
Derya Buyukuncu |
Turkey |
1:59.86 |
|
| 5 |
8 |
Jiheun Kim |
South Korea |
2:00.72 |
|
| 6 |
2 |
Pedro Oliveira |
Portugal |
2:01.08 |
|
| 7 |
3 |
Jonathan Massacand |
Switzerland |
2:01.80 |
|
| 8 |
5 |
Dimitrios Chasiotis |
Greece |
2:02.30 |
|
Heat 4
| Rank |
Lane |
Name |
Nationality |
Time |
Notes |
| 1 |
4 |
Markus Rogan |
Austria |
1:56.64 |
Q |
| 2 |
5 |
Hayden Stoeckel |
Australia |
1:57.15 |
Q |
| 3 |
3 |
Razvan Ionut Florea |
Romania |
1:57.97 |
Q |
| 4 |
2 |
Damiano Lestingi |
Italy |
1:58.53 |
Q |
| 5 |
1 |
Sebastian Stoss |
Austria |
1:59.44 |
|
| 6 |
6 |
Takashi Nakano |
Japan |
1:59.59 |
|
| 7 |
7 |
Gabor Balog |
Hungary |
2:01.42 |
|
| 8 |
8 |
Simon Dufour |
France |
2:02.00 |
|
Heat 5
| Rank |
Lane |
Name |
Nationality |
Time |
Notes |
| 1 |
4 |
Aaron Peirsol |
United States |
1:56.35 |
Q |
| 2 |
5 |
Arkady Vyatchanin |
Russia |
1:56.97 |
Q |
| 3 |
3 |
Ryosuke Irie |
Japan |
1:57.68 |
Q |
| 4 |
6 |
Helge Meeuw |
Germany |
1:58.42 |
Q |
| 5 |
2 |
Pierre Roger |
France |
1:59.01 |
|
| 6 |
8 |
Lucas Salatta |
Brazil |
1:59.91 |
|
| 7 |
1 |
Nick Driebergen |
Netherlands |
2:00.24 |
|
| 8 |
7 |
Mattia Aversa |
Italy |
2:00.25 |
|
Heat 6
| Rank |
Lane |
Name |
Nationality |
Time |
Notes |
| 1 |
4 |
Ryan Lochte |
United States |
1:56.29 |
Q |
| 2 |
5 |
Gregor Tait |
Great Britain |
1:57.03 |
Q |
| 3 |
7 |
Gordan Kozulj |
Croatia |
1:57.81 |
Q |
| 4 |
3 |
Ashley Delaney |
Australia |
1:57.87 |
Q |
| 5 |
6 |
Stanislav Donets |
Russia |
1:58.68 |
Q |
| 6 |
8 |
Keith Beavers |
Canada |
1:58.84 |
Q |
| 7 |
1 |
Roland Rudolf |
Hungary |
1:59.44 |
|
| 8 |
2 |
Aschwin Wildeboer |
Spain |
DNS |
|
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank |
Lane |
Name |
Nationality |
Time |
Notes |
| 1 |
4 |
Aaron Peirsol |
United States |
1:55.26 |
Q |
| 2 |
2 |
Razvan Ionut Florea |
Romania |
1:56.45 |
Q |
| 3 |
3 |
Hayden Stoeckel |
Australia |
1:56.73 |
Q, OC |
| 4 |
5 |
Arkady Vyatchanin |
Russia |
1:56.85 |
Q |
| 5 |
7 |
Damiano Lestingi |
Italy |
1:58.25 |
|
| 6 |
6 |
Gordan Kožulj |
Croatia |
1:59.22 |
|
| 7 |
8 |
Tobias Oriwol |
Canada |
1:59.50 |
|
| 8 |
1 |
Stanislav Donets |
Russia |
1:59.87 |
|
Semifinal 2
| Rank |
Lane |
Name |
Nationality |
Time |
Notes |
| 1 |
4 |
Ryan Lochte |
United States |
1:55.40 |
Q |
| 2 |
5 |
Markus Rogan |
Austria |
1:56.34 |
Q |
| 3 |
6 |
Ryosuke Irie |
Japan |
1:56.35 |
Q |
| 4 |
3 |
Gregor Tait |
Great Britain |
1:56.72 |
Q |
| 5 |
7 |
Helge Meeuw |
Germany |
1:56.85 |
|
| 6 |
2 |
Ashley Delaney |
Australia |
1:57.73 |
|
| 7 |
8 |
Keith Beavers |
Canada |
1:58.50 |
|
| 8 |
1 |
George du Rand |
South Africa |
1:58.61 |
|
| Rank |
Lane |
Swimmer |
Time |
Notes |
| |
5 |
Ryan Lochte (USA) |
1:53.94 |
WR |
| |
4 |
Aaron Peirsol (USA) |
1:54.33 |
|
| |
8 |
Arkady Vyatchanin (RUS) |
1:54.93 |
ER |
| 4 |
3 |
Markus Rogan (AUT) |
1:55.49 |
|
| 5 |
6 |
Ryosuke Irie (JPN) |
1:55.72 |
|
| 6 |
1 |
Hayden Stoeckel (AUS) |
1:56.39 |
OC |
| 7 |
2 |
Razvan Ionut Florea (ROU) |
1:56.52 |
|
| 8 |
7 |
Gregor Tait (GBR) |
1:57.00 |
|
|
