Paris Olympics, Day 5 Prelims: Roman Mityukov Top Seed in 200 Back After Luke Greenbank’s Dramatic DQ

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Roman Mityukov -- Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

Paris Olympics, Day 5 Prelims: Roman Mityukov Top Seed in 200 Back After Luke Greenbank’s Dramatic DQ

For the first time at the Paris Olympics, a key disqualification has rocked the pool as Great Britain’s Luke Greenbank, seemingly the top qualifier out of the men’s 200 backstroke heats was hit with a 15-meter violation on his start, preventing him from advancing. That delivered the top seed to Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov, who was one of three swimmers to break 1:57 in the morning session.

Mityukov, who won bronze in the event at the 2023 World Championships and silver at the little-attended edition in February of this year, put up a time of 1:56.62 to edge out 2016 gold medalist Ryan Murphy of the United States in heat three. Mityukov will try to become only the fourth Swiss swimmer to ever win an Olympic medal. Previously, Etienne Dagon won 200 breaststroke bronze in 1984 while the last Games in Tokyo saw Jeremy Desplanches take third in the 200 IM and Noe Ponti match that result in the 200 fly.

As for Greenbank, the disqualification was a heartbreaking result in an attempted comeback to high-level swimming. The 26-year-old led off Britain’s silver-medal-winning 400 medley relay squad in Tokyo and won bronze in the 200 back, and he claimed World Championships silver one year later. However, Greenbank did not qualify for major international competition in 2023, and while time away from the sport brought him back to a strong level, but because of the violation, he was unable to capitalize and earn a second swim at the Olympics.

World Record: Aaron Peirsol, USA – 1:51.92 (2009)
Olympic Record: Evgeny Rylov, ROC – 1:53.27 (2021)
Tokyo Olympic Champion: Evgeny Rylov, ROC – 1:53.27

The No. 2 seed was Germany’s Lukas Martens, the gold medalist in the 400 free earlier this week and a finalist in the 200 free. Martens will make a medal run in what was previously considered an off-event after clocking 1:56.89 in prelims.

The winner of the heat two was 20-year-old South African Pieter Coetze, the World Champs bronze medalist in February who began his Olympic career with a fifth-place finish and a pair of African records in the 100 back. Coetze never trailed in his heat as he cruised to the wall in 1:56.92, holding off Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez. After getting under 1:55 for the first time last month, Gonzalez entered as a medal favorite for the first time, and he clocked 1:57.08 for the sixth spot in prelims.

Hubert Kos, the Hungarian who came from behind to win the world title in the event last year, swam well behind his heat in prelims and flipped eighth at all three turns, but he turned on the gas on the last 50 to move on in the fourth spot at 1:57.01. Kos previously led the way in the 100 back prelims but struggled in semifinals and did not qualify in the top-eight.

The semifinals will have a distinct California flavor as three Golden Bears swimmers moved on: Murphy finished hard to clock 1:57.03 for fifth place overall, one spot clear of longtime teammate Gonzalez. The other American in this race, meanwhile, is Keaton Jones, who finished second to Murphy at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1:57.54. Jones was well off that time in his Olympic debut, but he got through in the 11th position in 1:57.39.

Kos’ Hungarian teammate Hungary’s Adam Telegdy was the last man to move on, as he clocked 1:57.98, three hundredths ahead of Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk (1:58.01). Two Greek swimmers advanced with Apostolos Christou (1:57.18) and Apostolos Siskos (1:57.26), and two Frenchmen, Mewen Tomac (1:57.54) and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (1:57.92), also moved on. The second British swimmer, Oliver Morgan, qualified 12th (1:57.56).

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