The Men's EAD 50 metre freestyle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games was held on 1 August at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Classification The events were run on a multi-disability format, which included both physically disabled and visually impaired swimmers i.e. the International Paralympic Committee’s Swimming Classification S1 – S13.

Classes S1 – S10 are allocated to swimmers with a physical disability ranging from swimmers with a severe disability (S1) to those with a minimal disability (S10). Classes S11 – S13 are allocated to swimmers with a visual impairment ranging from swimmers with no vision or may have light perception (S11) to those with some visual acuity (S13).

Format All classes, 1 through 13 swan together in 3 heats and a final event. Positions were determined by each athlete’s time relative to the current world record for the appropriate classification of the swimmer. This may have meant that the swimmer touching first may not have been the winner.

World records were time standardised to identify both the finalists and medal winners throughout the competition. This meant that the same ‘time marker’ was used in the heats and the final irrespective of whether the world record had been broken during the course of competition.

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world records were as follows; Class Name Time Location Date S1 1:11.30 Stockholm, Sweden 31 July 2001 S2 1:10.11 Sydney, Australia 27 October 2000 S3 49.03 Sydney, Australia 27 October 2000 S4 38.84 Sydney, Australia 27 October 2000 S5 33.33 Spain 26 July 2002 S6 31.26 Atlanta, United States 25 August 1996 S7 28.58 Sydney, Australia 28 October 2000 S8 27.93 S9 26.36 Sydney, Australia 28 October 2000 S10 25.04 Winnipeg, Canada 24 March 2002 S11 25.96 New York, United States 1 January 1987 S12 25.79 Sydney, Australia 28 October 2000 S13 24.67 Sydney, Australia 28 October 2000

The following records were established during the competition: Date Event Class Name Nationality Time Result Record 1 August Heats S5 Chee Kin Wong 47.34 +13.20 GR 1 August Heats S6 Yusup Dewa 37.31 +6.05 GR 1 August Heats S6 Andreas Potamitis 35.74 +4.48 GR 1 August Heats S7 Alex Harris 29.50 +0.92 GR 1 August Final S7 David Roberts 28.71 +0.13 GR 1 August Heats S8 Ben Austin 27.48 −0.45 WR 1 August Heats S9 Aidan McGlynn 28.88 +2.52 GR 1 August Heats S10 Philippe Gagnon 25.41 +0.37 GR 1 August Heats S10 Benoit Huot 25.23 +0.19 GR 1 August Final S10 Philippe Gagnon 25.04 0.00 GR 1 August Heats S11 Ou Dona 40.74 +14.78 GR 1 August Heats S12 Darren Leach 26.10 +0.31 GR 1 August Final S12 25.91 +0.12 GR 1 August Heats S13 Scott Field 26.09 +1.42 GR

Results Heats The 8 fastest swimmers in the heats qualified for the semifinals.

Rank Heat Lane Name Class Nationality Time Result Notes 1 3 3 S8 27.48 −0.45 Q, WR, GR 2 2 6 S7 28.75 +0.17 Q, GR 3 3 4 S10 25.23 +0.19 Q, GR 4 1 4 S12 26.10 +0.31 Q, GR 5 2 4 S10 25.41 +0.37 Q, GR 6 2 5 S12 26.35 +0.56 Q 7 1 6 S7 29.50 +0.92 Q, GR 3 6 S7 29.50 Q 9 2 3 S12 27.21 +1.42 3 5 S13 26.09 GR 11 1 3 S9 28.88 +2.52 GR 12 2 2 S7 31.52 +2.94 13 1 5 S10 28.03 +2.99 GR 14 3 2 S10 29.34 +4.30 15 3 7 S6 35.74 +4.48 GR 16 2 7 S12 31.27 +5.48 17 1 7 S6 37.31 +6.05 GR 18 1 2 S10 36.11 +11.07 19 1 1 S5 47.34 +13.20 GR 20 2 1 S6 44.90 +13.64 21 3 1 S11 40.74 +14.78 GR

Final The final was held on 1 August at 19:37. Rank Lane Name Class Nation Time Result Notes 4 S8 27.59 −0.34 2 S10 25.04 0.00 GR 3 S10 25.07 +0.03 GR4 6 S12 25.91 +0.12 GR5 5 S7 28.71 +0.13 GR6 1 S7 29.00 +0.42 7 7 S12 26.55 +0.76 8 8 S7 29.55 +0.97

References