The Men's EAD 100 metre freestyle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games was held on 3 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 2:32.70 Stockholm, Sweden 5 August 2001 S2 2:10.48 Sydney, Australia 26 October 2000 S3 1:54.03 Greve, Denmark 11 March 2000 S4 1:25.92 Sydney, Australia 26 October 2000 S5 1:17.21 Spain 27 July 2002 S6 1:08.10 Sydney, Australia 26 October 2000 S7 1:02.62 S8 1:01.47 S9 58.62 Sydney, Australia 25 October 2000 S10 53.84 S11 56.67 Gothenburg, Sweden 9 August 1986 S12 56.22 New York City, United States 18 June 1984 S13 55.69

The following records were established during the competition: Date Event Class Name Nationality Time Result Record 3 August Heats S3 Kenneth Cairns 1:57.77 +3.74 GR 3 August Heats S6 Gareth Duke 1:18.08 +9.98 GR 3 August Heats S7 David Roberts 1:02.77 +0.15 GR 3 August Final S7 David Roberts 1:02.50 -0.12 WR 3 August Heats S8 Ben Austin 1:00.27 -1.20 WR 3 August Final S8 Ben Austin 1:00.21 -1.26 WR 3 August Heats S8 Kong Thye Kwong 1:26.33 +24.86 GR 3 August Heats S9 James Crisp 1:00.44 +1.82 GR 3 August Heats S10 Benoît Huot 55.25 +1.41 GR 3 August Final S10 Benoît Huot 53.76 -0.08 WR 3 August Heats S10 Philippe Gagnon 54.64 +0.80 GR 3 August Heats S11 Ou Dona 1:36.04 +39.37 GR 3 August Heats S12 Darren Leach 58.34 +2.12 GR 3 August Final S12 Darren Leach 57.60 +1.38 GR 3 August Heats S13 Scott Field 55.03 -0.66 WR

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 1:00.27 -1.20 Q, WR 2 3 5 S13 55.03 -0.66 Q, WR 3 1 3 S7 1:02.77 +0.15 Q, GR 4 3 4 S10 54.64 +0.80 Q, GR 5 2 4 S10 55.25 +1.41 Q, GR 6 1 5 S9 1:00.44 +1.82 Q, GR 7 1 4 S12 58.34 +2.12 Q, GR 8 2 5 S12 59.93 +3.71 Q 9 3 1 S3 1:57.77 +3.74 GR 10 2 6 S7 1:06.71 +4.09 11 1 6 S7 1:09.25 +6.63 12 1 2 S6 1:18.08 +9.98 GR 13 3 7 S6 1:23.84 +15.74 14 3 2 S12 1:12.24 +16.02 15 2 2 S10 1:18.26 +24.42 16 2 7 S8 1:26.33 +24.86 GR 17 1 7 S11 1:36.04 +39.37 GR

Final The final was held on 3 August at 20:25. Rank Lane Name Class Nation Time Result Notes 4 S8 1:00.21 -1.26 WR 5 S13 55.12 -0.57 3 S7 1:02.50 -0.12 WR 4 2 S10 53.76 -0.08 WR 5 6 S10 54.65 +0.81 6 1 S12 57.60 +1.38 GR 7 7 S9 1:00.88 +2.26 8 8 S12 1:00.25 +4.03

References