He stormed home on the final lap to establish a new Olympic standard of 1:00.46, cutting off Frédérik Deburghgraeve's 1996 record by 0.14 seconds.

[2] U.S. swimmer Ed Moses enjoyed a strong lead on the first length of the pool, but ended up only with a silver in 1:00.73.

[3][4] Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, who later emerged as the world's top breaststroke swimmer of the decade, pulled off a fourth-place finish in 1:01.34.

Czech Republic's Daniel Málek earned a fifth spot in a national record of 1:01.50, and was followed in sixth by Canada's Morgan Knabe with a time of 1:01.58.

[4] Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring four-time Olympians Károly Güttler of Hungary and Mark Warnecke of Germany, Australia's overwhelming favorite Phil Rogers, and New Zealand's Steven Ferguson, the son of former Olympic champion Ian Ferguson, who later became one of the most successful kayakers in the sport.