seventh-place finisher Mirko Mazzari of Italy. The medalists at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships had been Lenny Krayzelburg of the United States, Ralf Braun of Germany, and Mark Versfeld of Canada. Krazyelburg and Braun were competing in Sydney; Versfeld was not. The Dominican Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Slovenia, and Ukraine each made their debut in the event. Australia and Great Britain each made their 10th appearance, tied for most among nations to that point. Competition format The competition altered the format that had been used since 1984. The tournament expanded to three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. Instead of having the top 16 swimmers divided into a Final A for the top 8 and Final B for 9th through 16th, as was done in from 1984 to 1996, the 2000 competition added semifinals. The top 16 swimmers from the heats competed in the new semifinals. The top 8 semifinalists advanced to the final (there was no longer a classification final for 9th through 16th). Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties. This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool. Records Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition, with Krayzelburg setting a new Olympic record each time he swam. All three medalists swam faster than the old Olympic record. Schedule The expansion of the event to three rounds also resulted in the event now taking place over two days instead of a single day. All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10) Results Heats Krayzelburg had the fastest time in the heats, setting a new Olympic record. Semifinals Final References External links Official Olympic Report B 200 metre backstroke at the Olympics Men's events at the 2000 Summer Olympics