The men's 50 metre freestyle competition of the 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) was held on 10 and 11 April 2008 at the Manchester Arena.
The event was won by the defending champion Croatian Duje Draganja in a new world record time of 20.81 seconds, breaking the previous mark set by Sweden's Stefan Nystrand six months earlier by 0.12 seconds. Swimming in lane 1 in the final, Draganja also broke the championship record of 21.31 set by Cullen Jones of the United States in Shanghai in 2006.
Great Britain's Mark Foster won the silver medal, finishing a half a second behind Draganja while Gerhard Zandberg of South Africa finished third in 21.33.
Records Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows. Name Nation Time Location Date World record Stefan Nystrand 20.93 Berlin 18 November 2007 Championship record Cullen Jones 21.31 Shanghai 6 April 2006
Results Heats Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 12 8 21.44 Q 2 13 4 21.60 Q 3 6 1 21.61 Q 4 14 4 21.67 Q 12 6 21.77 Q 14 1 7 14 8 21.81 Q 8 12 1 21.88 Q 9 9 5 21.89 Q 11 3 21.92 Q 13 5 12 12 4 21.98 Q 13 14 2 22.00 Q 14 10 2 22.03 Q 12 5 22.06 Q 14 5 17 12 2 22.11 18 12 3 22.20 19 13 2 22.21 20 13 7 22.23 21 14 7 22.24 22 13 3 22.25 13 6 22.32 14 3 25 10 3 22.34 26 11 8 22.37 27 9 4 22.38 28 14 6 22.44 29 9 1 22.56 30 10 8 22.61 31 11 7 22.64 32 10 4 22.70 33 11 1 22.79 9 3 22.87 10 6 36 11 2 22.93 37 12 7 Huang Shaohua 22.94 38 11 6 22.97 39 5 1 23.08 40 9 8 23.12 41 10 1 23.14 42 8 1 23.19 43 10 7 23.25 44 8 6 23.30 45 10 5 Lao Kuan Fong 23.31 46 9 7 23.59 47 9 6 23.62 48 13 1 Lü Zhiwu 23.89 49 9 2 Yuan Ping 23.90 50 8 3 23.93 51 7 3 23.94 52 1 4 23.96 53 8 8 24.00 7 2 24.03 8 5 56 7 5 24.16 57 6 5 24.35 58 8 4 24.41 59 8 7 24.45 60 7 8 24.50 61 7 6 24.59 62 7 1 24.77 63 4 6 24.80 64 5 5 24.86 65 6 4 24.88 66 6 6 24.90 67 5 3 24.95 68 6 7 24.96 69 6 2 24.98 70 4 5 25.03 71 4 7 25.05 72 6 3 25.07 5 2 25.14 6 8 75 4 4 25.23 76 5 4 25.29 77 4 1 25.32 78 4 3 Chong Cheok Kuan 25.43 79 4 2 25.50 80 5 8 25.60 81 5 6 25.67 82 3 7 25.75 83 2 6 25.80 84 5 7 26.03 85 3 4 26.34 86 7 7 26.39 87 3 6 26.40 88 3 3 26.59 89 3 5 26.72 90 3 2 26.74 91 4 8 26.99 92 2 2 27.70 93 3 8 28.10 94 3 1 28.49 95 2 1 30.92 96 1 6 34.21 1 3 1 5 2 3 2 5 2 7 2 8 7 4 8 2 11 4 13 8 2 4 11 5
Semifinals The semifinals were held at 19:53. Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 1 4 21.32 Q 2 2 1 21.43 Q 3 2 5 21.46 Q 4 2 4 21.55 Q 5 2 3 21.57 Q 6 2 6 21.58 Q 7 1 5 21.63 Q 8 1 7 21.72 Q 1 3 21.77 2 7 11 2 8 21.80 12 2 2 21.85 13 1 1 21.90 1 8 21.97 1 6 1 2
Finals The final was held at 20:50. Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 20.81 4 21.31 8 21.33 4 3 21.44 5 5 21.48 6 2 21.68 7 7 21.74 8 6 21.77
References