Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke
Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | ||||||||||||
Date | September 20, 2000 (heats & semifinals) September 21, 2000 (final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 36 from 30 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 2:24.35 | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics | ||
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Freestyle | ||
50 m | men | women |
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | women | |
1500 m | men | |
Backstroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Breaststroke | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Butterfly | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
Individual medley | ||
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
Freestyle relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
4 × 200 m | men | women |
Medley relay | ||
4 × 100 m | men | women |
The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
Charging back from third at the 150-metre turn, Hungary's Ágnes Kovács edged out U.S. swimmer Kristy Kowal on the final stretch to capture the gold in 2:24.35.[2][3] Kowal, who seized off a powerful lead from the start, took home the silver in a new American record of 2:24.56. Her teammate Amanda Beard, silver medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate as she enjoyed the race to move up from eighth after the semifinals for the bronze in 2:25.35, holding off a fast-pacing Qi Hui of China (2:25.36) by a hundredth of a second (0.01).[4][5]
Qi was followed in fifth by Russia's Olga Bakaldina (2:25.47) and in sixth by South Africa's Sarah Poewe (2:25.72), fourth-place finalist in the 100 m breaststroke. Japan's Masami Tanaka (2:26.98) and Qi's teammate Luo Xuejuan (2:27.33) closed out the field.[5]
World record holder Penny Heyns missed a chance to defend her Olympic title in the event, after helplessly winding up a twentieth-place effort in the prelims at 2:30.17.[6] Shortly after the Games, she made a decision to officially announce her retirement from international swimming.[7][8]
Earlier, Kovacs established a new Olympic standard of 2:24.92 on the morning prelims to clear a 2:25-barrier and cut off Heyns' record by almost half a second (0.50).[6] Following by an evening session, she eventually lowered it to 2:24.03 in the semifinals.[9][10]
Records
[edit]Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were:
World record | ![]() |
2:23.64 | Sydney, Australia | 27 August 1999 | [11] |
Olympic record | ![]() |
2:25.41 | Atlanta, United States | 23 July 1996 | [11] |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 September | Heat 5 | Ágnes Kovács | ![]() |
2:24.92 | OR |
20 September | Semifinal 1 | Ágnes Kovács | ![]() |
2:24.03 | OR |
Results
[edit]Heats
[edit]Semifinals
[edit]Semifinal 1
[edit]Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Kristy Kowal | ![]() |
2:25.46 | Q |
2 | 6 | Sarah Poewe | ![]() |
2:25.54 | Q |
3 | 7 | Luo Xuejuan | ![]() |
2:25.86 | Q |
4 | 5 | Karine Brémond | ![]() |
2:27.86 | |
5 | 3 | Caroline Hildreth | ![]() |
2:28.30 | |
6 | 2 | Ku Hyo-Jin | ![]() |
2:28.50 | |
7 | 1 | Anne Poleska | ![]() |
2:28.99 | |
8 | 8 | Junko Isoda | ![]() |
2:31.71 |
Semifinal 2
[edit]Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Ágnes Kovács | ![]() |
2:24.03 | Q, OR, NR |
2 | 5 | Qi Hui | ![]() |
2:24.21 | Q, NR |
3 | 2 | Olga Bakaldina | ![]() |
2:25.41 | Q, NR |
4 | 3 | Masami Tanaka | ![]() |
2:26.24 | Q |
5 | 6 | Amanda Beard | ![]() |
2:26.62 | Q |
6 | 1 | Christin Petelski | ![]() |
2:29.43 | |
7 | 7 | Rebecca Brown | ![]() |
2:29.90 | |
8 | 8 | Alicja Pęczak | ![]() |
2:30.02 |
Final
[edit]Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
4 | Ágnes Kovács | ![]() |
2:24.35 | |
![]() |
6 | Kristy Kowal | ![]() |
2:24.56 | AM |
![]() |
8 | Amanda Beard | ![]() |
2:25.35 | |
4 | 5 | Qi Hui | ![]() |
2:25.36 | |
5 | 3 | Olga Bakaldina | ![]() |
2:25.47 | |
6 | 2 | Sarah Poewe | ![]() |
2:25.72 | |
7 | 1 | Masami Tanaka | ![]() |
2:26.98 | |
8 | 7 | Luo Xuejuan | ![]() |
2:27.33 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ Berlin, Peter (22 September 2000). "De Bruijn Takes Second Gold; Hungarian and Italian Also Triumph : European Swimmers Steal the Show". New York Times. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
- ^ "Back again: American Krayzelburg wins 200-meter backstroke". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 18 September 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ Morrissey, Rick (22 September 2000). "Krayzelburg's Gold Leads U.S. Bonanza". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ a b Whitten, Phillip (21 September 2000). "Olympic Day 6 Finals". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ a b Whitten, Phillip (20 September 2000). "Olympic Day 5 Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ "Calling it quits". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 29 March 2001. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ Lord, Craig (20 September 2000). "Heyns Retires". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ Whitten, Phillip (19 September 2000). "Olympic Day 5 Finals". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
- ^ "Sydney 2000: Notebook; Krayzelburg Favored; Thompson a Long Shot". New York Times. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ a b c "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 200m Breaststroke Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 269–270. Retrieved 19 June 2013.