Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

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]

Women's 200 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad
VenueSydney International Aquatic Centre
DateSeptember 20, 2000 (heats &
semifinals)
September 21, 2000 (final)
Competitors36 from 30 nations
Winning time2:24.35
Medalists
Ágnes Kovács  Hungary
Kristy Kowal  United States
Amanda Beard  United States
Swimming at the
2000 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4×100 mmenwomen
4×200 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4×100 mmenwomen

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

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were:

World record Penny Heyns (RSA)2:23.64Sydney, Australia27 August 1999[11]
Olympic record Penny Heyns (RSA)2:25.41Atlanta, United States23 July 1996[11]

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
20 SeptemberHeat 5Ágnes Kovács Hungary2:24.92OR
20 SeptemberSemifinal 1Ágnes Kovács Hungary2:24.03OR

Results

Heats

[11]

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
155Ágnes Kovács Hungary2:24.92Q, OR
234Kristy Kowal United States2:26.73Q
345Qi Hui China2:26.76Q
442Karine Brémond France2:27.13Q, NR
544Masami Tanaka Japan2:27.39Q
643Beatrice Căslaru Romania2:27.59Q, WD
746Caroline Hildreth Australia2:27.60Q
833Amanda Beard United States2:27.83Q
935Sarah Poewe South Africa2:27.84Q
1053Olga Bakaldina Russia2:28.19Q
1148Ku Hyo-jin South Korea2:28.21Q, NR
1247Rebecca Brown Australia2:28.24Q
1356Luo Xuejuan China2:28.43Q
1451Christin Petelski Canada2:29.11Q
1536Anne Poleska Germany2:29.15Q
1657Alicja Pęczak Poland2:29.45Q
1752Junko Isoda Japan2:29.60Q
1832Ina Hüging Germany2:30.00
1941Elvira Fischer Austria2:30.05
2054Penny Heyns South Africa2:30.17
2131Brigitte Becue Belgium2:31.27
2258Agata Czaplicki Switzerland2:32.98
2337Jaime King Great Britain2:33.10
2428İlkay Dikmen Turkey2:33.34NR
2515Isabel Ceballos Colombia2:34.09
2624Inna Nikitina Ukraine2:34.20
2722Siow Yi Ting Malaysia2:34.52NR
2823Margarita Kalmikova Latvia2:35.69
2925Adriana Marmolejo Mexico2:36.93
3027Nicolette Teo Singapore2:37.39
3114Jenny Rose Guerrero Philippines2:38.10
3226Íris Edda Heimisdóttir Iceland2:38.52
3313Olga Moltchanova Kyrgyzstan2:41.43
3421Imaday Nuñez Gonzalez Cuba2:41.97
3516Anastasiya Korolyova Uzbekistan2:43.23
38Lourdes Becerra SpainDNS

Semifinal 1
RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14Kristy Kowal United States2:25.46Q
26Sarah Poewe South Africa2:25.54Q
37Luo Xuejuan China2:25.86Q
45Karine Brémond France2:27.86
53Caroline Hildreth Australia2:28.30
62Ku Hyo-Jin South Korea2:28.50
71Anne Poleska Germany2:28.99
88Junko Isoda Japan2:31.71

Semifinal 2
RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14Ágnes Kovács Hungary2:24.03Q, OR
25Qi Hui China2:24.21Q, NR
32Olga Bakaldina Russia2:25.41Q, NR
43Masami Tanaka Japan2:26.24Q
56Amanda Beard United States2:26.62Q
61Christin Petelski Canada2:29.43
77Rebecca Brown Australia2:29.90
88Alicja Pęczak Poland2:30.02

Final
RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
4Ágnes Kovács Hungary2:24.35
6Kristy Kowal United States2:24.56AM
8Amanda Beard United States2:25.35
45Qi Hui China2:25.36
53Olga Bakaldina Russia2:25.47
62Sarah Poewe South Africa2:25.72
71Masami Tanaka Japan2:26.98
87Luo Xuejuan China2:27.33

References
  1. "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. 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.
  3. "Back again: American Krayzelburg wins 200-meter backstroke". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 18 September 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  4. Morrissey, Rick (22 September 2000). "Krayzelburg's Gold Leads U.S. Bonanza". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  5. Whitten, Phillip (21 September 2000). "Olympic Day 6 Finals". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  6. Whitten, Phillip (20 September 2000). "Olympic Day 5 Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  7. "Calling it quits". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 29 March 2001. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  8. Lord, Craig (20 September 2000). "Heyns Retires". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  9. Whitten, Phillip (19 September 2000). "Olympic Day 5 Finals". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  10. "Sydney 2000: Notebook; Krayzelburg Favored; Thompson a Long Shot". New York Times. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  11. "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 200m Breaststroke Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 269–270. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
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