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

The women's 200-metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 18–19 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney.[1]

Women's 200-metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad
VenueSydney International Aquatic Centre
Date18 September 2000 (heats &
semi-finals)
19 September 2000 (final)
Competitors41 from 35 nations
Winning time1:58.24
Medalists
Susie O'Neill  Australia
Martina Moravcová  Slovakia
Claudia Poll  Costa Rica

Australia's overwhelming favorite Susie O'Neill, dubbed as Madame Butterfly, gave the home crowd a further reason to celebrate, as she claimed the gold medal in the event. Rocketed to the boisterous chants of "Susie, Susie" by her swimming fans, O'Neill held off a challenge from Slovakia's Martina Moravcová to strengthen her lead on the final lap before hitting the wall first in 1:58.24.[2][3] Moravcova trailed behind by a small fraction of a second to capture another silver at these Games in 1:58.32, while Costa Rica's Claudia Poll, defending Olympic champion, added a second bronze to her hardware from the 400 m freestyle, in a sterling time of 1:58.81.[4][5][6]

Russia's Nadezhda Chemezova and Germany's Kerstin Kielgass tied for fourth place in a matching time of 1:58.86, finishing off the podium by just five-hundredths of a second (0.05). Belarus' Natalya Baranovskaya pulled off a sixth-place finish in a national record of 1:59.28, while Romania's Camelia Potec (1:59.46) and China's Wang Luna (1:59.55) closed out the field.[6]

Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring world-record holder Franziska van Almsick, who faded shortly on the final lap and finished eleventh in the semi-finals; South Africa's Helene Muller, who posted a second-fastest prelims time (1:59.89) earlier but ended up only in ninth; and American duo Lindsay Benko and Rada Owen, both of whom earned a twelfth and a sixteenth spot, respectively.[7]

Shortly after the Games, O'Neill announced her retirement from swimming, and was elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission, along with ten other athletes.[8][9]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record Franziska van Almsick (GER)1:56.78Rome, Italy6 September 1994[10]
Olympic record Heike Friedrich (GDR)1:57.65Seoul, South Korea21 September 1988[10]

Results

Heats

[10]

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
164Susie O'Neill Australia1:59.14Q
242Helene Muller South Africa1:59.89Q, AF
354Claudia Poll Costa Rica2:00.11Q
465Lindsay Benko United States2:00.13Q
544Camelia Potec Romania2:00.18Q
666Kerstin Kielgaß Germany2:00.25Q
755Franziska van Almsick Germany2:00.37Q
845Martina Moravcová Slovakia2:00.46Q
956Nadezhda Chemezova Russia2:00.47Q
1043Natalya Baranovskaya Belarus2:00.58Q
1161Carla Geurts Netherlands2:00.60Q
1263Wang Luna China2:00.89Q
1353Giaan Rooney Australia2:00.99Q
1448Mandy Leach Zimbabwe2:01.05Q, NR
1557Rada Owen United States2:01.10Q
1641Sara Parise Italy2:01.31Q
1752Yang Yu China2:01.34
1862Jessica Deglau Canada2:01.42
47Karen Pickering Great Britain
2046Solenne Figuès France2:01.46
2131Rania Elwani Egypt2:01.93NR
2251Nina van Koeckhoven Belgium2:02.15
2368Laura Nicholls Canada2:02.69
2458Laura Roca Spain2:03.37
2532Zoi Dimoschaki Greece2:04.06
2635Olena Lapunova Ukraine2:04.39
2725Lára Hrund Bjargardóttir Iceland2:05.22
2834Chantal Gibney Ireland2:05.24
2926Vesna Stojanovska Macedonia2:05.58
3038Pilin Tachakittiranan Thailand2:05.88
3133Elina Partõka Estonia2:05.90
3236Tsai Shu-min Chinese Taipei2:06.12
3337Roh Joo-hee South Korea2:07.21
3427Ivanka Moralieva Bulgaria2:07.61
3523Anna Korshikova Kyrgyzstan2:08.08
3622Petra Banović Croatia2:08.30
3714Nisha Millet India2:08.89
3815Pamela Vásquez Honduras2:15.83
3913Marella Mamoun Syria2:18.78
24Florencia Szigeti ArgentinaDSQ
67Karen Legg Great BritainDNS

Semi-final 1

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
16Martina Moravcová Slovakia1:59.75Q
23Kerstin Kielgaß Germany1:59.78Q
32Natalya Baranovskaya Belarus1:59.90Q, NR
47Wang Luna China1:59.97Q
54Helene Muller South Africa2:00.04
68Sara Parise Italy2:00.07
75Lindsay Benko United States2:00.27
81Mandy Leach Zimbabwe2:00.60

Semi-final 2

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14Susie O'Neill Australia1:59.37Q
23Camelia Potec Romania1:59.54Q
35Claudia Poll Costa Rica1:59.63Q
42Nadezhda Chemezova Russia1:59.69Q
56Franziska van Almsick Germany2:00.26
61Giaan Rooney Australia2:00.84
77Carla Geurts Netherlands2:00.88
88Rada Owen United States2:03.34

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
4Susie O'Neill Australia1:58.24
2Martina Moravcová Slovakia1:58.32
3Claudia Poll Costa Rica1:58.81
46Nadezhda Chemezova Russia1:58.86
7Kerstin Kielgaß Germany
61Natalya Baranovskaya Belarus1:59.28NR
75Camelia Potec Romania1:59.46
88Wang Luna China1:59.55

References

  1. "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. "O'Neill strikes gold for Australia". BBC Sport. 19 September 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  3. "Aussies rule relays". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  4. "Malchow sets Olympic record in 200 fly". Canoe.ca. 18 September 2000. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  5. Longman, Jere (20 September 2000). "Sydney 2000: Swimming; Malchow Lies Low, Then Rockets To the Wall". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  6. Whitten, Phillip (19 September 2000). "Olympic Day 4 Finals". Swimming World. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  7. Whitten, Phillip (18 September 2000). "Olympic Day 3 Finals (100 Breast, 100 Back M, 100 Back W, 200 Free)". Swimming World. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  8. "Susie O'Neill Hangs Up Her Swim Suit". Swimming World. 23 November 2000. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  9. "Swimming star O'Neill retires". BBC Sport. 22 November 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  10. "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 200m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 186–187. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
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