Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke

The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]

Women's 100 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 10, 2008 (heats)
August 11, 2008(semifinals)
August 12, 2008 (final)
Competitors49 from 38 nations
Winning time58.96 AM
Medalists
Natalie Coughlin  United States
Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe
Margaret Hoelzer  United States

U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin set a lifetime best and an American record of 58.96 to defend her title in the event. Zimbabwe's new world record holder Kirsty Coventry added a second silver to her hardware from the 400 m individual medley two days earlier, in a time of 59.19. Coming from fifth place in the turn, Margaret Hoelzer continued her impressive form in the shorter backstroke to pick up a bronze in 59.34, handing the entire medal haul for Team USA in the pool.[2][3]

Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth narrowly missed the podium by a twenty-fifth of a second (0.04), posting a European record of 59.38 for a fourth-place finish. Russia's Anastasia Zuyeva finished fifth in a close race at 59.40, and was followed in the sixth spot by Japan's Reiko Nakamura in 59.72. France's Laure Manaudou (1:00.10), bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier, and Japanese Hanae Ito (1:00.18) rounded out the finale.[2]

Earlier in the prelims, Zuyeva, Nakamura, and Coventry scratched out Coughlin's existing Olympic record, as they went under a time of 59.68 to lead all seeded heats.[4] The following morning, in the semifinals, Coventry blitzed the field on the final lap to set a new world record of 58.77, breaking Coughlin's mark by two-tenths of a second (0.20).[5][6]

Records

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

World record Natalie Coughlin (USA)58.97Omaha, United States1 July 2008[7]
Olympic record Natalie Coughlin (USA)59.68Athens, Greece21 August 2004

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

DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
August 10Heat 5Anastasia Zuyeva Russia59.61OR
August 10Heat 6Reiko Nakamura Japan59.36OR
August 10Heat 7Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe59.00OR
August 11Semifinal 2Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe58.77WR, OR

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
175Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe59.00Q, OR
266Reiko Nakamura Japan59.36Q, AS
354Anastasia Zuyeva Russia59.61Q, EU
474Natalie Coughlin United States59.69Q
565Laure Manaudou France1:00.09Q
676Gemma Spofforth Great Britain1:00.11Q
764Margaret Hoelzer United States1:00.13Q
863Hanae Ito Japan1:00.16Q
955Emily Seebohm Australia1:00.27Q
1043Julia Wilkinson Canada1:00.38Q
1158Antje Buschschulte Germany1:00.48Q
1252Elizabeth Simmonds Great Britain1:00.53Q
1356Nina Zhivanevskaya Spain1:00.54Q
1453Sophie Edington Australia1:00.65Q
1571Elizabeth Coster New Zealand1:00.66Q
1661Kseniya Moskvina Russia1:00.70Q
1751Xu Tianlongzi China1:00.82
1877Fabíola Molina Brazil1:01.00
1933Carolina Colorado Colombia1:01.19NR
2044Melissa Ingram New Zealand1:01.24
2157Kateryna Zubkova Ukraine1:01.25
2262Sanja Jovanović Croatia1:01.30
2372Alexianne Castel France1:01.44
2478Nikolett Szepesi Hungary1:01.77
2532Anna Gostomelsky Israel1:01.87NR
2646Romina Armellini Italy1:02.21
48Anja Čarman Slovenia
2845Mercedes Peris Spain1:02.30
2931Sarah Sjöström Sweden1:02.38
3042Hanna-Maria Seppälä Finland1:02.39
3141Aisling Cooney Ireland1:02.50
3237Alana Dillette Bahamas1:02.56
3314Kiera Aitken Bermuda1:02.62
3434Tsai Hiu Wai Sherry Hong Kong1:02.68
3535Fernanda González Mexico1:02.76
3624Zuzanna Mazurek Poland1:02.77NR
3767Iryna Amshennikova Ukraine1:02.85
3825Gisela Morales Guatemala1:02.92
3936Petra Klosová Czech Republic1:03.36
4023Marica Strazmester Serbia1:03.56
4138Sarah Blake Bateman Iceland1:03.82
4268Christin Zenner Germany1:03.87
4327Erin Volcán Venezuela1:03.90
4426Kim Yu-yeon South Korea1:04.63
4522Yekaterina Rudenko Kazakhstan1:04.85
4615Maria Virginia Baez Paraguay1:05.39
4713Christie Bodden Panama1:07.18
73Zhao Jing ChinaDSQ
47Sviatlana Khakhlova BelarusDNS

Semifinal 1

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
15Natalie Coughlin United States59.43Q
24Reiko Nakamura Japan59.64Q
33Gemma Spofforth Great Britain59.79Q
46Hanae Ito Japan1:00.13Q
57Elizabeth Simmonds Great Britain1:00.39
62Julia Wilkinson Canada1:00.60
71Sophie Edington Australia1:01.05
88Kseniya Moskvina Russia1:01.06

Semifinal 2

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe58.77Q, WR
25Anastasia Zuyeva Russia59.77Q
36Margaret Hoelzer United States59.84Q
43Laure Manaudou France1:00.19Q
52Emily Seebohm Australia1:00.31
61Nina Zhivanevskaya Spain1:00.50
77Antje Buschschulte Germany1:01.15
88Elizabeth Coster New Zealand1:01.45

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
5 Natalie Coughlin United States 58.96AM
4 Kirsty Coventry Zimbabwe 59.19
7 Margaret Hoelzer United States 59.34
4 2 Gemma Spofforth Great Britain 59.38EU
5 6 Anastasia Zuyeva Russia 59.40
6 3 Reiko Nakamura Japan 59.72
7 8 Laure Manaudou France 1:00.10
8 1 Hanae Ito Japan 1:00.18

References

  1. "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. Lohn, John (11 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Natalie Coughlin Breaks 59, Wins 100 Back Gold in American Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  3. "Natalie Coughlin wins gold, Margaret Hoelzer wins bronze in 100m backstroke". Los Angeles Times. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  4. Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Olympic Record Times Three, Kirsty Coventry Leads Women's 100 Back Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe Grabs 100 Back World Record in Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  6. "Coventry sets world record in women's 100 backstroke". Los Angeles Times. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  7. Borzi, Pat (1 July 2008). "Natalie Coughlin again lowers backstroke record". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.