Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 50 metre freestyle
The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 3–4 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]
| Women's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | London Aquatics Centre | |||||||||
| Dates | August 3, 2012 (heats & semifinals) August 4, 2012 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 73 from 64 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 24.05 OR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Qualification | ||
| 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 |
| Marathon | ||
| 10 km | men | women |
Netherlands' Ranomi Kromowidjojo smashed a new Olympic record to strike a fourth sprint freestyle double in history, since East German Kristin Otto did so in 1988, her fellow countrywoman Inge de Bruijn in 2000, and Germany's defending champion Britta Steffen in 2008. She blistered the field with a sterling time and a textile best in 24.05 to slice off Steffen's previous Olympic record by a hundredth of a second (0.01).[2][3] Belarus' Aliaksandra Herasimenia added a second silver to her Olympic hardware in a national record of 24.28, while Kromowidjojo's teammate Marleen Veldhuis edged out the scorching Steffen (24.46) by 0.07 seconds to snatch the bronze in 24.39, handing over an entire medal haul for the Dutch squad with a one–three finish.[4][5]
Great Britain's home favorite Francesca Halsall finished behind Steffen by a fingertip with a fifth-place time in 24.47.[6] Meanwhile, Sweden's Therese Alshammar shook off a pinched nerve injury to officially compete in her fifth Olympics, but managed only to claim a sixth spot in 24.61.[5] U.S. swimmer Jessica Hardy (24.62) and the Bahamas' Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace (24.69) rounded out the field in a splash-and-dash finale.[5][7]
Notable swimmers missed the top-eight final including Aussie sisters Bronte and Cate Campbell, defending bronze medalist; and Halsall's teammate Amy Smith, who finished outside the roster by 16-hundredths of a second with a ninth-place time in 24.87.[8][9] Earlier on the morning prelims, Smith picked up a sixteenth spot in a most exciting three-way swim-off against U.S. sprinter Kara Lynn Joyce and Iceland's Sarah Blake Bateman after they each posted a matching time of 25.28.[10][11]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Britta Steffen (GER) | 23.73 | Rome, Italy | 2 August 2009 | [12][13] |
| Olympic record | Britta Steffen (GER) | 24.06 | Beijing, China | 17 August 2008 | [14] |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 4 | Final | Ranomi Kromowidjojo |  Netherlands | 24.05 | OR |
Results
Heats
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Qualification swim-off
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Amy Smith |  Great Britain | 24.82 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Kara Lynn Joyce |  United States | 25.16 | |
| 3 | 4 | Sarah Blake Bateman |  Iceland | 26.03 |
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Marleen Veldhuis | Netherlands | 24.50 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Britta Steffen | Germany | 24.57 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace |  Bahamas | 24.64 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 7 | Jessica Hardy | United States | 24.68 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Therese Alshammar |  Sweden | 24.71 | Q |
| 6 | 8 | Amy Smith | Great Britain | 24.87 | |
| 7 | 2 | Cate Campbell |  Australia | 25.01 | |
| 8 | 1 | Victoria Poon |  Canada | 25.17 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ranomi Kromowidjojo | Netherlands | 24.07 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Belarus | 24.45 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 5 | Francesca Halsall | Great Britain | 24.63 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Bronte Campbell | Australia | 24.94 | |
| 8 | Anna Santamans |  France | |||
| 6 | 6 | Jeanette Ottesen |  Denmark | 24.99 | |
| 7 | 7 | Sarah Sjöström | Sweden | 25.08 | |
| 8 | 1 | Theodora Drakou |  Greece | 25.28 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Ranomi Kromowidjojo | Netherlands | 24.05 | OR |
 | 5 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia | Belarus | 24.28 | NR |
 | 3 | Marleen Veldhuis | Netherlands | 24.39 | |
| 4 | 6 | Britta Steffen | Germany | 24.46 | |
| 5 | 2 | Francesca Halsall | Great Britain | 24.47 | |
| 6 | 8 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 24.61 | |
| 7 | 1 | Jessica Hardy | United States | 24.62 | |
| 8 | 7 | Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace | Bahamas | 24.69 |
References
- "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- Dillman, Lisa (4 August 2012). "London Olympics: Ranomi Kromowidjojo wins 50-meter freestyle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- "Swimming: Kromowidjojo wins 50m freestyle gold". Reuters. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- "Olympics swimming: Kromowidjojo wins 50m freestyle, Halsall fifth". BBC Sport. 4 August 2012. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- "2012 London Olympics: Ranomi Kromowidjojo Sweeps Sprint Freestyle With Olympic Record; Aliaksandra Herasimenia, Marleen Veldhuis Finish Silver-Bronze; Defending Champ Britta Steffen Fourth, Jessica Hardy Seventh". Swimming World Magazine. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- White, Duncan (4 August 2012). "London 2012 Olympics: more frustration for Fran Halsall who misses out on 50m freestyle medal". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- Reid, Scott (4 August 2012). "Swimming: Jessica Hardy seventh in 50 freestyle". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- "Campbell sisters qualify for semi-finals". ABC News Australia. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- Jones, Quinn (3 August 2012). "Sullivan finishes last in final". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- White, Duncan (3 August 2012). "Fran Halsall qualifies third for 50m freestyle semi-finals as she seeks to make amends at London 2012". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- "2012 London Olympics: The Netherlands Qualifies 1-2 in Women's 50 Free With Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Marleen Veldhuis On Top; Defending Champ Britta Steffen, Jessica Hardy Among Semifinalists". Swimming World Magazine. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- "Fifth gold for Phelps at swimming worlds". CNN. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- Bryan, Rebecca (3 August 2009). "Five-star Phelps ends worlds on golden note". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- "Steffen snatches gold in 50m free, Torres takes silver". ESPN. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- "Women's 50m Freestyle – Heats". London 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- "Women's 50m Freestyle – Qualification Swim-Off". London 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- "Women's 50m Freestyle – Semi-finals". London 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- "Women's 50m Freestyle – Final". London 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
