Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke
| Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | ||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming events at the 2000 Summer Olympics  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were:
| World record |  Penny Heyns (RSA) | 2:23.64 | Sydney, Australia | 27 August 1999 | [11] |
| Olympic record | Penny Heyns (RSA) | 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 |  Hungary | 2:24.92 | OR |
| 20 September | Semifinal 1 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:24.03 | OR |
Results
Heats
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Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kristy Kowal |  United States | 2:25.46 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 2:25.54 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Luo Xuejuan |  China | 2:25.86 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Karine Brémond |  France | 2:27.86 | |
| 5 | 3 | Caroline Hildreth |  Australia | 2:28.30 | |
| 6 | 2 | Ku Hyo-Jin |  South Korea | 2:28.50 | |
| 7 | 1 | Anne Poleska |  Germany | 2:28.99 | |
| 8 | 8 | Junko Isoda |  Japan | 2:31.71 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:24.03 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 5 | Qi Hui | China | 2:24.21 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 2 | Olga Bakaldina |  Russia | 2:25.41 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 3 | Masami Tanaka | Japan | 2:26.24 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Amanda Beard | United States | 2:26.62 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Christin Petelski |  Canada | 2:29.43 | |
| 7 | 7 | Rebecca Brown | Australia | 2:29.90 | |
| 8 | 8 | Alicja Pęczak |  Poland | 2:30.02 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:24.35 | |
 | 6 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 2:24.56 | AM |
 | 8 | Amanda Beard | United States | 2:25.35 | |
| 4 | 5 | Qi Hui | China | 2:25.36 | |
| 5 | 3 | Olga Bakaldina | Russia | 2:25.47 | |
| 6 | 2 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 2:25.72 | |
| 7 | 1 | Masami Tanaka | Japan | 2:26.98 | |
| 8 | 7 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 2:27.33 |
References
- ↑ "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.
- 1 2 Whitten, Phillip (21 September 2000). "Olympic Day 6 Finals". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- 1 2 Whitten, Phillip (20 September 2000). "Olympic Day 5 Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. 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. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
- ↑ "Sydney 2000: Notebook; Krayzelburg Favored; Thompson a Long Shot". New York Times. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 200m Breaststroke Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 269–270. Retrieved 19 June 2013.