Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre freestyle
| Women's 200 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | ||||||||||
| Venue | London Aquatics Centre | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | July 30, 2012 (heats & semifinals) July 31, 2012 (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 37 from 31 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 1:53.61 OR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2012 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 | ||
| Marathon | ||||
| 10 km | men | women | ||
The women's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 30–31 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]
U.S. swimmer Allison Schmitt blasted a new Olympic record with a stunning effort to capture the gold medal in the event for the first time, since Nicole Haislett topped the podium in 1992. She pulled away from a tightly-packed field on the final lap to hit the wall first in a sterling time of 1:53.61, shaving 1.21 seconds off the record set by Italy's Federica Pellegrini from Beijing in 2008.[2][3] After defeating Schmitt in a close duel to grab the 400 m freestyle title two days earlier, France's Camille Muffat trailed behind her rival by almost a body length for the silver in 1:55.58.[4] Meanwhile, Australia's Bronte Barratt produced a striking touch to take home the bronze in 1:55.81, edging out American teenage star Missy Franklin by a hundredth of a second.[5][6][7]
Franklin missed a chance to add her third career medal with a fourth-place time in 1:55.82, while Pellegrini, the defending Olympic champion, dropped off the podium to fifth in 1:56.73.[8][9] Russia's Veronika Popova (1:57.25), Great Britain's home favorite Caitlin McClatchey (1:57.60) and Barratt's teammate Kylie Palmer (1:57.68) closed out the field.[5][7]
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top-eight final roster including Slovenia's Sara Isaković, the defending silver medalist, who placed fourteenth (1:58.47) in the semifinals; and Romania's Camelia Potec, a four-time Olympian and 2004 Olympic champion, who posted a twenty-fifth place time (2:01.15) on the morning prelims.[10]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Federica Pellegrini (ITA) | 1:52.98 | Rome, Italy | 29 July 2009 | [11][12] |
| Olympic record | Federica Pellegrini (ITA) | 1:54.82 | Beijing, China | 13 August 2008 | [13] |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 31 | Final | Allison Schmitt |  United States | 1:53.61 | OR |
Results
Heats
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Bronte Barratt |  Australia | 1:56.08 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Allison Schmitt | United States | 1:56.15 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Camille Muffat |  France | 1:56.18 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Veronika Popova |  Russia | 1:56.84 | Q, NR |
| 5 | 3 | Barbara Jardin |  Canada | 1:57.91 | |
| 6 | 6 | Sarah Sjöström |  Sweden | 1:58.12 | |
| 7 | 8 | Sara Isaković |  Slovenia | 1:58.47 | |
| 8 | 1 | Wang Shijia |  China | 1:58.63 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Federica Pellegrini | Italy | 1:56.67 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Caitlin McClatchey |  Great Britain | 1:57.33 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Kylie Palmer | Australia | 1:57.44 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Missy Franklin | United States | 1:57.57 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Melania Costa Schmid |  Spain | 1:57.76 | |
| 6 | 2 | Samantha Cheverton | Canada | 1:57.98 | |
| 7 | 1 | Silke Lippok |  Germany | 1:58.24 | |
| 8 | 8 | Hanae Ito |  Japan | 1:59.62 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 5 | Allison Schmitt | United States | 1:53.61 | OR, AM |
 | 3 | Camille Muffat | France | 1:55.58 | |
 | 4 | Bronte Barratt | Australia | 1:55.81 | |
| 4 | 8 | Missy Franklin | United States | 1:55.82 | |
| 5 | 6 | Federica Pellegrini | Italy | 1:56.73 | |
| 6 | 2 | Veronika Popova | Russia | 1:57.25 | |
| 7 | 7 | Caitlin McClatchey | Great Britain | 1:57.60 | |
| 8 | 1 | Kylie Palmer | Australia | 1:57.68 |
References
- ↑ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ "Allison Schmitt wins gold medal for US". Boston Globe. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "Olympics swimming: Allison Schmitt wins with Games record". BBC Sport. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "Allison Schmitt wins 200 free". ESPN. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- 1 2 "Bronte Barratt claims Olympic bronze medal in women's 200m freestyle". News Corp Australia. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "Barratt snares bronze in 200m free". ABC News Australia. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- 1 2 "2012 London Olympics: Allison Schmitt Torches 200 Free With Olympic, American Record; Missy Franklin Misses Podium". Swimming World Magazine. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ Das, Andrew (31 July 2012). "Schmitt Sets Mark in Winning Gold; Franklin Fourth". New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ Auerbach, Nicole (31 July 2012). "Missy Franklin finishes fourth in 200 free in London". USA Today. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "2012 London Olympics: Defending Champion Federica Pellegrini Leads Way in Women's 200 Free Prelims; Schmitt and Franklin Fractions Behind". Swimming World Magazine. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ "FINA World Championships, Swimming: Federica Pellegrini Puts on Show for Home Crowd With World Record, U.S. Goes 2-3 With American Record". Swimming World Magazine. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "Phelps bounces back with 200m fly world record triumph". Sydney Morning Herald. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ↑ "Pellegrini takes 200m free gold". BBC Sport. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
- ↑ "Women's 200m Freestyle – Heats". London 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.