Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

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Women's 200 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Venue Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez
Date22 October (heats)
23 October (final)
Competitors31 from 20 nations
Winning time2:44.4 (OR)
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Sharon Wichman Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Đurđica Bjedov Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia
Bronze medal icon.svg Galina Prozumenshchikova Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
  1964
1972  

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event, included in the swimming competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics, took place on October 22–23, at the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez. In this event, swimmers covered four lengths of the 50-metre (160 ft) Olympic-sized pool employing the breaststroke. It was the tenth appearance of the event, which first appeared at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. A total of 31 competitors from 20 nations participated in the event. [1] American Catie Ball was the large favourite to win the event, as she had broken the world record in this event the last three times. [2] However, she was suffering from a virus infection and was forced to withdraw from the heats. [3] Her 16-year-old teammate Sharon Wichman won the event, breaking bronze medalist Galina Prozumenshchikova's Olympic record in the final. [4]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were:

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Catie Ball  (USA)2:38.5 s Los Angeles, United States 26 August 1968 [5]
Olympic recordFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Galina Prozumenshchikova  (URS)2:46.4 s Tokyo, Japan 12 October 1964 [6]

The following records were established during the competition:

DateRoundNameNationalityTimeORWR
23 OctoberFinal Sharon Wichman Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:44.4OR

Results

Heats

RankHeatLane [7] NameNationalityTimeNotes
121 Sharon Wichman Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:46.8Q
246 Galina Prozumenshchikova Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:47.8Q
352 Ana María Norbis Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 2:49.4Q
431 Svetlana Babanina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:49.8Q
454 Alla Grebennikova Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:49.8Q
633 Cathy Jamison Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:50.1Q
734 Đurđica Bjedov Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 2:50.2Q
843 Chieno Shibata Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:50.6Q
926 Jill Slattery Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 2:51.2
1013 Christl Filippovits Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:51.3
1124 Tamara Oynick Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:52.4
1223 Vreni Eberle Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 2:52.5
1312 Judy Playfair Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:52.9
1442 Sue McKenzie Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:53.1
1514 Dorothy Harrison Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 2:55.1
1653 Yoshimi Nishigawa Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:55.3
1732 Yvonne Brage Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:56.3
1857 Ann O'Connor Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 2:56.4
1941 Jo-Anne Barnes Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:57.4
2056 Klenie Bimolt Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2:57.9
2144 Yukari Takemoto Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:57.9
2245 Ellen Ingvadóttir Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 2:58.2
2336 Shlomit Nir Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 2:58.5
2422 Víctoria Casas Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 3:01.0
2525 Diana Harris Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:03.4
2636 Ana Elena de la Portilla Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 3:03.5
2755 Arlette Wilmes Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 3:06.7
2815 Hedy García Flag of the Philippines (1936-1985, 1986-1998).svg  Philippines 3:08.1
2911 Tamara Orejuela Flag of Ecuador (1900-2009).svg  Ecuador 3:08.5
3047 María Moreño Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 3:15.4
3151 Liana Vicens Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 3:16.2

Final

RankNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Sharon Wichman Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:44.4 OR [4]
Silver medal icon.svg Đurđica Bjedov Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 2:46.4
Bronze medal icon.svg Galina Prozumenshchikova Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:47.0
4 Alla Grebennikova Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:47.1
5 Cathy Jamison Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:48.4
6 Svetlana Babanina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 2:48.4
7 Chieno Shibata Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:51.5
8 Ana María Norbis Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 2:51.9

Sources

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References

  1. "Swimming at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Women's 200 metres Breaststroke Final". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  2. "LCM Women Records" (PDF). USA Swimming. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  3. "Catie Ball". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  4. 1 2 OCGOM, p. 369
  5. Schoenfeld, p. 15
  6. "The Games of the XVIII Olympiad Tokyo 1964: The Official Report of the Organising Committee" (PDF). Volume Two, Part 2. Organizing Committee of the Games of the XVIII Olympiad Tokyo. 1964. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  7. Schoenfeld, pp. 55-56