Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle

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Men's 200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad
Pieter van den Hoogenband (2008-08-25).jpg
Gold medalist Pieter van den Hoogenband (2008)
Venue Sydney International Aquatic Centre
DatesSeptember 17, 2000 (heats &
semifinals)
September 18, 2000 (final)
Competitors51 from 44 nations
Winning time1:45.35 =WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Pieter van den Hoogenband
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Silver medal icon.svg Ian Thorpe
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Bronze medal icon.svg Massimiliano Rosolino
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
  1996
2004  

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. [1] There were 51 competitors from 44 nations, with each nation having up to two swimmers (a limit in place since 1984). [2]

Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband edged out Australia's top favorite Ian Thorpe on the final lap to claim a gold medal in the event. Stunning a massive home crowd, he touched the wall first in 1:45.35 to match his own world record from the semifinals. [3] [4] As a result of starting harder than usual, Thorpe ended up only with a silver in 1:45.83, while Italy's Massimiliano Rosolino added a bronze to his hardware from the 400 m freestyle in a time 1:46.65. [5] [6] The medals were the first in the men's 200 metre freestyle for both the Netherlands and Italy.

U.S. swimmer Josh Davis missed the podium by eight hundredths of a second (0.08), finishing with a new American record of 1:46.73. Davis was followed in fifth and sixth by British duo Paul Palmer (1:47.95) and James Salter (1:48.74). [7] Canada's Rick Say (1:48.76) and another Aussie Grant Hackett (1:49.46) closed out the field. [6]

Earlier in the semifinals, Van den Hoogenband blasted a new world record of 1:45.35, slashing 0.16 seconds off the mark set by Thorpe from the Australian trials. One heat later, Thorpe powered home with a second-fastest time of 1:45.37, but missed taking the record back by two hundredths of a second (0.02). [4] He also erased Yevgeny Sadovyi's 1992 Olympic record by 0.14 seconds to pick up a top seed from the prelims (1:46.56). [8] [9]

Background

This was the 11th appearance of the 200 metre freestyle event. It was first contested in 1900. It would be contested a second time, though at 220 yards, in 1904. After that, the event did not return until 1968; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. [2]

Four of the 8 finalists from the 1996 Games returned: fourth-place finisher Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands, sixth-place finisher Massimiliano Rosolino of Italy, seventh-place finisher Josh Davis of the United States, and eighth-place finisher Paul Palmer of Great Britain. Rosolino had taken silver at the 1998 World Championships, with van den Hoogenband bronze. Australia's Michael Klim had won those World Championships, but the Australian team in Sydney was Grant Hackett and world record holder and home country favourite Ian Thorpe. [2]

Andorra, Belarus, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, India, Lithuania, and Trinidad and Tobago each made their debut in the event. Australia made its 11th appearance, the only nation to have competed in all prior editions of the event.

Competition format

The competition altered the format that had been used since 1984. The tournament expanded to three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. Instead of having the top 16 swimmers divided into a Final A for the top 8 and Final B for 9th through 16th, as was done in from 1984 to 1996, the 2000 competition added semifinals. The top 16 swimmers from the heats competed in the new semifinals. The top 8 semifinalists advanced to the final (there was no longer a classification final for 9th through 16th). Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Records

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

World recordFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Ian Thorpe  (AUS)1:45.51 Sydney, Australia 15 May 2000 [10]
Olympic recordOlympic flag.svg  Yevgeny Sadovyi  (EUN)1:46.70 Barcelona, Spain 27 July 1992 [10]

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

DateEventSwimmerNationTimeRecord
17 SeptemberHeat 7 Ian Thorpe Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:46.56 OR
17 SeptemberSemifinal 1 Pieter van den Hoogenband Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:45.35 WR
18 SeptemberFinal Pieter van den Hoogenband Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:45.35 =WR

Schedule

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 17 September 200010:25
19:14
Heats
Semifinals
Monday, 18 September 200019:11Final

Results

Heats

The top 16 across all heats advanced to the semifinals. [10]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
174 Ian Thorpe Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:46.56Q, OR
264 Pieter van den Hoogenband Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:46.71Q
375 Massimiliano Rosolino Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:47.37Q
454 Josh Davis Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.43Q
576 Rick Say Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:48.62Q
653 James Salter Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:48.77Q
762 Igor Koleda Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 1:49.01Q, NR
873 Scott Goldblatt Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:49.05Q
965 Grant Hackett Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:49.23Q
1058 Örn Arnarson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 1:49.78Q, NR
1155 Paul Palmer Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:49.83Q
1257 Stefan Herbst Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:49.84Q
1372 Andrey Kapralov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 1:49.92Q
1467 Stefan Pohl Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:50.07Q
1566 Béla Szabados Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:50.10Q
1651 Attila Zubor Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:50.11Q
1778 Dragoş Coman Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 1:50.20
1871 Květoslav Svoboda Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 1:50.29
1968 Martijn Zuijdweg Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:50.37
2056 Jacob Carstensen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1:50.41
2152 Mark Johnston Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:50.92
2245 Arūnas Savickas Flag of Lithuania (1988-2004).svg  Lithuania 1:52.02
2325 Mark Chay Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 1:52.22 NR
2447 Rostyslav Svanidze Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 1:52.35
2546 Ricardo Pedroso Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 1:52.60
2641 Mark Kwok Kin Ming Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 1:52.71
2735 Damian Alleyne Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados 1:52.75
2844 Dmitri Kuzmin Flag of Kyrgyzstan (1992-2023).svg  Kyrgyzstan 1:52.93 NR
2932 Woo Chul Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 1:53.02
3033 Javier Díaz Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 1:53.20
3143 Andrei Cecan Flag of Moldova (3-2).svg  Moldova 1:53.23
3231 Jonathan Duncan Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:53.27
3342 Rodrigo Castro Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1:53.65
3434 Fernando Jácome Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 1:54.17
3537 Francisco Paez Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 1:54.32
3663 Dimitrios Manganas Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 1:54.36
3722 Allen Ong Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 1:54.53
3838 Wu Nien-pin Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei 1:54.58
3927 George Gleason Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands 1:54.64
4048 Glen Walshaw Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 1:54.70 NR
4123 Nikola Kalabić Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg  FR Yugoslavia 1:54.75
4228 Aytekin Mindan Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 1:54.86
4336 Vicha Ratanachote Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 1:54.91
4413 Oleg Tsvetkovskiy Flag of Uzbekistan (3-2).svg  Uzbekistan 1:54.93
4521 Carl Probert Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 1:54.98
4615 Mahmoud El-Wany Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 1:55.19
4714 Sebastien Paddington Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago 1:55.40
4824 Andrey Kvassov Flag of Kazakhstan (3-2).svg  Kazakhstan 1:55.72
4926 Alexandros Aresti Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus 1:57.54
5016 Hakimuddin Shabbir Habibulla Flag of India.svg  India 1:58.35
5112 Santiago Deu Flag of Andorra.svg  Andorra 1:59.31
63 Ryk Neethling Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa DNS
77 Dmitry Chernyshov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia DNS

Semifinals

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
114 Pieter van den Hoogenband Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:45.35Q, WR
224 Ian Thorpe Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:45.37Q, OC
325 Massimiliano Rosolino Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:46.60Q, NR
415 Josh Davis Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.06Q, AM
523 Rick Say Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:48.50Q
613 James Salter Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:48.64Q
722 Grant Hackett Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:48.76Q
827 Paul Palmer Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:48.79Q
916 Scott Goldblatt Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.83
1021 Andrey Kapralov Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 1:49.04
1128 Béla Szabados Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:49.36
1226 Igor Koleda Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 1:49.52
1317 Stefan Herbst Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:49.72
1418 Attila Zubor Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:49.87
1512 Örn Arnarson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 1:50.41
1611 Stefan Pohl Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1:50.56

Final

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Pieter van den Hoogenband Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:45.35 =WR
Silver medal icon.svg5 Ian Thorpe Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:45.83
Bronze medal icon.svg3 Massimiliano Rosolino Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:46.65
46 Josh Davis Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:46.73 AM
58 Paul Palmer Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:47.95
67 James Salter Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:48.74
72 Rick Say Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:48.76
81 Grant Hackett Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:49.46

References

  1. "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "200 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  3. "Flying Dutchman". Sports Illustrated . CNN. 18 September 2000. Archived from the original on 18 April 2001. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Dutchman ties own world record". ESPN. 18 September 2000. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  5. Morrissey, Rick (19 September 2000). "Thorpedo A Dud, At Least This Time". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  6. 1 2 Whitten, Phillip (18 September 2000). "Olympic Day 3 Finals (100 Breast, 100 Back M, 100 Back W, 200 Free)". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  7. Hayward, Paul (19 September 2000). "Swimming: Thorpe stands tall as a nation is silenced". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  8. Whitten, Phillip (17 September 2000). "Olympic Prelims: Day Two". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  9. Morris, Jim (16 September 2000). "Calgary's Curtis Myden qualifies for Olympic finals of 400 IM". Canoe.ca. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 200m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000 . LA84 Foundation. pp. 128–130. Retrieved 13 May 2013.