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 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]
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 |
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 |
Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:24.03 | Q, OR , NR |
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 |
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 |
Qi Hui is an Olympic and former world record holding breaststroke swimmer from China.
The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. There were 45 competitors from 38 nations. Each nation had been limited to two swimmers in the event since 1984. The event was won by Lenny Krayzelburg of the United States, with his countryman Aaron Peirsol taking silver. It was the second consecutive Games that Americans had finished one-two in the event. Bronze went to Matt Welsh of Australia, the nation's first medal in the event since 1980.
The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 19–20 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The men's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 16–17 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The men's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
The men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
Wickus Nienaber is a former Swazi swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He is a four-time College Swimmer of the Year, a 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference champion, and owns at least 40 national age group records for the same stroke in Swaziland. He was a member of the swimming team for Florida State Seminoles under his coach Neil Harper, and a graduate with a Doctorate in computer science at the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.
Ahmad Al-Kudmani is a Saudi Arabian former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He is a two-time Olympian and a multiple-time medalist at the Pan Arab Games.
Ben-Rachmiel Labowitch is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. Since his mother is a New Zealand citizen, Labowitch claims a dual citizenship which allowed him to try out and make the New Zealand Olympic team. Labowitch is also a former member of North Shore Swim Club under his coach Thomas Ensorg, and a graduate of Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, where he played for the Drury Panthers.
Daniel Tam Chi-kin is a Hong Kong former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He is a two-time Olympian, and a double finalist in the 100 and 200 m breaststroke at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. Tam is a member of the swimming team for SLA Sports Club, and is trained by an Australian-born coach Anthony Giorgi.
Jean Luc Razakarivony is a Malagasy former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He is a three-time Olympian, a multiple-time Malagasy record holder in the 100 and 200 m breaststroke, and a member of Genève Natation 1885, based in Geneva, Switzerland.
Aleksandr Tkachev is a Russian-born Kyrgyzstani former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He collected a total of three medals, one gold and two silver, at the Universiade, and later represented his adopted nation Kyrgyzstan at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Vivienne Maria Rignall is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialised in sprint freestyle events. Rignall represented New Zealand, as a 27-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and eventually, at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, where she became a sixth-place finalist in the 50 m freestyle. She also holds a dual residency status to compete internationally for her parents' homeland.
Caroline May Hildreth is an Australian former competition swimmer who specialized in breaststroke events. She represented Australia at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and also trained for the Australian Institute of Sport, where she was coached by former British Olympic coach and longtime mentor Barry Prime.
Ku Hyo-Jin is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. She represented South Korea, as a 15-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and later helped her squad capture the bronze medal for the host nation at the 2002 Asian Games.