Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre butterfly

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Women's 100 metre butterfly
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Medallistas de los 100m mariposa femenino en Londres 2012-2.jpg
Medal winners
Venue London Aquatics Centre
DatesJuly 28, 2012 (heats & semifinals)
July 29, 2012 (final)
Competitors42 from 37 nations
Winning time55.98 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Dana Vollmer Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Lu Ying Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
Bronze medal icon.svg Alicia Coutts Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
  2008
2016  

The women's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 28–29 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom. [1]

U.S. swimmer Dana Vollmer demolished a new world record to clear a 56-second barrier and to claim the Olympic title in the event for the first time since Amy Van Dyken did so in 1996. She touched third at the initial length, but powered home with a back-half strategy on the final stretch to capture the gold in 55.98, the first sub-56 second time in the event's history, shaving 0.08 seconds off the previous record set by Sweden's Sarah Sjöström in a since-banned high-tech body suit from the 2009 World Championships. [2] [3] China's Lu Ying came from behind with the same tactic to grab a silver in 56.87, while Australia's Alicia Coutts nearly pulled from worst-to-podium effort after turning last at the 50-metre lap to put up a late resistant surge for the bronze in 56.94. [4] [5] [6]

Sjostrom, the former world record holder, finished off the podium with a fourth-place time in 57.17, and was followed in fifth by Italy's Ilaria Bianchi at a lifetime best and national record of 57.27. Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen Gray paid for an aggressive strategy with an early lead on the first half, before fading to sixth in 57.35. Vollmer's teammate Claire Donahue (57.48) and Great Britain's Ellen Gandy (57.76) rounded out the field. For the first time in Olympic history, all eight finalists finished the race under a 58-second barrier. [6] [7]

Earlier in the prelims, Vollmer posted both a textile and an American best of 56.25 to lead all swimmers for the top seed, wiping out Inge de Bruijn's 2000 Olympic record by 36-hundredths of a second. [8]

Notable swimmers missed the final roster including Singapore's Tao Li, who delivered a surprise fifth-place finish in Beijing four years earlier; Gandy's home teammate Francesca Halsall; Poland's four-time Olympian Otylia Jędrzejczak; Australia's defending bronze medalist Jessicah Schipper; and Netherlands' Inge Dekker, who later scratched the semifinals to focus on her 4×100 m freestyle relay duty. [8] [9]

Records

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

World recordFlag of Sweden.svg  Sarah Sjöström  (SWE)56.06 Rome, Italy 27 July 2009 [10]
Olympic recordFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Inge de Bruijn  (NED)56.61 Sydney, Australia 17 September 2000

The following records were established during the competition:

DateRoundNameNationalityTimeRecord
July 28Heat 6 Dana Vollmer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 56.25 OR
July 29Final Dana Vollmer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 55.98 WR

Results

Heats

[11]

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
164 Dana Vollmer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 56.25Q, OR , AM
265 Lu Ying Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 57.17Q
344 Alicia Coutts Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 57.36Q
454 Sarah Sjöström Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 57.45Q
567 Jeanette Ottesen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 57.64Q
666 Jiao Liuyang Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 57.71Q
763 Claire Donahue Flag of the United States.svg  United States 58.06Q
845 Francesca Halsall Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 58.23Q
955 Ellen Gandy Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 58.25Q
1053 Inge Dekker Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 58.30Q, WD
1148 Tao Li Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 58.34Q
1257 Ilaria Bianchi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 58.42Q
1342 Aliaksandra Herasimenia Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 58.50Q, NR
1452 Martina Granström Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 58.70Q
1543 Yuka Kato Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 58.72Q
1647 Kristel Vourna Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 58.74Q
1756 Katerine Savard Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 58.76Q
1858 Amit Ivry Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 58.78
1933 Irina Bespalova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 58.79
68 Kimberly Buys Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
2141 Alexandra Wenk Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 58.85
2262 Ingvild Snildal Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 59.01
2351 Natsumi Hoshi Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 59.06
2446 Jessicah Schipper Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 59.17
2535 Otylia Jędrzejczak Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 59.31
2623 Danielle Villars Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 59.42 NR
24 Judit Ignacio Sorribes Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
2837 Denisa Smolenová Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 59.48
2936 Emilia Pikkarainen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 59.55
3031 Hannah Wilson Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 59.59
3127 Sara Isaković Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 59.86
3222 Sarah Blake Bateman Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 59.87 NR
3361 Daynara de Paula Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1:00.14
3432 Liliána Szilágyi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 1:00.34
3526 Triin Aljand Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 1:00.43
3638 Sara Oliveira Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 1:00.44
3734 Birgit Koschischek Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1:00.54
3825 Justine Bruno Flag of France.svg  France 1:01.14
3921 Dalia Torrez Zamora Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 1:05.42
4014 Noel Borshi Flag of Albania.svg  Albania 1:05.49
4113 Dorian McMenemy Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic 1:05.78 NR
4215 Marie Laura Meza Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica 1:07.01

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
15 Sarah Sjöström Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 57.27Q
24 Lu Ying Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 57.51Q
33 Jiao Liuyang Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 58.04
42 Tao Li Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 58.18
51 Yuka Kato Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 58.26
67 Aliaksandra Herasimenia Flag of Belarus (1995-2012).svg  Belarus 58.41 NR
76 Francesca Halsall Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 58.52
88 Katerine Savard Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 59.22

Semifinal 2

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14 Dana Vollmer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 56.36Q
25 Alicia Coutts Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 56.85Q
33 Jeanette Ottesen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 57.25Q, NR
46 Claire Donahue Flag of the United States.svg  United States 57.42Q
52 Ellen Gandy Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 57.66Q
67 Ilaria Bianchi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 57.79Q, NR
78 Kristel Vourna Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 58.31 NR
81 Martina Granström Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 58.95

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Dana Vollmer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 55.98 WR
Silver medal icon.svg7 Lu Ying Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 56.87
Bronze medal icon.svg5 Alicia Coutts Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 56.94
46 Sarah Sjöström Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 57.17
58 Ilaria Bianchi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 57.27 NR
63 Jeanette Ottesen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 57.35
72 Claire Donahue Flag of the United States.svg  United States 57.48
81 Ellen Gandy Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 57.76

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