Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre backstroke

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Women's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Venue Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Dates29 July 2021 (heats)
30 July 2021 (semifinals)
31 July 2021 (final)
Competitors27 from 22 nations
Winning time2:04.68
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Kaylee McKeown Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Silver medal icon.svg Kylie Masse Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Bronze medal icon.svg Emily Seebohm Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
  2016
2024  

The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 29 to 31 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. [1] It was the event's fourteenth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1968.

Summary

In similar fashion to her win in the shorter backstroke event days earlier, Australia's Kaylee McKeown came from behind to strike a backstroke double for the first time since Missy Franklin in 2012. Canada's Kylie Masse narrowly led over McKeown at the first turn, before extending her margin to 0.80 seconds at the halfway mark. Only recovering a tenth of a second on the penultimate lap, McKeown used a blistering final lap to overtake Masse and win Australia's first title in the event in 2:04.68. Meanwhile Masse broke her Canadian record to win the silver medal, her second at these Games.

Fifth at the final turn, Australia's two-time World champion Emily Seebohm (2:06.17) charged home to claim the bronze medal - her second individual Olympic medal - and join teammate McKeown on the podium. The U.S.' Rhyan White (2:06.39) and Phoebe Bacon (2:06.40) could not hold off Seebohm down the stretch, finishing within 0.01 seconds of each other to take fourth and fifth, respectively. Almost two seconds behind, Masse's teammate Taylor Ruck claimed a distant sixth spot in 2:08.40. The Chinese duo of Peng Xuwei (2:08.26) and Liu Yaxin (2:08.48) closed out the championship field.

Notably, the U.S.' world record holder and reigning World champion Regan Smith failed to qualify for the event after placing third at the 2020 USA Swimming Olympic trials.

Records

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

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Regan Smith  (USA)2:03.35 Gwangju, South Korea 26 July 2019 [2]
Olympic recordFlag of the United States.svg  Missy Franklin  (USA)2:04.06 London, United Kingdom 3 August 2012 [3] [4]

Prior to this competition, the fastest time this year in the event was as follows:

World LeadFlag of Australia.svg  Kaylee McKeown  (AUS)2:04.28 OC Melbourne, Australia 17 June 2021

No new records were set during the competition.

Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 2:10.39. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 2:14.30. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a female swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place. [5]

Competition format

The competition consists of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advance to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round. [6]

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) [1]

DateTimeRound
29 July20:05Heats
30 July11:35Semifinals
31 July10:37Final

Results

Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals. [7]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
144 Kaylee McKeown Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:08.18Q
245 Kylie Masse Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:08.23Q
24 Rhyan White Flag of the United States.svg  United States Q
425 Phoebe Bacon Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:08.30Q
526 Liu Yaxin Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:08.36Q
643 Taylor Ruck Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:08.87Q
732 Peng Xuwei Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:09.03Q
835 Emily Seebohm Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:09.10Q
46 Katalin Burián Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary Q
1036 Lena Grabowski Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:09.77Q
1121 Tatiana Salcuțan Flag of Moldova (3-2).svg  Moldova 2:09.98Q, NR
1234 Margherita Panziera Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:10.26Q
1347 Laura Bernat Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 2:10.37Q
1442 África Zamorano Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2:10.72Q
1548 Aviv Barzelay Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 2:11.13Q
1622 Sharon van Rouwendaal Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2:11.24Q
1714 Ingeborg Løyning Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 2:11.68 NR
1827 Lee Eun-ji Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 2:11.72
1937 Daryna Zevina Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 2:12.30
2033 Katinka Hosszú Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:12.84
2123 Cassie Wild Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:12.93
2231 Daria Ustinova Russian Olympic Committee flag.png  ROC 2:13.72
2315 Celina Márquez Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 2:14.72
2441 Ali Galyer Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:15.16
2538 Simona Kubová Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 2:15.81
2613 Felicity Passon Flag of Seychelles.svg  Seychelles 2:16.18
2728 Krystal Lara Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic 2:18.63

Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final. [8]

RankHeatLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
116 Emily Seebohm Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:07.09Q
215 Phoebe Bacon Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:07.10Q
314 Rhyan White Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:07.28Q
425 Kylie Masse Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:07.82Q
524 Kaylee McKeown Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:07.93Q
623 Liu Yaxin Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:08.65Q
713 Taylor Ruck Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:08.73Q
826 Peng Xuwei Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:08.76Q
917 Margherita Panziera Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:09.54
1022 Katalin Burián Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:09.65
1127 Tatiana Salcuțan Flag of Moldova (3-2).svg  Moldova 2:10.09
1212 Lena Grabowski Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:10.10
1311 África Zamorano Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 2:10.42
1421 Laura Bernat Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 2:12.86
1528 Aviv Barzelay Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 2:12.93
1618 Sharon van Rouwendaal Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2:12.98

Final

[9]

RankLaneSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg2 Kaylee McKeown Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:04.68
Silver medal icon.svg6 Kylie Masse Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:05.42 NR
Bronze medal icon.svg4 Emily Seebohm Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:06.17
43 Rhyan White Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:06.39
55 Phoebe Bacon Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:06.40
61 Taylor Ruck Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:08.24
78 Peng Xuwei Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:08.26
87 Liu Yaxin Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 2:08.48

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References

  1. 1 2 "Tokyo 2020: Swimming Schedule". Tokyo 2020 . Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. Rieder, David (26 July 2019). "Regan Smith Shatters Missy Franklin's 200 Back World Record In 2:03.35". Swimming World Magazine . Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  3. Auerbach, Nicole (4 August 2012). "USA's Missy Franklin wins another gold, sets world record". USA Today . Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  4. "US swimmer Missy Franklin sets world record, Phelps ends individual races with medal". Fox News. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  5. "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 . FINA . Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  6. "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  7. "Heats results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  8. "Semifinals results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  9. "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.