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

Women's 200-metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad
Women's 200-metre freestyle; at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad
Venue	Sydney International Aquatic Centre
Date	18 September 2000 (heats &; semi-finals); 19 September 2000 (final)
Competitors	41 from 35 nations
Winning time	1:58.24
Medalists
	← 1996 2004 →

Last updated February 02, 2024

Australia's overwhelming favorite Susie O'Neill, dubbed as Madame Butterfly, gave the home crowd a further reason to celebrate, as she claimed the gold medal in the event. Rocketed to the boisterous chants of "Susie, Susie" by her swimming fans, O'Neill held off a challenge from Slovakia's Martina Moravcová to strengthen her lead on the final lap before hitting the wall first in 1:58.24.^[2]^[3] Moravcova trailed behind by a small fraction of a second to capture another silver at these Games in 1:58.32, while Costa Rica's Claudia Poll, defending Olympic champion, added a second bronze to her hardware from the 400 m freestyle, in a sterling time of 1:58.81.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Russia's Nadezhda Chemezova and Germany's Kerstin Kielgass tied for fourth place in a matching time of 1:58.86, finishing off the podium by just five-hundredths of a second (0.05). Belarus' Natalya Baranovskaya pulled off a sixth-place finish in a national record of 1:59.28, while Romania's Camelia Potec (1:59.46) and China's Wang Luna (1:59.55) closed out the field.^[6]

Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring world-record holder Franziska van Almsick, who faded shortly on the final lap and finished eleventh in the semi-finals; South Africa's Helene Muller, who posted a second-fastest prelims time (1:59.89) earlier but ended up only in ninth; and American duo Lindsay Benko and Rada Owen, both of whom earned a twelfth and a sixteenth spot, respectively.^[7]

Shortly after the Games, O'Neill announced her retirement from swimming, and was elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission, along with ten other athletes.^[8]^[9]

Records

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

World record	Franziska van Almsick (GER)	1:56.78	Rome, Italy	6 September 1994	^[10]
Olympic record	Heike Friedrich (GDR)	1:57.65	Seoul, South Korea	21 September 1988	^[10]

Results

Heats

^[10]

Rank	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	6	4	Susie O'Neill	Australia	1:59.14	Q
2	4	2	Helene Muller	South Africa	1:59.89	Q, AF
3	5	4	Claudia Poll	Costa Rica	2:00.11	Q
4	6	5	Lindsay Benko	United States	2:00.13	Q
5	4	4	Camelia Potec	Romania	2:00.18	Q
6	6	6	Kerstin Kielgaß	Germany	2:00.25	Q
7	5	5	Franziska van Almsick	Germany	2:00.37	Q
8	4	5	Martina Moravcová	Slovakia	2:00.46	Q
9	5	6	Nadezhda Chemezova	Russia	2:00.47	Q
10	4	3	Natalya Baranovskaya	Belarus	2:00.58	Q
11	6	1	Carla Geurts	Netherlands	2:00.60	Q
12	6	3	Wang Luna	China	2:00.89	Q
13	5	3	Giaan Rooney	Australia	2:00.99	Q
14	4	8	Mandy Leach	Zimbabwe	2:01.05	Q, NR
15	5	7	Rada Owen	United States	2:01.10	Q
16	4	1	Sara Parise	Italy	2:01.31	Q
17	5	2	Yang Yu	China	2:01.34
18	6	2	Jessica Deglau	Canada	2:01.42
18	4	7	Karen Pickering	Great Britain	2:01.42
20	4	6	Solenne Figuès	France	2:01.46
21	3	1	Rania Elwani	Egypt	2:01.93	NR
22	5	1	Nina van Koeckhoven	Belgium	2:02.15
23	6	8	Laura Nicholls	Canada	2:02.69
24	5	8	Laura Roca	Spain	2:03.37
25	3	2	Zoi Dimoschaki	Greece	2:04.06
26	3	5	Olena Lapunova	Ukraine	2:04.39
27	2	5	Lára Hrund Bjargardóttir	Iceland	2:05.22
28	3	4	Chantal Gibney	Ireland	2:05.24
29	2	6	Vesna Stojanovska	Macedonia	2:05.58
30	3	8	Pilin Tachakittiranan	Thailand	2:05.88
31	3	3	Elina Partõka	Estonia	2:05.90
32	3	6	Tsai Shu-min	Chinese Taipei	2:06.12
33	3	7	Roh Joo-hee	South Korea	2:07.21
34	2	7	Ivanka Moralieva	Bulgaria	2:07.61
35	2	3	Anna Korshikova	Kyrgyzstan	2:08.08
36	2	2	Petra Banović	Croatia	2:08.30
37	1	4	Nisha Millet	India	2:08.89
38	1	5	Pamela Vásquez	Honduras	2:15.83
39	1	3	Marella Mamoun	Syria	2:18.78
	2	4	Florencia Szigeti	Argentina	DSQ
	6	7	Karen Legg	Great Britain	DNS

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	6	Martina Moravcová	Slovakia	1:59.75	Q
2	3	Kerstin Kielgaß	Germany	1:59.78	Q
3	2	Natalya Baranovskaya	Belarus	1:59.90	Q, NR
4	7	Wang Luna	China	1:59.97	Q
5	4	Helene Muller	South Africa	2:00.04
6	8	Sara Parise	Italy	2:00.07
7	5	Lindsay Benko	United States	2:00.27
8	1	Mandy Leach	Zimbabwe	2:00.60

Semi-final 2

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4	Susie O'Neill	Australia	1:59.37	Q
2	3	Camelia Potec	Romania	1:59.54	Q
3	5	Claudia Poll	Costa Rica	1:59.63	Q
4	2	Nadezhda Chemezova	Russia	1:59.69	Q
5	6	Franziska van Almsick	Germany	2:00.26
6	1	Giaan Rooney	Australia	2:00.84
7	7	Carla Geurts	Netherlands	2:00.88
8	8	Rada Owen	United States	2:03.34

Final

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	4	Susie O'Neill	Australia	1:58.24
	2	Martina Moravcová	Slovakia	1:58.32
	3	Claudia Poll	Costa Rica	1:58.81
4	6	Nadezhda Chemezova	Russia	1:58.86
4	7	Kerstin Kielgaß	Germany	1:58.86
6	1	Natalya Baranovskaya	Belarus	1:59.28	NR
7	5	Camelia Potec	Romania	1:59.46
8	8	Wang Luna	China	1:59.55

Related Research Articles

Susan O'Neill, is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career.

Martina Moravcová is a Slovak medley, butterfly, and freestyle swimmer. She made her international swimming debut in 1991 for Czechoslovakia, and has gone on to compete in five consecutive Summer Olympics (1992–2008). She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist, both achieved at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. In the 100-meter butterfly, she finished second to Inge de Bruijn, and in the 200-meter freestyle, she finished eight one-hundredths of a second to home favorite Susie O'Neill.

Yang Yu is an Olympic medal-winning swimmer from the People's Republic of China. She became part of the Chinese national swimming team in 1999, and competed for Team China at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

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 400 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 21–22 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 200 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. There were 51 competitors from 44 nations, with each nation having up to two swimmers.

The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 16 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 men's 200 metre butterfly event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 18–19 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The women's 200 metre individual medley event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 18–19 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The women's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 16–17 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The women's 200 metre butterfly event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 19–20 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 19 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event and place at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 16 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The women'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.

Karina Helene Muller is a South African former swimmer, who specialised in sprint and middle-distance freestyle events. She represented South Africa in two editions of the Olympic Games, and later captured two silver medals each in sprint freestyle and medley relay at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Chantal Zita Gibney is an Irish former competitive swimmer who specialised in sprint and middle-distance freestyle events. Gibney became a semi-finalist in the 200-metre freestyle at the European Championships, and later represented Ireland, as a 19-year-old, at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She also holds numerous Irish records, long or short course, in a middle-distance freestyle double, and fifteen All-American honours, while attending the University of Florida.

References

↑ "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
↑ "O'Neill strikes gold for Australia". BBC Sport. 19 September 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
↑ "Aussies rule relays". Sports Illustrated . CNN. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
↑ "Malchow sets Olympic record in 200 fly". Canoe.ca. 18 September 2000. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ Longman, Jere (20 September 2000). "Sydney 2000: Swimming; Malchow Lies Low, Then Rockets To the Wall". The New York Times . Retrieved 8 June 2013.
1 2 Whitten, Phillip (19 September 2000). "Olympic Day 4 Finals". Swimming World . Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
↑ Whitten, Phillip (18 September 2000). "Olympic Day 3 Finals (100 Breast, 100 Back M, 100 Back W, 200 Free)". Swimming World . Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
↑ "Susie O'Neill Hangs Up Her Swim Suit". Swimming World . 23 November 2000. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
↑ "Swimming star O'Neill retires". BBC Sport. 22 November 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
1 2 3 "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 200m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000 . LA84 Foundation. pp. 186–187. Retrieved 14 June 2013.

External links

Official Olympic Report

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Swimming_schedule-1] "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.

[2] "O'Neill strikes gold for Australia". BBC Sport. 19 September 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

[3] "Aussies rule relays". Sports Illustrated . CNN. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

[4] "Malchow sets Olympic record in 200 fly". Canoe.ca. 18 September 2000. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[5] Longman, Jere (20 September 2000). "Sydney 2000: Swimming; Malchow Lies Low, Then Rockets To the Wall". The New York Times . Retrieved 8 June 2013.

[200free-6] 1 2 Whitten, Phillip (19 September 2000). "Olympic Day 4 Finals". Swimming World . Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2013.

[7] Whitten, Phillip (18 September 2000). "Olympic Day 3 Finals (100 Breast, 100 Back M, 100 Back W, 200 Free)". Swimming World . Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2013.

[8] "Susie O'Neill Hangs Up Her Swim Suit". Swimming World . 23 November 2000. Retrieved 16 June 2013.

[9] "Swimming star O'Neill retires". BBC Sport. 22 November 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

[records-10] 1 2 3 "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 200m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000 . LA84 Foundation. pp. 186–187. Retrieved 14 June 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

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
v t e