Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre freestyle

Women's 200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 11, 2008 (heats)
August 12, 2008(semifinals)
August 13, 2008 (final)
Competitors46 from 37 nations
Winning time1:54.82 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Federica Pellegrini  Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Sara Isakovič  Slovenia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pang Jiaying  China
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Swimming at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Sample picture of the event (unofficial)
Qualification
Freestyle
50 mmenwomen
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
4 × 200 mmenwomen
Medley relay
4 × 100 mmenwomen
Marathon
10 kmmenwomen

The women's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 11–13 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]

Italy's Federica Pellegrini broke a new world record of 1:54.82 to claim a gold medal in the event. Sara Isakovič, who finished behind Pellegrini by 0.15 of a second, cleared a 1:55 barrier to set a new Slovenian record of 1:54.97, and ultimately become the nation's first ever medalist in swimming. China's Pang Jiaying edged out U.S. swimmer Katie Hoff on the final lap to pick up a bronze in 1:55.05. Hoff finished in fourth place in an American record of 1:55.78.[2][3][4]

Defending champion Camelia Potec finished outside the medals in fifth place, posting a Romanian record of 1:56.87. Great Britain's Caitlin McClatchey earned a sixth spot in 1:57.65, and was followed by a seventh-place tie between Australia's Bronte Barratt and France's Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne in a matching time of 1:57.83. For the first time in Olympic history, all eight swimmers went faster than a winning time of 1:58.03, previously set by Potec in Athens four years earlier.[2]

Earlier in the prelims, Pang broke one of the oldest Olympic records in the book, when she clocked at 1:57.37 to lead the fourth heat, slashing 0.28 seconds off the old mark set by East Germany's Heike Friedrich from Seoul in 1988. Two heats later, Pellegrini posted a top-seeded time of 1:55.45 to erase Laure Manaudou's world record, set in 2007.[5]

Records

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

World record  Laure Manaudou (FRA) 1:55.52 Melbourne, Australia 28 March 2007 [6]
Olympic record  Heike Friedrich (GDR) 1:57.65 Seoul, South Korea 21 September 1988 -

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

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
August 11 Heat 4 Pang Jiaying  China 1:57.37 OR
August 11 Heat 5 Sara Isakovič  Slovenia 1:55.86 OR
August 11 Heat 6 Federica Pellegrini  Italy 1:55.45 WR
August 13 Final Federica Pellegrini  Italy 1:54.82 WR

Results

Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 6 5 Federica Pellegrini  Italy 1:55.45 Q, WR
2 5 4 Sara Isakovič  Slovenia 1:55.86 Q, NR
3 5 3 Caitlin McClatchey  Great Britain 1:56.97 Q, NR
4 6 4 Katie Hoff  United States 1:57.20 Q
5 6 2 Ágnes Mutina  Hungary 1:57.25 Q, NR
6 4 2 Pang Jiaying  China 1:57.37 Q, AS
7 4 4 Allison Schmitt  United States 1:57.38 Q
8 6 1 Haruka Ueda  Japan 1:57.64 Q, NR
9 4 3 Camelia Potec  Romania 1:57.65 Q, NR
10 5 5 Bronte Barratt  Australia 1:57.75 Q
11 5 2 Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne  France 1:57.93 Q
12 6 3 Linda Mackenzie  Australia 1:57.96 Q
13 5 6 Josefin Lillhage  Sweden 1:57.98 Q
14 4 5 Joanne Jackson  Great Britain 1:58.00 Q
15 6 6 Aurore Mongel  France 1:58.11 Q
16 5 1 Ida Marko-Varga  Sweden 1:58.21 Q
17 4 7 Stephanie Horner  Canada 1:58.35
18 4 1 Melania Costa  Spain 1:59.50
19 6 7 Zhu Qianwei  China 1:59.52
20 6 8 Daria Belyakina  Russia 1:59.72
21 4 8 Maki Mita  Japan 1:59.96
22 4 6 Annika Lurz  Germany 1:59.98
23 3 5 Ranomi Kromowidjojo  Netherlands 2:00.02
24 5 7 Petra Dallmann  Germany 2:00.21
25 5 8 Geneviève Saumur  Canada 2:00.49
26 3 7 Jördis Steinegger  Austria 2:00.52 NR
27 3 1 Anna Stylianou  Cyprus 2:00.55
28 3 6 Monique Ferreira  Brazil 2:00.64
2 4 Elina Partõka  Estonia NR
30 2 5 Nina Rangelova  Bulgaria 2:00.66
31 2 7 Hoi Shun Stephanie Au  Hong Kong 2:00.85
32 3 3 Paulina Barzycka  Poland 2:00.92
33 3 4 Melissa Corfe  South Africa 2:00.95
34 2 2 Louise Mai Jansen  Denmark 2:01.30
35 1 4 Nataliya Khudyakova  Ukraine 2:02.27
36 2 6 Lynette Lim  Singapore 2:02.30
37 3 8 Yang Chin-kuei  Chinese Taipei 2:02.84
38 1 5 Natthanan Junkrajang  Thailand 2:02.88
39 2 8 Christine Mailliet  Luxembourg 2:02.91
40 1 2 Milica Ostojić  Serbia 2:03.19
41 1 7 Heysi Villarreal  Cuba 2:03.23
42 1 3 Anja Trišić  Croatia 2:03.57
43 2 3 Melanie Nocher  Ireland 2:04.29
44 3 2 Eleni Kosti  Greece 2:04.55
45 1 6 Sigrún Brá Sverrisdóttir  Iceland 2:04.82
46 2 1 Lee Keo-ra  South Korea 2:05.71

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Sara Isakovič  Slovenia 1:56.50 Q
2 5 Katie Hoff  United States 1:57.01 Q
3 3 Pang Jiaying  China 1:57.34 Q
4 2 Bronte Barratt  Australia 1:57.55 Q
5 7 Linda Mackenzie  Australia 1:58.19
6 6 Haruka Ueda  Japan 1:58.44
7 1 Joanne Jackson  Great Britain 1:58.70
8 8 Ida Marko-Varga  Sweden 1:59.41

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Federica Pellegrini  Italy 1:57.23 Q
2 2 Camelia Potec  Romania 1:57.71 Q
3 5 Caitlin McClatchey  Great Britain 1:57.73 Q
4 7 Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne  France 1:58.00 Q
5 6 Allison Schmitt  United States 1:58.01
6 8 Aurore Mongel  France 1:58.08
7 3 Ágnes Mutina  Hungary 1:58.15
8 1 Josefin Lillhage  Sweden 1:59.29

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 3 Federica Pellegrini  Italy 1:54.82 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Sara Isakovič  Slovenia 1:54.97 NR
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 Pang Jiaying  China 1:55.05 AS
4 5 Katie Hoff  United States 1:55.78 AM
5 7 Camelia Potec  Romania 1:56.87 NR
6 1 Caitlin McClatchey  Great Britain 1:57.65
7 2 Bronte Barratt  Australia 1:57.83
8 Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne  France

References

  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b Lohn, John (12 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Federica Pellegrini Breaks 1:55, Lowers 200 Free World Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Pellegrini takes 200m free gold". BBC Sport. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Katie Hoff falls short in 200 freestyle, 200 IM". NBC News. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  5. ^ Lohn, John (11 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Federica Pellegrini Downs World Record in 200 Free Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 June 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Phelps shines as records tumble". BBC News. 28 March 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2008.