The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1–2 August 2012 at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]
| Women's 200 metre breaststroke at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | London Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
| Date | August 1, 2012 (heats & semifinals) August 2, 2012 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 34 from 27 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 2:19.59 WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
U.S. swimmer Rebecca Soni cleared a 2:20-barrier in a remarkable world record to defend her Olympic title for the first time in the event's history. Dominating the race from the start, she threw down a stunning time of 2:19.59 to open up a full-body length gap over the rest of the field on the final stretch.[2][3] Meanwhile, Japan's Satomi Suzuki powered home with silver in a scorching time of 2:20.72 to match an Asian record previously held by Rie Kaneto in 2009.[4] Russia's Yuliya Yefimova, who trained with Soni at the Trojan Swim Club, snatched the bronze medal with an astonishing European record in 2:20.92.[5][6]
Denmark's Rikke Pedersen fell short of the podium by almost a full second with a fourth-place time in 2:21.65, and was followed in fifth by Canada's Martha McCabe (2:23.16) and sixth by Soni's teammate Micah Lawrence (2:23.27).[7] South Africa's Suzaan van Biljon got off to a flying start in the first length, but dropped back to seventh in 2:23.72, while Australia's Sally Foster rounded out the field to eighth in 2:26.00.[6][8]
Before the breakthrough finale, Soni scorched the field with a world-record time in 2:20.00 to pick up a top seed in the semifinals, slicing 0.12 seconds off the standard set by Canada's Annamay Pierse in a since-banned high tech bodysuit from the 2009 World Championships.[9][10]
Other notable swimmers missed the final roster featuring Serbia's Nađa Higl, the 2009 world champion; Norway's Sara Nordenstam, the defending bronze medalist; and Jamaica's Alia Atkinson, fourth-place finalist in the 100 m breaststroke.[11]
Records
editPrior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Annamay Pierse (CAN) |
2:20.12 | Rome, Italy | 30 July 2009 | [12][13] |
| Olympic record |  Rebecca Soni (USA) |
2:20.22 | Beijing, China | 15 August 2008 | [14] |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1 | Semifinal 2 | Rebecca Soni | United States |
2:20.00 | WR |
| August 2 | Final | Rebecca Soni | United States |
2:19.59 | WR |
Results
editHeats
edit
Semifinals
editSemifinal 1
edit| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rikke Pedersen |  Denmark |
2:22.23 | Q, NR |
| 2 | 1 | Yuliya Yefimova |  Russia |
2:23.02 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Micah Lawrence | United States |
2:23.39 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Sally Foster |  Australia |
2:24.46 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Back Su-Yeon |  South Korea |
2:24.67 | |
| 6 | 3 | Joline Höstman |  Sweden |
2:24.77 | |
| 7 | 7 | Kanako Watanabe |  Japan |
2:27.32 | |
| 8 | 8 | Tessa Wallace | Australia |
2:27.38 |
Semifinal 2
edit| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rebecca Soni | United States |
2:20.00 | Q, WR |
| 2 | 5 | Satomi Suzuki | Japan |
2:22.40 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Suzaan van Biljon |  South Africa |
2:23.21 | Q, AF |
| 4 | 1 | Martha McCabe |  Canada |
2:24.09 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Sara El Bekri |  Morocco |
2:25.86 | NR |
| 6 | 3 | Anastasia Chaun | Russia |
2:26.08 | |
| 7 | 6 | Ji Liping |  China |
2:27.26 | |
| 8 | 8 | Jeong Da-Rae | South Korea |
2:28.74 |
Final
edit| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | Rebecca Soni | United States |
2:19.59 | WR |
 |
3 | Satomi Suzuki | Japan |
2:20.72 | =AS |
 |
6 | Yuliya Yefimova | Russia |
2:20.92 | EU |
| 4 | 5 | Rikke Pedersen | Denmark |
2:21.65 | NR |
| 5 | 1 | Martha McCabe | Canada |
2:23.16 | |
| 6 | 7 | Micah Lawrence | United States |
2:23.27 | |
| 7 | 2 | Suzaan van Biljon | South Africa |
2:23.72 | |
| 8 | 8 | Sally Foster | Australia |
2:26.00 |
References
edit- ^ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ Auerbach, Nicole (2 August 2012). "Rebecca Soni sets world record in winning gold". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Rebecca Soni breaks 200 breast world record again, wins gold". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Swimmers Irie, Suzuki add silver to Japan's medal count". The Japan Times. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "US swimmer Rebecca Soni sets another world record in the 200-meter breaststroke". Fox News. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ a b "2012 London Olympics: Rebecca Soni Clears 2:20 In Remarkable World Record Swim to Defend 200 Breast Title; Satomi Suzuki, Yuliya Efimova Round Out Podium; Micah Lawrence Sixth". Swimming World Magazine. 2 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "McCabe finishes fifth; Hayden fails to advance". The Vancouver Sun. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Van Biljon falls short in final". Sport24. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "2012 London Olympics: USA's Rebecca Soni Throws Down World Record in 200 Breast Semis; Micah Lawrence Makes Finals". Swimming World Magazine. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Soni sets world record in 200 breast semifinals". Gillette News-Record. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "2012 London Olympics: Rebecca Soni Surges to Olympic Textile Best in 200 Breast; Micah Lawrence Fourth". Swimming World Magazine. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Pierse sets world breaststroke record". CBC Sports. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Canadian Pierse sets world swim record". CBC Sports. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ "Rebecca Soni breaks 200m breaststroke record". France 24. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ "Women's 200m Breaststroke – Heats". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.