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

Women's 200 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Competitors 41
Medalists
  Rebecca Soni   United States
  Leisel Jones   Australia
  Sara Nordenstam   Norway
«2004 2012»
Swimming events at the
2008 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
Marathon
10 km men women

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place between August 13 and 15, at the Beijing National Aquatics Center. This swimming event used the breaststroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Six heats were held, with most containing the maximum number of swimmers (eight). The heat in which a swimmer competed did not formally matter for advancement, as the swimmers with the top sixteen times from the entire field qualified for the semifinals. Two semifinal heats of eight swimmers each were held. The swimmers with the eight fastest times again advanced to the finals; there, they all competed in a single final heat to earn final placements.

The qualifying standards for the 2008 event were 2:28.20 (A norm) and 2:33.40 (B norm). Nations with two or more swimmers meeting the A standard could enter any two such swimmers; otherwise, they could enter a single swimmer meeting the B standard.

Contents

Records

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

World record  Leisel Jones (AUS) 2:20.54 Melbourne, Australia 1 February 2006 [1]
Olympic record  Amanda Beard (USA) 2:23.37 Athens, Greece 19 August 2004 -

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

Date Event Name Nationality Time OR WR
August 13 Heat 5 Rebecca Soni United States 2:22.17 OR
August 15 Final Rebecca Soni United States 2:20.22 OR WR

Heats

Heat 1

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 5 Raminta Dvariskyte Lithuania 2:33.32
2 3 Noora Laukkanen Finland 2:38.97
3 4 Tatiane Sakemi Brazil 2:39.13

Heat 2

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 2 Yi Ting Siow Malaysia 2:27.80
2 4 Alia Atkinson Jamaica 2:29.53
3 7 Marina Kuc Montenegro 2:31.24
4 3 Dilara Buse Gunaydin Turkey 2:31.86
5 6 Smiljana Marinović Croatia 2:32.80
6 5 Nicolette Teo Singapore 2:34.60

Heat 3

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 7 Inna Kapishina Belarus 2:27.34
2 4 Adriana Marmolejo Mexico 2:28.10 NR
3 1 Katalin Bor Hungary 2:29.95
4 2 Sara Elbekri Morocco 2:30.04
5 3 Diana Gomes Portugal 2:30.18
6 6 Nadja Higl Serbia 2:32.78
7 8 Agustina De Giovanni Argentina 2:34.94
8 5 Angeliki Exarchou Greece 2:36.83

Heat 4

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 6 Rie Kaneto Japan 2:24.62 Q
2 5 Annamay Pierse Canada 2:25.01 Q
3 4 Yuliya Yefimova Russia 2:25.07 Q
4 8 Elise Matthysen Belgium 2:27.04 Q
5 1 Jeong Darae South Korea 2:27.28 Q
6 3 Amanda Beard United States 2:27.70
7 2 Olga Detenyuk Russia 2:27.87
8 7 Mireia Belmonte Spain 2:29.46

Heat 5

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Rebecca Soni United States 2:22.17 Q, OR
2 5 Megumi Taneda Japan 2:24.75 Q
3 7 Suzaan van Biljon South Africa 2:25.51 Q
4 3 Sally Foster Australia 2:25.54 Q
5 2 Anne Poleska Germany 2:26.74 Q
6 1 Kirsty Balfour Great Britain 2:27.87
7 8 Sophie de Ronchi France 2:30.93
8 6 Sarah Poewe Germany DNS

Heat 6

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Leisel Jones Australia 2:23.81 Q
2 5 Mirna Jukić Austria 2:24.39 Q
3 1 Sara Nordenstam Norway 2:24.47 Q
4 3 Seulki Jung South Korea 2:25.95 Q
5 6 Joline Höstman‎ Sweden 2:26.00 Q
6 2 Qi Hui China 2:26.16 Q
7 8 Yuliya Pidlisna Ukraine 2:28.84
8 7 Luo Nan China 2:29.67

Semifinals

Semifinal 1
Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Leisel Jones Australia 2:23.04 Q
2 5 Sara Nordenstam Norway 2:23.79 Q, ER
3 6 Yuliya Yefimova Russia 2:24.00 Q
4 3 Megumi Taneda Japan 2:25.42 Q
5 2 Sally Foster Australia 2:26.33
6 1 Anne Poleska Germany 2:26.71
7 7 Joline Höstman‎ Sweden 2:27.14
8 8 Jeong Darae South Korea 2:28.28
Semifinal 2
Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Rebecca Soni United States 2:22.64 Q
2 5 Mirna Jukić Austria 2:23.76 Q, ER
3 6 Annamay Pierse Canada 2:23.94 Q
4 3 Rie Kaneto Japan 2:25.65 Q
5 7 Seulki Jung South Korea 2:26.83
6 1 Qi Hui China 2:27.63
7 2 Suzaan van Biljon South Africa 2:28.45
8 8 Elise Matthysen Belgium 2:29.64

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
4 Rebecca Soni United States 2:20.22 WR
5 Leisel Jones Australia 2:22.05
6 Sara Nordenstam Norway 2:23.02 ER
4 3 Mirna Jukić Austria 2:23.24 NR
5 7 Yuliya Yefimova Russia 2:23.76 NR
6 2 Annamay Pierse Canada 2:23.77 NR
7 1 Rie Kaneto Japan 2:25.14
8 8 Megumi Taneda Japan 2:25.23

References

  1. ^ Cowley, Michael (2006-02-02). "Lethal again: Jones beats own record". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/02/01/1138590567924.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1. Retrieved 2008-08-06.