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

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Women's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 14, 2008 (heats)
August 15, 2008 (semifinals)
August 16, 2008 (final)
Competitors35 from 24 nations
Winning time2:05.24 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Margaret Hoelzer  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Reiko Nakamura  Japan
← 2004
2012 →
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 backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14–16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]

After claiming three silver medals at these Games, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry stormed home on the final lap to defend her Olympic title in the event. She posted a time of 2:05.24 to crush a world record set by U.S. swimmer Margaret Hoelzer from the Olympic trials one month earlier.[2] Meanwhile, Hoelzer added a silver to her hardware from the 100 m backstroke, when she touched the wall in 2:06.23, the second-fastest effort of her career.[3][4] Japan's Reiko Nakamura managed to repeat a bronze from Athens four years earlier, in an Asian record of 2:07.13.[5]

Russia's top favorite Anastasia Zuyeva finished fourth with a time of 2:07.88, and was followed in the fifth spot by American teenager Elizabeth Beisel, aged 16, in 2:08.23. Elizabeth Simmonds set a new British record of 2:08.51 to earn a sixth spot, while Aussies Meagan Nay (2:08.84) and Belinda Hocking (2:10.12) closed out the field.[5][6] Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Russia's Stanislava Komarova, silver medalist in Athens, and British top favorite Gemma Spofforth.[5]

Before her breakthrough final, Coventry broke one of the oldest Olympic records earlier in the prelims. She posted a top-seeded time of 2:06.76 to lead 34 other swimmers in the race, slashing four-tenths of a second (0.40) off the record set by Hungary's three-time Olympic champion Krisztina Egerszegi from Barcelona in 1992.[7][8]

Records

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

World record  Margaret Hoelzer (USA) 2:06.09 Omaha, United States 5 July 2008 [9]
Olympic record  Krisztina Egerszegi (HUN) 2:07.06 Barcelona, Spain 31 July 1992 -

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

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
August 14 Heat 4 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 2:06.76 OR
August 16 Final Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 2:05.24 WR

Results

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Heats

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Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 4 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 2:06.76 Q, OR
2 5 6 Elizabeth Simmonds  Great Britain 2:08.66 Q, NR
3 4 3 Meagen Nay  Australia 2:08.79 Q
4 3 5 Zhao Jing  China 2:08.97 Q
5 3 3 Anastasia Zuyeva  Russia 2:09.01 Q
6 5 5 Elizabeth Beisel  United States 2:09.02 Q
7 5 4 Margaret Hoelzer  United States 2:09.12 Q
8 4 2 Melissa Ingram  New Zealand 2:09.34 Q
9 4 5 Alexianne Castel  France 2:09.37 Q
10 3 4 Laure Manaudou  France 2:09.39 Q
11 3 6 Belinda Hocking  Australia 2:09.54 Q
12 5 3 Reiko Nakamura  Japan 2:09.77 Q
13 5 7 Stanislava Komarova  Russia 2:09.93 Q
14 4 6 Hanae Ito  Japan 2:10.05 Q
15 3 1 Anja Čarman  Slovenia 2:10.49 Q, NR
16 3 2 Gemma Spofforth  Great Britain 2:10.58 Q
17 3 7 Evelyn Verrasztó  Hungary 2:11.02
18 5 2 Nikolett Szepesi  Hungary 2:11.47
19 4 8 Chen Yanyan  China 2:11.95
20 2 7 Melanie Nocher  Ireland 2:12.29 NR
21 2 6 Zuzanna Mazurek  Poland 2:12.46 NR
22 4 7 Melissa Corfe  South Africa 2:12.64
5 8 Kateryna Zubkova  Ukraine
24 5 1 Escarlata Bernard  Spain 2:12.86
25 2 4 Lydia Morant  Spain 2:13.87
26 1 3 Kang Yeong-seo  South Korea 2:14.52
27 1 5 Gisela Morales  Guatemala 2:14.54
28 2 8 Fernanda González  Mexico 2:14.64
29 2 1 Stella Boumi  Greece 2:14.73
30 3 8 Lindsay Seemann  Canada 2:15.07
31 2 3 Sanja Jovanović  Croatia 2:15.57
32 1 4 Erin Volcán  Venezuela 2:15.58
33 4 1 Iryna Amshennikova  Ukraine 2:15.78
34 2 5 Christin Zenner  Germany 2:20.28
2 2 Julia Wilkinson  Canada DNS

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 3 Elizabeth Beisel  United States 2:07.90 Q
2 7 Reiko Nakamura  Japan 2:08.21 Q, NR
3 4 Elizabeth Simmonds  Great Britain 2:08.96 Q
4 8 Gemma Spofforth  Great Britain 2:09.19
5 5 Zhao Jing  China 2:09.59
6 6 Melissa Ingram  New Zealand 2:09.70
7 1 Hanae Ito  Japan 2:09.86
8 2 Laure Manaudou  France 2:12.04

Semifinal 2

[edit]
Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 2:07.76 Q
2 5 Meagen Nay  Australia 2:08.09 Q, OC
3 6 Margaret Hoelzer  United States 2:08.25 Q
4 7 Belinda Hocking  Australia 2:08.80 Q
5 3 Anastasia Zuyeva  Russia 2:09.07 Q
6 2 Alexianne Castel  France 2:10.04
7 1 Stanislava Komarova  Russia 2:10.50
8 8 Anja Čarman  Slovenia 2:12.46

Final

[edit]
Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 2:05.24 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2 Margaret Hoelzer  United States 2:06.23
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 Reiko Nakamura  Japan 2:07.13 AS
4 8 Anastasia Zuyeva  Russia 2:07.88
5 5 Elizabeth Beisel  United States 2:08.23
6 1 Elizabeth Simmonds  Great Britain 2:08.51 NR
7 3 Meagen Nay  Australia 2:08.84
8 7 Belinda Hocking  Australia 2:10.12

References

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  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ Evans, Simon (15 August 2008). "Coventry's silver mine seeded with gold". Reuters. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Margaret Hoelzer gets Olympic silver in 200 backstroke". Team USA. 15 August 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. ^ Kelley, Steve (16 August 2008). "Margaret Hoelzer wins silver in backstroke". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  5. ^ a b c Lohn, John (15 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry Wins 200 Back in World Record Fashion". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  6. ^ Paxinos, Stathi (16 August 2008). "Coventry wins backstroke gold". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  7. ^ Lohn, John (14 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry Dominates 200 Back Prelims, Sets Olympic Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  8. ^ Harris, Beth (16 August 2008). "Americans Hoff, Ziegler fail in 800 free heats". USA Today. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. ^ Borzi, Pat (6 July 2008). "As records change by the minute, the women's 800 stays standing". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
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