Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

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
1st, gold medalist(s) Rebecca Soni  United States
2nd, silver medalist(s) Satomi Suzuki  Japan
3rd, bronze medalist(s) Yuliya Yefimova  Russia

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1–2 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]

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

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

World record Annamay Pierse (CAN)2:20.12Rome, Italy30 July 2009
Olympic record Rebecca Soni (USA)2:20.22Beijing, China15 August 2008

The following records were established during the competition:

DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
August 1Semifinal 2Rebecca Soni United States2:20.00WR, OR
August 2FinalRebecca Soni United States2:19.59WR, OR

Results

Heats

[12]

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
154Rebecca Soni United States2:21.40Q
256Rikke Pedersen Denmark2:22.69Q, NR
334Satomi Suzuki Japan2:23.22Q
455Micah Lawrence United States2:24.50Q
553Anastasia Chaun Russia2:25.39Q
641Joline Höstman Sweden2:25.44Q
733Ji Liping China2:25.76Q
31Back Su-yeon South KoreaQ
932Suzaan van Biljon South Africa2:25.94Q
1036Sally Foster Australia2:26.04Q
1137Sara El Bekri Morocco2:26.05Q, NR
1245Kanako Watanabe Japan2:26.38Q
1346Martha McCabe Canada2:26.39Q
1444Yuliya Yefimova Russia2:26.83Q
47Jeong Da-rae South KoreaQ
1651Tessa Wallace Australia2:26.94Q
1725Ganna Dzerkal Ukraine2:27.09NR
1848Stacey Tadd Great Britain2:27.18
1957Fanny Lecluyse Belgium2:27.30
2052Marina Garcia Urzainqui Spain2:27.57
2135Tera van Beilen Canada2:27.70
2258Chiara Boggiatto Italy2:27.74
2338Sara Nordenstam Norway2:27.90
2443Sun Ye China2:27.94
2542Nađa Higl Serbia2:28.38
2626Martina Moravčíková Czech Republic2:28.54
2715Alia Atkinson Jamaica2:28.77NR
2824Hrafnhildur Lúthersdóttir Iceland2:29.60
2914Anna Sztankovics Hungary2:29.67
3027Dilara Buse Günaydin Turkey2:30.64
3121Sarra Lajnef Tunisia2:31.15
3222Jenna Laukkanen Finland2:31.23
3323Tanja Šmid Slovenia2:32.19
3413Dariya Talanova Kyrgyzstan2:38.01

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14Rikke Pedersen Denmark2:22.23Q, NR
21Yuliya Yefimova Russia2:23.02Q
35Micah Lawrence United States2:23.39Q
42Sally Foster Australia2:24.46Q
56Back Su-Yeon South Korea2:24.67
63Joline Höstman Sweden2:24.77
77Kanako Watanabe Japan2:27.32
88Tessa Wallace Australia2:27.38

Semifinal 2

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
14Rebecca Soni United States2:20.00Q, WR
25Satomi Suzuki Japan2:22.40Q
32Suzaan van Biljon South Africa2:23.21Q, AF
41Martha McCabe Canada2:24.09Q
57Sara El Bekri Morocco2:25.86NR
63Anastasia Chaun Russia2:26.08
76Ji Liping China2:27.26
88Jeong Da-Rae South Korea2:28.74

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
1st, gold medalist(s)4Rebecca Soni United States2:19.59WR
2nd, silver medalist(s)3Satomi Suzuki Japan2:20.72=AS
3rd, bronze medalist(s)6Yuliya Yefimova Russia2:20.92EU
45Rikke Pedersen Denmark2:21.65NR
51Martha McCabe Canada2:23.16
67Micah Lawrence United States2:23.27
72Suzaan van Biljon South Africa2:23.72
88Sally Foster Australia2:26.00

References

  1. ↑ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Auerbach, Nicole (2 August 2012). "Rebecca Soni sets world record in winning gold". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "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.
  4. ↑ "Swimmers Irie, Suzuki add silver to Japan's medal count". The Japan Times. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "US swimmer Rebecca Soni sets another world record in the 200-meter breaststroke". Fox News. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  6. 1 2 "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. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "McCabe finishes fifth; Hayden fails to advance". The Vancouver Sun. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Van Biljon falls short in final". Sport24. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "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. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Soni sets world record in 200 breast semifinals". Gillette News-Record. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "Women's 200m Breaststroke – Heats". London 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
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