Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre breaststroke


The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17–18 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
At only 16 years of age, U.S. swimmer Megan Quann fulfilled her merciless prediction by knocking off South Africa's defending Olympic champion Penny Heyns in the event. Coming from third at the final turn, she surged powerfully past the champion over the last 25 metres to snatch the gold medal in a new American record of 1:07.05, just a small fraction closer to an Olympic standard. Australia's overwhelming favorite Leisel Jones, who just turned 15, roared back from fifth place on the final stretch to take home the silver in 1:07.49. Heyns, who was struggling with her form in the prelims and semifinals, seized off a strong lead under a world-record pace, but ended up only with a bronze in a time of 1:07.55. Meanwhile, Sarah Poewe, the fastest qualifier for the final, trailed behind her teammate by three-tenths of a second in 1:07.85.
Outside the 1:08-club, Hungary's Ágnes Kovács finished fifth in 1:08.09, and was followed in sixth by Japan's Masami Tanaka with a time of 1:08.37. Aussie favorite Tarnee White and 31-year-old Sylvia Gerasch, a product of the old East German system, closed out the field.
Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Quann's teammate Staciana Stitts, who had a poor start on the morning prelims with an eighteenth-place effort; and Angola's Nádia Cruz, the first for her nation to compete in all four editions of the Games since 1988.

Records

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

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
154Megan Quann1:07.48Q
264Penny Heyns1:07.85Q
363Leisel Jones1:07.92Q
445Sarah Poewe1:08.06Q
543Tarnee White1:08.35Q
655Ágnes Kovács1:08.50Q
744Masami Tanaka1:09.12Q
866Sylvia Gerasch1:09.31Q
942Brigitte Becue1:09.38Q
1047Christin Petelski1:09.57Q
1153Svitlana Bondarenko1:09.60Q
1262Rhiannon Leier1:09.68Q
1356Qi Hui1:09.88Q
1467Simone Karn1:09.94Q
1558Nataša Kejžar1:10.44Q, NR
1668Madelon Baans1:10.47Q
1751Olga Bakaldina1:10.53
1865Staciana Stitts1:10.54
1946Li Wei1:10.55
2057Heidi Earp1:10.56
2152Alicja Pęczak1:10.57
2261Emma Igelström1:11.09
2326İlkay Dikmen1:11.51NR
2434Elvira Fischer1:11.58
2548Byun Hye-young1:11.64
2631Isabel Ceballos1:11.90NR
2737Agata Czaplicki1:13.19
2835Joscelin Yeo1:13.25
2933Emma Robinson1:13.41
3032Smiljana Marinović1:13.49
3136Imaday Nuñez Gonzalez1:13.91
3224Siow Yi Ting1:13.92
3323Íris Edda Heimisdóttir1:14.07
3425Olga Moltchanova1:14.41
3538Jenny Rose Guerrero1:15.14
3622Caroline Chiu Sin Wing1:15.87
3721Katerine Moreno1:16.15NR
3827Nádia Cruz1:19.57
3928Xenia Peni1:19.62
4013Mariam Pauline Keita1:37.80
4115Balkissa Ouhoumoudou1:42.39
14Doli Akhter
16Pamela Girimbabazi
41Junko Isoda

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final