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


The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
Dutch rising star Inge de Bruijn stormed home on the final lap to claim her second gold at these Games. She powered past her rivals in a star-studded field to touch the wall first in 53.83. Earlier in the semifinals, she delivered a time of 53.77 to erase her own world record by 0.03 of a second. Almost stealing the race from lane one, Therese Alshammar took home the silver in a Swedish record of 54.33. Meanwhile, top favorites Dara Torres and Jenny Thompson gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate, as they shared bronze medals in a matching time of 54.63. This was also Thompson's ninth career medal at these Games, making her the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history.
Slovakia's Martina Moravcová, who captured two silver medals in swimming, finished outside the podium in fifth place at 54.72. South Africa's Helene Muller managed to pull off a sixth-place finish in an African standard of 55.19. Japan's Sumika Minamoto and De Bruijn's teammate Wilma van Rijn closed out the field.
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Australia's overwhelming favorites Sarah Ryan and Susie O'Neill, Germany's Sandra Völker, silver medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, and Egypt's Rania Elwani, who surprisingly reached the semifinals from an unseeded heat.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
DateEventNameNationalityTimeRecord
20 SeptemberSemifinal 2Inge de Bruijn53.77

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
174Inge de Bruijn54.77Q
255Dara Torres55.12Q
364Jenny Thompson55.22Q
465Martina Moravcová55.42Q
572Helene Muller55.45Q, AF
675Therese Alshammar55.49Q
753Sandra Völker55.54Q
863Sue Rolph55.77Q
952Sumika Minamoto55.80Q
1076Wilma van Rijn55.82Q
1162Louise Jöhncke55.91Q
1266Sarah Ryan56.05Q
1356Karen Pickering56.08Q
1477Laura Nicholls56.30Q
1541Rania Elwani56.31Q, NR
1657Alena Popchanka56.33Q
1743Hanna-Maria Seppälä56.68
1836Olga Mukomol56.69
1978Han Xue56.79
2067Yekaterina Kibalo56.97
2144Cristina Chiuso57.09
2261Joscelin Yeo57.15
2342Florencia Szigeti57.20
2426Leah Martindale57.21
2551Antonia Machaira57.24
2668Ilona Hlaváčková57.37
2758Judith Draxler57.40
2834Kirsty Coventry57.47
2924Elina Partõka57.71
2935Gyöngyver Lakos57.71
3173Susie O'Neill57.78
3248Eileen Coparropa57.82
3346Monique Robins57.85
3422Siobhan Cropper57.91
3545Tine Bossuyt58.02
3621Lára Hrund Bjargardóttir58.44
3732Lara Heinz58.55
3827Caroline Pickering58.62
3938Pilin Tachakittiranan58.69
4047Chang Hee-jin58.77
4131Jūratė Ladavičiūtė58.78
4233Chantal Gibney58.79
4328Yekaterina Tochenaya58.80
4423Anna Stylianou59.08
4525Agnese Ozoliņa59.28
4637Tsai Shu-min59.39
4718Nicole Hayes1:00.89
4815Rola El Haress1:03.26
4912Maria Awori1:06.23
5013Nathalie Lee Baw1:06.67
5117Zeïna Sahelí1:07.37
5214Supra Singhal1:08.15
5316Sanjaajamtsyn Altantuyaa1:10.22
5411Katerina Izmaylova1:19.12
54Antje Buschschulte
71Marianne Limpert

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final