Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre freestyle


The women's 200-metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 18–19 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney.
Australia's overwhelming favorite Susie O'Neill, dubbed as Madame Butterfly, gave the home crowd a further reason to celebrate, as she claimed the gold medal in the event. Rocketed to the boisterous chants of "Susie, Susie" by her swimming fans, O'Neill held off a challenge from Slovakia's Martina Moravcová to strengthen her lead on the final lap before hitting the wall first in 1:58.24. Moravcova trailed behind by a small fraction of a second to capture another silver at these Games in 1:58.32, while Costa Rica's Claudia Poll, defending Olympic champion, added a second bronze to her hardware from the 400 m freestyle, in a sterling time of 1:58.81.
Russia's Nadezhda Chemezova and Germany's Kerstin Kielgass tied for fourth place in a matching time of 1:58.86, finishing off the podium by just five-hundredths of a second. Belarus' Natalya Baranovskaya pulled off a sixth-place finish in a national record of 1:59.28, while Romania's Camelia Potec and China's Wang Luna closed out the field.
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring world-record holder Franziska van Almsick, who faded shortly on the final lap and finished eleventh in the semi-finals; South Africa's Helene Muller, who posted a second-fastest prelims time earlier but ended up only in ninth; and American duo Lindsay Benko and Rada Owen, both of whom earned a twelfth and a sixteenth spot, respectively.
Shortly after the Games, O'Neill announced her retirement from swimming, and was elected to the IOC Athletes' Commission, along with ten other athletes.

Records

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

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
164Susie O'Neill1:59.14Q
242Helene Muller1:59.89Q, AF
354Claudia Poll2:00.11Q
465Lindsay Benko2:00.13Q
544Camelia Potec2:00.18Q
666Kerstin Kielgaß2:00.25Q
755Franziska van Almsick2:00.37Q
845Martina Moravcová2:00.46Q
956Nadezhda Chemezova2:00.47Q
1043Natalya Baranovskaya2:00.58Q
1161Carla Geurts2:00.60Q
1263Wang Luna2:00.89Q
1353Giaan Rooney2:00.99Q
1448Mandy Leach2:01.05Q, NR
1557Rada Owen2:01.10Q
1641Sara Parise2:01.31Q
1752Yang Yu2:01.34
1862Jessica Deglau2:01.42
1847Karen Pickering2:01.42
2046Solenne Figuès2:01.46
2131Rania Elwani2:01.93NR
2251Nina van Koeckhoven2:02.15
2368Laura Nicholls2:02.69
2458Laura Roca2:03.37
2532Zoi Dimoschaki2:04.06
2635Olena Lapunova2:04.39
2725Lára Hrund Bjargardóttir2:05.22
2834Chantal Gibney2:05.24
2926Vesna Stojanovska2:05.58
3038Pilin Tachakittiranan2:05.88
3133Elina Partõka2:05.90
3236Tsai Shu-min2:06.12
3337Roh Joo-hee2:07.21
3427Ivanka Moralieva2:07.61
3523Anna Korshikova2:08.08
3622Petra Banović2:08.30
3714Nisha Millet2:08.89
3815Pamela Vásquez2:15.83
3913Marella Mamoun2:18.78
24Florencia Szigeti
67Karen Legg

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1

Semi-final 2

Final