Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle


The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 21–22 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
United States' Brooke Bennett became the second swimmer in Olympic history to defend her title in the event, and the fifth to strike a long-distance freestyle double, since Debbie Meyer did so in 1968, Petra Thümer in 1976, Tiffany Cohen in 1984, and the legendary Janet Evans in 1988. She maintained a powerful lead from start to finish before hitting the wall first in 8:19.67, the second-fastest of all time, cutting off Evans' 12-year Olympic record by 0.53 seconds. After effortlessly striking a medley double over the past six days, Yana Klochkova added a silver to her medal tally at these Games, in a scintillating Ukrainian record of 8:22.66. Bennett's teammate Kaitlin Sandeno gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate, as she powered home with a bronze in 8:24.29.
Switzerland's Flavia Rigamonti lost a spirited challenge to Sandeno for the bronze by more than a full body length, but earned a fourth spot in a national record of 8:25.91. She was followed in fifth by Germany's Hannah Stockbauer, and in sixth by China's Chen Hua. Stockbauer's teammate Jana Henke, bronze medalist in Barcelona eight years earlier, and Japan's Sachiko Yamada rounded out the finale.

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
22 SeptemberFinalBrooke Bennett8:19.67

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
144Brooke Bennett8:26.47Q
232Yana Klochkova8:29.84Q, NR
334Kaitlin Sandeno8:30.12Q
424Flavia Rigamonti8:30.44Q
545Hannah Stockbauer8:31.74Q
635Jana Henke8:31.86Q
743Sachiko Yamada8:33.06Q
837Chen Hua8:33.23Q
946Janelle Atkinson8:34.51NR
1033Kirsten Vlieghuis8:35.80
1125Chantal Strasser8:35.84
1242Rachel Harris8:36.94
1323Hayley Lewis8:38.75
1436Éva Risztov8:43.07
1522Rebecca Cooke8:43.22
1627Karine Legault8:43.56
1731Irina Ufimtseva8:44.64
1848Mirjana Boševska8:46.39NR
1928Hana Černá8:47.64
2013Ivanka Moralieva8:52.61
2114Patricia Villarreal8:54.79
2238Marianna Lymperta8:56.33
2326Olga Beresnyeva9:00.12
2415Lin Chi-chan9:01.09
2521Adi Bichman9:01.90
2616Cecilia Biagioli9:04.02
41Claudia Poll
47Joanne Malar

Final