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

The women's 200-metre backstroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 2–3 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.^[1]

U.S. teenage sensation Missy Franklin blistered the field with a remarkable world record in textile to strike a backstroke double for the first time, since Romania's Diana Mocanu did so in 2000. Dominating the race from the start, she threw down a sterling time of 2:04.06 to broaden a full-body length gap over the rest of the field and to slice three-quarters of a second (0.75) off the previous record set by Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry in a now-banned polyurethane bodysuit from the 2009 World Championships.^{[2] [3]} Russia's Anastasia Zuyeva cleared a 2:06-barrier to take the silver in 2:05.92, while Franklin's teammate Elizabeth Beisel snatched the bronze in 2:06.55, handing over an entire medal haul for the Americans with a one-three finish.^{[4] [5]}

Backed by a raucous home crowd, Great Britain's Elizabeth Simmonds fell short of the podium with a fourth-place time in 2:07.26.^[6] Australia's Meagan Nay finished fifth in 2:07.43, while Coventry, a two-time Olympic champion, missed a chance to produce another historic three-peat as she claimed a distant sixth spot in 2:08.18.^{[7] [8]} France's Alexianne Castel (2:08.43) and Canada's Sinead Russell (2:09.86) closed out the championship field.^[5]

Records

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

The following records were established during the competition:

Results

Heats

^[9]

Rank	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	5	4			2:07.54	Q
2	3	5			2:07.82	Q
3	5	2			2:08.14	Q
4	5	5			2:08.40	Q
5	4	4			2:08.75	Q
6	3	6			2:08.92	Q
7	3	3			2:09.04	Q
8	3	4			2:09.36	Q
9	4	3			2:09.40	Q
10	4	7			2:09.72	Q
11	5	7			2:10.01	Q
12	2	6			2:10.03	Q, NR
13	3	1			2:10.34	Q
14	4	5			2:10.37	Q
15	4	6			2:10.54	Q
16	5	3			2:10.60	Q
17	4	1			2:10.63
18	4	2			2:10.75
19	3	7			2:11.26
20	5	8			2:11.31	NR
21	2	4			2:11.65
22	5	1			2:12.14
23	3	2			2:12.40
24	2	5			2:12.75
25	2	7			2:13.01
26	1	4			2:13.35
27	1	6			2:13.64	NR
28	2	2			2:13.89
29	3	8			2:14.02
30	5	6			2:14.29
31	1	2			2:15.30
32	4	8			2:15.44
33	2	1			2:15.67
34	2	3			2:16.29
35	1	3			2:18.16
36	2	8			2:18.47
37	1	5			2:18.60

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4			2:06.18	Q
2	5			2:07.42	Q
3	6			2:07.88	Q
4	3			2:08.24	Q
5	1			2:08.48	Q
6	8			2:09.50
7	2			2:09.88
8	7			2:10.18

Semifinal 2

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4			2:06.84	Q
2	5			2:08.32	Q
3	6			2:08.76	Q
4	7			2:09.04
5	3			2:09.35
6	2			2:09.70
7	8			2:10.68
8	1			2:11.42

Final

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	5			2:04.06
	6			2:05.92
	4			2:06.55
4	1			2:07.26
5	3			2:07.43
6	7			2:08.18
7	2			2:08.43
8	8			2:09.86

External links

• NBC Olympics Coverage

Notes and References

1. Web site: Swimming: Results & Schedules. London 2012. NBC Olympics. 2 August 2012. 7 July 2013. dead. https://archive.today/20130703184425/http://www.2012.nbcolympics.com/swimming/results-schedules/index.html. 3 July 2013.
2. News: Auerbach. Nicole. USA's Missy Franklin wins another gold, sets world record. USA Today. 4 August 2012. 11 July 2013.
3. News: US swimmer Missy Franklin sets world record, Phelps ends individual races with medal. Fox News. 3 August 2012. 11 July 2013.
4. News: Missy Franklin wins 200 backstroke. ESPN. 3 August 2012. 11 July 2013.
5. News: 2012 London Olympics: Missy Franklin Crushes World Record in 200 Back; Anastasia Zueva, Elizabeth Beisel Round Out Podium; Kirsty Coventry Misses Threepeat Opportunity. Swimming World Magazine. 3 August 2012. 10 July 2013.
6. News: Norlander. Matt. Missy Franklin smashes world record in 200-meter backstroke. CBS Sports. 3 August 2012. 11 July 2013.
7. News: English. Ben. Australian Meagan Nay fifth in 200m backstroke final. News Corp Australia. 3 August 2012. 11 July 2013.
8. News: Franklin dominates 200m backstroke. ABC News Australia. 3 August 2012. 11 July 2013.
9. Web site: Women's 200m Backstroke – Heats. London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 27 July 2012. 10 December 2012. https://archive.today/20121210182533/http://www.london2012.com/swimming/event/women-200m-backstroke/phase=sww042900/index.html. dead.