The women's 200-metre backstroke event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

took place on 2–3 August at the

London Aquatics Centre The London Aquatics Centre is an indoor facility with two swimming pools and a diving pool in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London. The centre, designed by architect Zaha Hadid as one of the main venues of the 2012 Summer Olymp ...

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. U.S. teenage sensation

Missy Franklin Melissa Franklin Johnson (born May 10, 1995) is an American former competition swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She formerly held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke (long course). As a member of the U.S. national swim team ...

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 Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward (born 16 September 1983) is a Zimbabwean swimmer and politician currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe since September 2018. A former Olympic swimmer and wo ...

in a now-banned

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethan ...

bodysuit from the 2009 World Championships. Russia's Anastasia Zuyeva cleared a 2:06-barrier to take the silver in 2:05.92, while Franklin's teammate

Elizabeth Beisel Elizabeth Lyon Beisel (born August 18, 1992) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in backstroke and individual medley events. Beisel placed second in the 400m individual medley at the 2016 US Olympic Swimming Trials, qualifying fo ...

snatched the bronze in 2:06.55, handing over an entire medal haul for the Americans with a one-three finish. 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. 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. France's

Alexianne Castel Alexianne Castel (born 25 July 1990) is a French swimmer from Bordeaux. She has won gold at World Championships. Castel represented France at the 2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following t ...

(2:08.43) and Canada's Sinead Russell (2:09.86) closed out the championship field.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following records were established during the competition:

Results

Heats

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

External links

NBC Olympics Coverage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Women's 200 metre backstroke Women's 00200 metre backstroke 2012 in women's swimming Women's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics