The women's 200 metre freestyle event at the
2012 Summer Olympics took place on 30–31 July 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 Olympic ...
in
London, United Kingdom.
U.S. swimmer
Allison Schmitt blasted a new Olympic record with a stunning effort to capture the gold medal in the event for the first time, since
Nicole Haislett
Nicole may refer to:
People
* Nicole (name)
* Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor''
* Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977)
* Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Eurovi ...
topped the podium in 1992. She pulled away from a tightly packed field on the final lap to hit the wall first in a sterling time of 1:53.61, shaving 1.21 seconds off the record set by Italy's
Federica Pellegrini
Federica Pellegrini (; born 5 August 1988) is an Italian retired swimmer. A native of Mirano, in the province of Venice, she holds the women's 200 meters freestyle world record (long course, 50 m), and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing ...
from Beijing in 2008. After defeating Schmitt in a close duel to grab the
400 m freestyle title two days earlier, France's
Camille Muffat trailed behind her rival by almost a body length for the silver in 1:55.58. Meanwhile, Australia's
Bronte Barratt produced a striking touch to take home the bronze in 1:55.81, edging out American teenage star
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 ...
by a hundredth of a second.
Franklin missed a chance to add her third career medal with a fourth-place time in 1:55.82, while Pellegrini, the defending Olympic champion, dropped off the podium to fifth in 1:56.73. Russia's
Veronika Popova (1:57.25), Great Britain's home favorite
Caitlin McClatchey
Caitlin McClatchey (born 28 November 1985) is a British former swimmer. Representing Scotland, she won two gold medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, in the 200 metres freestyle and 400 metres freestyle. Representing Great Britain, she won br ...
(1:57.60) and Barratt's teammate
Kylie Palmer (1:57.68) closed out the field.
[
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top-eight final roster including Slovenia's Sara Isaković, the defending silver medalist, who placed fourteenth (1:58.47) in the semifinals; and Romania's Camelia Potec, a four-time Olympian and 2004 Olympic champion, who posted a twenty-fifth place time (2:01.15) on the morning prelims.
]
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 freestyle
Women's 00200 metre freestyle
2012 in women's swimming
Women's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics