The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 3–4 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 Olympic ...

in London, United Kingdom. Netherlands'

Ranomi Kromowidjojo Ranomi Kromowidjojo (; born 20 August 1990) is a retired Dutch swimmer of mixed Dutch- Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in sprint freestyle events. She is a triple Olympic champion, winning the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m free ...

smashed a new Olympic record to strike a fourth sprint freestyle double in history, since East German

Kristin Otto Kristin Otto (; born 7 February 1966) is a German Olympic swimming champion. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

did so in 1988, her fellow countrywoman

Inge de Bruijn Inge de Bruijn (; born 24 August 1973) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer. She is a four-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder. Personal De Bruijn was born in Barendrecht, Netherlands. Inge is the sister of Olympic water ...

in 2000, and Germany's defending champion

Britta Steffen Britta Steffen (; born 16 November 1983) is a German competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle sprint events. Biography In 1999, Steffen won six titles at the European Junior Championships, and won a medal as a member of Germany's rela ...

in 2008. She blistered the field with a sterling time and a textile best in 24.05 to slice off Steffen's previous Olympic record by a hundredth of a second (0.01). Belarus'

Aliaksandra Herasimenia Aliaksandra Viktarauna Herasimenia ( be, Аляксандра Віктараўна Герасіменя russian: Алекса́ндра Ви́кторовна Герасиме́ня; Łacinka: Aliaksandra Viktaraŭna Hierasimienia / Aleksandra G ...

added a second silver to her Olympic hardware in a national record of 24.28, while Kromowidjojo's teammate

Marleen Veldhuis Magdalena Johanna Maria "Marleen" Veldhuis (born 29 June 1979) is a retired swimmer from the Netherlands. She was world record holder in four events (one individual event and three relay events). Veldhuis won eight world championships gold medals ...

edged out the scorching Steffen (24.46) by 0.07 seconds to snatch the bronze in 24.39, handing over an entire medal haul for the Dutch squad with a one–three finish. Great Britain's home favorite

Francesca Halsall Francesca Jean Halsall (born 12 April 1990) is a retired English competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain at the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and England at the Commonwealth Games. She competed ...

finished behind Steffen by a fingertip with a fifth-place time in 24.47. Meanwhile, Sweden's

Therese Alshammar Malin Therese Alshammar (born 26 August 1977) is a Swedish swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. She is a specialist in short distances races in freestyle and butterfly. She ...

shook off a pinched nerve injury to officially compete in her fifth Olympics, but managed only to claim a sixth spot in 24.61. U.S. swimmer Jessica Hardy (24.62) and the Bahamas'

Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace (born March 4, 1990) is a competitive swimmer and national record-holder from the Bahamas who has represented her country in international championships, including the Olympics, FINA world championships, and Pan Ameri ...

(24.69) rounded out the field in a splash-and-dash finale. Notable swimmers missed the top-eight final including Aussie sisters Bronte and

Cate Campbell Cate Natalie Campbell, (born 20 May 1992) is a Malawian-born Australian competitive swimmer, and a current multiple world record holder, who won two bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a gold a ...

, defending bronze medalist; and Halsall's teammate Amy Smith, who finished outside the roster by 16-hundredths of a second with a ninth-place time in 24.87. Earlier on the morning prelims, Smith picked up a sixteenth spot in a most exciting three-way swim-off against U.S. sprinter Kara Lynn Joyce and Iceland's Sarah Blake Bateman after they each posted a matching time of 25.28.

Records

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

Results

Heats

Qualification swim-off

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

External links

NBC Olympics Coverage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Women's 50 metre freestyle Women's 00050 metre freestyle 2012 in women's swimming Women's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics