Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke

The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]

Women's 100 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
VenueLondon Aquatics Centre
DateJuly 29, 2012 (heats &
semifinals)
July 30, 2012 (final)
Competitors45 from 38 nations
Winning time58.33 AM
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Missy Franklin  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Emily Seebohm  Australia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Aya Terakawa  Japan
← 2008
2016 →

At only 17 years of age, U.S. teenage sensation Missy Franklin, billed as "Missy the Missile" by her fans, stormed home on the final stretch to pick up her first ever Olympic gold medal in swimming. Trailing behind at the halfway turn, she pulled away from a tightly packed field with a more destructive force to hit the wall first in an American record of 58.33.[2][3] Australia's Emily Seebohm started the race with a marginal lead over the rest of the field, but faded down the stretch to settle only for the silver in 58.68.[4][5] Meanwhile, Japan's Aya Terakawa grabbed the bronze in an Asian record of 58.83, holding off the fast-charging Russian swimmer Anastasia Zuyeva to a fourth spot in 59.00.[6][7]

Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth, the reigning world record holder, finished fifth in 59.20, while China's Zhao Jing (59.23), Australia's Belinda Hocking (59.29) and Zhao's teammate Fu Yuanhui (1:00.50) rounded out the field.[7][8][9]

Earlier in the prelims, Seebohm blitzed the field from heat four to lead all swimmers with a sterling Olympic and Oceanian record in 58.23, shaving 0.54 seconds off the standard set by Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry in Beijing four years earlier.[10][11] Coventry, double Olympic silver medalist, missed a chance to reach the final roster with a fourteenth-place effort (1:00.39) from the semifinals.

Records

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

World record   Gemma Spofforth (GBR) 58.12 Rome, Italy 28 July 2009 [12]
Olympic record   Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) 58.77 Beijing, China 11 August 2008 [13]

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
July 29 Heat 4 Emily Seebohm   Australia 58.23 OR

Results

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Heats

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[14]

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 5 Emily Seebohm   Australia 58.23 Q, OC, OR
2 6 4 Missy Franklin   United States 59.37 Q
3 6 3 Belinda Hocking   Australia 59.61 Q
4 6 5 Aya Terakawa   Japan 59.82 Q
5 5 4 Anastasia Zuyeva   Russia 59.88 Q
6 4 6 Georgia Davies   Great Britain 59.92 Q
7 5 6 Julia Wilkinson   Canada 59.94 Q
8 6 2 Fu Yuanhui   China 59.96 Q
9 4 4 Zhao Jing   China 59.97 Q
10 6 8 Simona Baumrtová   Czech Republic 59.99 Q, NR
11 5 5 Rachel Bootsma   United States 1:00.03 Q
12 5 7 Gemma Spofforth   Great Britain 1:00.05 Q
13 5 3 Sinead Russell   Canada 1:00.10 Q
14 6 1 Alexianne Castel   France 1:00.16 Q
15 4 8 Kirsty Coventry   Zimbabwe 1:00.24 Q
16 4 7 Arianna Barbieri   Italy 1:00.25 Q, NR
17 4 3 Mie Nielsen   Denmark 1:00.38
18 4 1 Duane da Rocha   Spain 1:00.57
5 2 Daryna Zevina   Ukraine
20 4 2 Sharon van Rouwendaal   Netherlands 1:00.61
21 6 6 Jenny Mensing   Germany 1:00.72
22 6 7 Laure Manaudou   France 1:01.03
23 3 4 Maria Fernanda Gonzalez   Mexico 1:01.28
24 5 1 Fabíola Molina   Brazil 1:01.40
25 3 5 Alicja Tchórz   Poland 1:01.44
26 2 8 Tao Li   Singapore 1:01.60 NR
27 5 8 Elena Gemo   Italy 1:01.77
28 3 2 Carolina Colorado Henao   Colombia 1:01.81
29 3 8 Kimberly Buys   Belgium 1:01.92 NR
30 3 7 Melissa Ingram   New Zealand 1:01.94
31 3 6 Ekaterina Avramova   Bulgaria 1:02.20
32 2 3 Eygló Ósk Gústafsdóttir   Iceland 1:02.40 NR
33 2 4 Melanie Nocher   Ireland 1:02.44
34 2 1 Anja Čarman   Slovenia 1:02.68
35 3 1 Therese Svendsen   Sweden 1:03.11
36 2 5 Sanja Jovanović   Croatia 1:03.38
37 2 6 Eszter Povázsay   Hungary 1:03.55
38 2 7 Yekaterina Rudenko   Kazakhstan 1:03.64
39 3 3 Hoi Shun Stephanie Au   Hong Kong 1:04.31
40 2 2 Hazal Sarikaya   Turkey 1:04.80
41 1 3 Karen Vilorio   Honduras 1:06.38
42 1 4 Monica Ramirez   Andorra 1:07.72
43 1 5 Ines Remersaro   Uruguay 1:08.03
44 1 6 Anahit Barseghyan   Armenia 1:08.19
45 1 2 Angelique Trinquier   Monaco 1:10.79

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Missy Franklin   United States 59.12 Q
2 5 Aya Terakawa   Japan 59.34 Q
3 7 Gemma Spofforth   Great Britain 59.70 Q
4 6 Fu Yuanhui   China 59.82 Q
5 2 Simona Baumrtová   Czech Republic 1:00.02
6 1 Alexianne Castel   France 1:00.24
7 8 Arianna Barbieri   Italy 1:00.27
8 3 Georgia Davies   Great Britain 1:00.56

Semifinal 2

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Emily Seebohm   Australia 58.39 Q
2 2 Zhao Jing   China 59.55 Q
3 3 Anastasia Zuyeva   Russia 59.68 Q
4 5 Belinda Hocking   Australia 59.79 Q
5 6 Julia Wilkinson   Canada 59.91
6 7 Rachel Bootsma   United States 1:00.04
7 8 Kirsty Coventry   Zimbabwe 1:00.39
8 1 Sinead Russell   Canada 1:00.57

Final

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
  5 Missy Franklin   United States 58.33 AM
  4 Emily Seebohm   Australia 58.68
  3 Aya Terakawa   Japan 58.83 AS
4 2 Anastasia Zuyeva   Russia 59.00
5 7 Gemma Spofforth   Great Britain 59.20
6 6 Zhao Jing   China 59.23
7 1 Belinda Hocking   Australia 59.29
8 8 Fu Yuanhui   China 1:00.50

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ^ Rossingh, Danielle (30 July 2012). "Missy Franklin Swims to Gold as Seebohm Cries Over Missed Chance". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Olympics swimming: Missy Franklin wins 100m backstroke". BBC Sport. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Seebohm left shattered with silver". ABC News Australia. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  5. ^ Jeffery, Nicole (30 July 2012). "Heartbroken Emily Seebohm settles for silver in 100m backstroke". The Australian. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  6. ^ Kano, Shintaro (31 July 2012). "Irie, Terakawa, Suzuki haul in bronze from the pool". The Japan Times. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  7. ^ a b "2012 London Olympics: Missy Franklin Wins First Olympic Gold Medal With 100 Back Victory; Sets American Record". Swimming World Magazine. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-09-26. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  8. ^ McRae, Donald (30 July 2012). "London 2012: Missy Franklin wins Olympic 100m backstroke gold for US". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  9. ^ "London 2012 Olympics: Gemma Spofforth misses out on 100m backstroke medal". The Daily Telegraph. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  10. ^ "2012 London Olympics: Emily Seebohm Blasts Olympic Record, Posts Textile Best in Prelims of 100 Back". Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Seebohm breaks Olympic record". ABC News Australia. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  12. ^ Bull, Andy (28 July 2009). "Gemma Spofforth swims to 100m backstroke glory in world record time". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  13. ^ "Coventry sets world record in women's 100 backstroke". Los Angeles Times. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  14. ^ "Women's 100m Backstroke – Heats". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
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