Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 50 metre freestyle
The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 22–23 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
| Women's 50 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | ||||||||||||
| Date | 22 September 2000 (heats & semifinals) 23 September 2000 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 74 from 66 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 24.32 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Freestyle | ||
| 50 m | men | women |
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 800 m | women | |
| 1500 m | men | |
| Backstroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Breaststroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Butterfly | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| Individual medley | ||
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| Freestyle relay | ||
| 4×100 m | men | women |
| 4×200 m | men | women |
| Medley relay | ||
| 4×100 m | men | women |
Dutch rising star Inge de Bruijn added a third gold to her medal tally in swimming at these Games. She powered past the field to touch the wall first in 24.32, the second-fastest of all-time.[2][3] Earlier in the semifinals, she blasted her own world record of 24.13 to snatch a top seed for the final.[4] Sweden's Therese Alshammar captured the silver in 24.51, while U.S. legend Dara Torres powered home with the bronze in a new American record of 24.63, edging out defending Olympic champion Amy Van Dyken (25.04) by 41-hundredths of a second. The podium placements also replicated the results of the 100 m freestyle (with the exception of Jenny Thompson), held on the sixth night of the Games.[5][6]
Slovakia's Martina Moravcová finished off the podium in fifth place at 25.24, and was followed in the sixth spot by Germany's Sandra Völker in 25.27. Great Britain's Alison Sheppard (25.45) and Japan's Sumika Minamoto (25.65) closed out the field.[6]
Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Australia's overwhelming favorite Susie O'Neill; Völker's teammate Katrin Meissner, who shared bronze medals with Jill Sterkel in the event's inception in 1988 as a member of the former East German squad; and Estonia's Jana Kolukanova, who grabbed the final spot from the prelims after winning a three-person swimoff.[7]
One of the most popular highlights in the event took place in the first heat. Dubbed as the Crawler, Paula Barila Bolopa had finally completed a unique double for Equatorial Guinea, as she swam the slowest ever race by a female in Olympic history with a time of 1:03.97.[8]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Inge de Bruijn (NED) | 24.39 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 10 June 2000 | [9] |
| Olympic record |  Yang Wenyi (CHN) | 24.79 | Barcelona, Spain | 31 July 1992 | [9] |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 September | Heat 10 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.46 | OR |
| 22 September | Semifinal 2 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.13 | WR |
Results
Heats
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Swimoff
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Jana Kolukanova |  Estonia | 25.87 | Q, NR |
| 2 | 4 | Mette Jacobsen |  Denmark | 26.00 | |
| 3 | Ana Belén Palomo |  Spain | DSQ |
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Therese Alshammar |  Sweden | 24.80 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Dara Torres |  United States | 24.98 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Sandra Völker |  Germany | 25.22 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Sumika Minamoto |  Japan | 25.43 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Katrin Meissner | Germany | 25.62 | |
| 6 | 7 | Susie O'Neill |  Australia | 25.74 | |
| 7 | 1 | Wilma van Rijn | Netherlands | 25.87 | |
| 8 | 8 | Jana Kolukanova | Estonia | 26.03 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.13 | Q, WR |
| 2 | 5 | Amy Van Dyken | United States | 25.00 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Alison Sheppard |  Great Britain | 25.32 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Martina Moravcová |  Slovakia | 25.49 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Anna-Karin Kammerling | Sweden | 25.61 | |
| 5 | 6 | Vivienne Rignall |  New Zealand | 25.61 | |
| 7 | 7 | Olga Mukomol |  Ukraine | 25.88 | |
| 8 | 8 | Rania Elwani |  Egypt | 25.95 |
Final
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.32 | |
 | 5 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 24.51 | |
 | 3 | Dara Torres | United States | 24.63 | AM |
| 4 | 6 | Amy Van Dyken | United States | 25.04 | |
| 5 | 8 | Martina Moravcová | Slovakia | 25.24 | NR |
| 6 | 2 | Sandra Völker | Germany | 25.27 | |
| 7 | 7 | Alison Sheppard | Great Britain | 25.45 | |
| 8 | 1 | Sumika Minamoto | Japan | 25.65 |
References
- "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- Clarey, Christopher (23 September 2000). "Sydney 2000 : Roundup; De Bruijn Surges For Third Gold Medal". New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- "American Torres wins bronze". ESPN. 23 September 2000. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- Whitten, Phillip (22 September 2000). "Olympic Day 7 Finals (50 Free, 800 Free, 200 Back, 100 Fly)". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- Dillman, Lisa (23 September 2000). "She's a Goldy Little Bruijn". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- Whitten, Phillip (23 September 2000). "Olympic Day 8 Finals – Complete". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- Whitten, Phillip (22 September 2000). "Olympic Day 7 Prelims (50 Free, 1500 Free, 400 Medley Relay)". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- "'Paula the Crawler' sets record". ESPN. 22 September 2000. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 50m Freestyle Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 168–170. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- "Sydney 2000: Swimming Results (September 22, 2000)". Sydney 2000. ESPN. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
