Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke

Women's 100 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueBeijing National Aquatics Center
DateAugust 10, 2008 (heats)
August 11, 2008(semifinals)
August 12, 2008 (final)
Competitors49 from 38 nations
Winning time58.96 AM
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Natalie Coughlin  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Margaret Hoelzer  United States
← 2004
2012 →

The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–12 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.[1]

U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin set a lifetime best and an American record of 58.96 to defend her title in the event. Zimbabwe's new world record holder Kirsty Coventry added a second silver to her hardware from the 400 m individual medley two days earlier, in a time of 59.19. Coming from fifth place in the turn, Margaret Hoelzer continued her impressive form in the shorter backstroke to pick up a bronze in 59.34, handing the entire medal haul for Team USA in the pool.[2][3]

Great Britain's Gemma Spofforth narrowly missed the podium by a twenty-fifth of a second (0.04), posting a European record of 59.38 for a fourth-place finish. Russia's Anastasia Zuyeva finished fifth in a close race at 59.40, and was followed in the sixth spot by Japan's Reiko Nakamura in 59.72. France's Laure Manaudou (1:00.10), bronze medalist in Athens four years earlier, and Japanese Hanae Ito (1:00.18) rounded out the finale.[2]

Earlier in the prelims, Zuyeva, Nakamura, and Coventry scratched out Coughlin's existing Olympic record, as they went under a time of 59.68 to lead all seeded heats.[4] The following morning, in the semifinals, Coventry blitzed the field on the final lap to set a new world record of 58.77, breaking Coughlin's mark by two-tenths of a second (0.20).[5][6]

Records

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

World record  Natalie Coughlin (USA) 58.97 Omaha, United States 1 July 2008 [7]
Olympic record  Natalie Coughlin (USA) 59.68 Athens, Greece 21 August 2004

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
August 10 Heat 5 Anastasia Zuyeva  Russia 59.61 OR
August 10 Heat 6 Reiko Nakamura  Japan 59.36 OR
August 10 Heat 7 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 59.00 OR
August 11 Semifinal 2 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 58.77 WR

Results

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Heats

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Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 7 5 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 59.00 Q, OR
2 6 6 Reiko Nakamura  Japan 59.36 Q, AS
3 5 4 Anastasia Zuyeva  Russia 59.61 Q, EU
4 7 4 Natalie Coughlin  United States 59.69 Q
5 6 5 Laure Manaudou  France 1:00.09 Q
6 7 6 Gemma Spofforth  Great Britain 1:00.11 Q
7 6 4 Margaret Hoelzer  United States 1:00.13 Q
8 6 3 Hanae Ito  Japan 1:00.16 Q
9 5 5 Emily Seebohm  Australia 1:00.27 Q
10 4 3 Julia Wilkinson  Canada 1:00.38 Q
11 5 8 Antje Buschschulte  Germany 1:00.48 Q
12 5 2 Elizabeth Simmonds  Great Britain 1:00.53 Q
13 5 6 Nina Zhivanevskaya  Spain 1:00.54 Q
14 5 3 Sophie Edington  Australia 1:00.65 Q
15 7 1 Elizabeth Coster  New Zealand 1:00.66 Q
16 6 1 Kseniya Moskvina  Russia 1:00.70 Q
17 5 1 Xu Tianlongzi  China 1:00.82
18 7 7 Fabíola Molina  Brazil 1:01.00
19 3 3 Carolina Colorado Henao  Colombia 1:01.19 NR
20 4 4 Melissa Ingram  New Zealand 1:01.24
21 5 7 Kateryna Zubkova  Ukraine 1:01.25
22 6 2 Sanja Jovanović  Croatia 1:01.30
23 7 2 Alexianne Castel  France 1:01.44
24 7 8 Nikolett Szepesi  Hungary 1:01.77
25 3 2 Anna Gostomelsky  Israel 1:01.87 NR
26 4 6 Romina Armellini  Italy 1:02.21
4 8 Anja Čarman  Slovenia
28 4 5 Mercedes Peris  Spain 1:02.30
29 3 1 Sarah Sjöström  Sweden 1:02.38
30 4 2 Hanna-Maria Seppälä  Finland 1:02.39
31 4 1 Aisling Cooney  Ireland 1:02.50
32 3 7 Alana Dillette  Bahamas 1:02.56
33 1 4 Kiera Aitken  Bermuda 1:02.62
34 3 4 Tsai Hiu Wai Sherry  Hong Kong 1:02.68
35 3 5 Fernanda González  Mexico 1:02.76
36 2 4 Zuzanna Mazurek  Poland 1:02.77 NR
37 6 7 Iryna Amshennikova  Ukraine 1:02.85
38 2 5 Gisela Morales  Guatemala 1:02.92
39 3 6 Petra Klosová  Czech Republic 1:03.36
40 2 3 Marica Strazmester  Serbia 1:03.56
41 3 8 Sarah Blake Bateman  Iceland 1:03.82
42 6 8 Christin Zenner  Germany 1:03.87
43 2 7 Erin Volcán  Venezuela 1:03.90
44 2 6 Kim Yu-yeon  South Korea 1:04.63
45 2 2 Yekaterina Rudenko  Kazakhstan 1:04.85
46 1 5 Maria Virginia Baez  Paraguay 1:05.39
47 1 3 Christie Bodden  Panama 1:07.18
7 3 Zhao Jing  China DSQ
4 7 Sviatlana Khakhlova  Belarus DNS

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 5 Natalie Coughlin  United States 59.43 Q
2 4 Reiko Nakamura  Japan 59.64 Q
3 3 Gemma Spofforth  Great Britain 59.79 Q
4 6 Hanae Ito  Japan 1:00.13 Q
5 7 Elizabeth Simmonds  Great Britain 1:00.39
6 2 Julia Wilkinson  Canada 1:00.60
7 1 Sophie Edington  Australia 1:01.05
8 8 Kseniya Moskvina  Russia 1:01.06

Semifinal 2

[edit]
Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 58.77 Q, WR
2 5 Anastasia Zuyeva  Russia 59.77 Q
3 6 Margaret Hoelzer  United States 59.84 Q
4 3 Laure Manaudou  France 1:00.19 Q
5 2 Emily Seebohm  Australia 1:00.31
6 1 Nina Zhivanevskaya  Spain 1:00.50
7 7 Antje Buschschulte  Germany 1:01.15
8 8 Elizabeth Coster  New Zealand 1:01.45

Final

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 Natalie Coughlin  United States 58.96 AM
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Kirsty Coventry  Zimbabwe 59.19
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 Margaret Hoelzer  United States 59.34
4 2 Gemma Spofforth  Great Britain 59.38 EU
5 6 Anastasia Zuyeva  Russia 59.40
6 3 Reiko Nakamura  Japan 59.72
7 8 Laure Manaudou  France 1:00.10
8 1 Hanae Ito  Japan 1:00.18

References

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  1. ^ "Olympic Swimming Schedule". USA Today. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b Lohn, John (11 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Natalie Coughlin Breaks 59, Wins 100 Back Gold in American Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Natalie Coughlin wins gold, Margaret Hoelzer wins bronze in 100m backstroke". Los Angeles Times. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  4. ^ Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Olympic Record Times Three, Kirsty Coventry Leads Women's 100 Back Prelims". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. ^ Lohn, John (10 August 2008). "Olympics, Swimming: Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe Grabs 100 Back World Record in Semis". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Coventry sets world record in women's 100 backstroke". Los Angeles Times. 10 August 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  7. ^ Borzi, Pat (1 July 2008). "Natalie Coughlin again lowers backstroke record". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
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