| | Event type

200 metres Backstroke, Women

Date	14 – 16 August 2008
Status	Olympic
Location	Beijing Guojia Youyong Zhongxin, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants	34 from 24 countries

Six weeks before the Beijing Olympics Margaret Hoelzer, the 2007 world champion, took half a second off the world record at the US Olympic Trials in Nebraska. Her main rival for the Olympic title appeared to be the defending champion Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe whose record Hoelzer had broken. Coventry turned the event into a time trial and passed every 50 metre split under the existing world record. At the finish she was 0.8 of a second inside the previous mark and a second clear of Hoelzer with Reiko Nakamura repeating her performance of 2004 by claiming third place. Coventry, who had been world champion in 2005, regained her world title in 2009.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	2:06.76 (1 h4)	2:07.76 (1 h2)	2:05.24 (1)	Gold
2	Margaret Hoelzer	USA	2:09.12 (3 h5)	2:08.25 (3 h2)	2:06.23 (2)	Silver
3	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	2:09.77 (4 h5)	2:08.21 (2 h1)	2:07.13 (3)	Bronze
4	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	2:09.01 (2 h3)	2:09.07 (5 h2)	2:07.88 (4)
5	Elizabeth Beisel	USA	2:09.02 (2 h5)	2:07.90 (1 h1)	2:08.23 (5)
6	Lizzie Simmonds	GBR	2:08.66 (1 h5)	2:08.96 (3 h1)	2:08.51 (6)
7	Meagen Nay	AUS	2:08.79 (2 h4)	2:08.09 (2 h2)	2:08.84 (7)
8	Belinda Hocking	AUS	2:09.54 (4 h3)	2:08.80 (4 h2)	2:10.12 (8)
9	Gemma Spofforth	GBR	2:10.58 (6 h3)	2:09.19 (4 h1)	–
10	Zhao Jing	CHN	2:08.97 (1 h3)	2:09.59 (5 h1)	–
11	Melissa Ingram	NZL	2:09.34 (3 h4)	2:09.70 (6 h1)	–
12	Hanae Ito	JPN	2:10.05 (5 h4)	2:09.86 (7 h1)	–
13	Alexianne Castel	FRA	2:09.37 (4 h4)	2:10.04 (6 h2)	–
14	Stanislava Komarova	RUS	2:09.93 (5 h5)	2:10.50 (7 h2)	–
15	Laure Manaudou	FRA	2:09.39 (3 h3)	2:12.04 (8 h1)	–
16	Anja Čarman	SLO	2:10.49 (5 h3)	2:12.46 (8 h2)	–
17	Evelyn Verrasztó	HUN	2:11.02 (7 h3)	–	–
18	Nikolett Szepesi	HUN	2:11.47 (6 h5)	–	–
19	Chen Yanyan	CHN	2:11.95 (6 h4)	–	–
20	Melanie Nocher	IRL	2:12.29 (1 h2)	–	–
21	Zuzanna Mazurek	POL	2:12.46 (2 h2)	–	–
=22	Melissa Corfe	RSA	2:12.64 (7 h4)	–	–
=22	Kateryna Zubkova	UKR	2:12.64 (7 h5)	–	–
24	Escarlata Bernard	ESP	2:12.86 (8 h5)	–	–
25	Lidia Morant	ESP	2:13.87 (3 h2)	–	–
26	Gang Yeong-Seo	KOR	2:14.52 (1 h1)	–	–
27	Gisela Morales	GUA	2:14.54 (2 h1)	–	–
28	Fernanda González	MEX	2:14.64 (4 h2)	–	–
29	Stella Boumi	GRE	2:14.73 (5 h2)	–	–
30	Lindsay Seemann	CAN	2:15.07 (8 h3)	–	–
31	Sanja Jovanović	CRO	2:15.57 (6 h2)	–	–
32	Erin Volcán	VEN	2:15.58 (3 h1)	–	–
33	Iryna Amshennikova	UKR	2:15.78 (8 h4)	–	–
34	Christin Zenner	GER	2:20.28 (7 h2)	–	–
DNS	Julia Wilkinson	CAN	– (DNS h2)	–	–

Round One

Date	14 August 2008
Format	Fastest 16 swimmers advanced to semi-finals

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	4	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	2:06.76	QOR
2	6	Lizzie Simmonds	GBR	2:08.66	Q
3	3	Meagen Nay	AUS	2:08.79	Q
4	5	Zhao Jing	CHN	2:08.97	Q
5	3	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	2:09.01	Q
6	5	Elizabeth Beisel	USA	2:09.02	Q
7	4	Margaret Hoelzer	USA	2:09.12	Q
8	2	Melissa Ingram	NZL	2:09.34	Q
9	5	Alexianne Castel	FRA	2:09.37	Q
10	4	Laure Manaudou	FRA	2:09.39	Q
11	6	Belinda Hocking	AUS	2:09.54	Q
12	3	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	2:09.77	Q
13	7	Stanislava Komarova	RUS	2:09.93	Q
14	6	Hanae Ito	JPN	2:10.05	Q
15	1	Anja Čarman	SLO	2:10.49	Q
16	2	Gemma Spofforth	GBR	2:10.58	Q
17	7	Evelyn Verrasztó	HUN	2:11.02
18	2	Nikolett Szepesi	HUN	2:11.47
19	8	Chen Yanyan	CHN	2:11.95
20	7	Melanie Nocher	IRL	2:12.29
21	6	Zuzanna Mazurek	POL	2:12.46
=22	7	Melissa Corfe	RSA	2:12.64
=22	8	Kateryna Zubkova	UKR	2:12.64
24	1	Escarlata Bernard	ESP	2:12.86
25	4	Lidia Morant	ESP	2:13.87
26	3	Gang Yeong-Seo	KOR	2:14.52
27	5	Gisela Morales	GUA	2:14.54
28	8	Fernanda González	MEX	2:14.64
29	1	Stella Boumi	GRE	2:14.73
30	8	Lindsay Seemann	CAN	2:15.07
31	3	Sanja Jovanović	CRO	2:15.57
32	4	Erin Volcán	VEN	2:15.58
33	1	Iryna Amshennikova	UKR	2:15.78
34	5	Christin Zenner	GER	2:20.28
DNS	2	Julia Wilkinson	CAN	–

Heat #1

Time	20:23

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	3	Gang Yeong-Seo	KOR	2:14.52	0.69	32.12 (2)	1:06.17 (3)	1:40.38 (2)	34.05 (3)	34.21 (1)	34.14 (1)
2	5	Gisela Morales	GUA	2:14.54	0.73	32.03 (1)	1:05.97 (2)	1:40.25 (1)	33.94 (2)	34.28 (2)	34.29 (2)
3	4	Erin Volcán	VEN	2:15.58	0.67	32.35 (3)	1:05.82 (1)	1:40.47 (3)	33.47 (1)	34.65 (3)	35.11 (3)

Heat #2

Time	20:27

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	7	Melanie Nocher	IRL	2:12.29	0.67	31.36 (3)	1:04.52 (2)	1:38.42 (1)	33.16 (1)	33.90 (1)	33.87 (2)
2	6	Zuzanna Mazurek	POL	2:12.46	0.71	31.44 (4)	1:05.04 (3)	1:39.46 (2)	33.60 (4)	34.42 (3)	33.00 (1)
3	4	Lidia Morant	ESP	2:13.87	0.70	31.66 (5)	1:05.34 (6)	1:39.56 (3)	33.68 (5)	34.22 (2)	34.31 (3)
4	8	Fernanda González	MEX	2:14.64	0.65	31.11 (2)	1:05.06 (4)	1:39.76 (4)	33.95 (6)	34.70 (5)	34.88 (5)
5	1	Stella Boumi	GRE	2:14.73	0.72	31.85 (7)	1:05.26 (5)	1:39.90 (6)	33.41 (3)	34.64 (4)	34.83 (4)
6	3	Sanja Jovanović	CRO	2:15.57	0.75	30.66 (1)	1:03.93 (1)	1:39.78 (5)	33.27 (2)	35.85 (6)	35.79 (6)
7	5	Christin Zenner	GER	2:20.28	0.67	31.75 (6)	1:06.10 (7)	1:42.91 (7)	34.35 (7)	36.81 (7)	37.37 (7)
DNS	2	Julia Wilkinson	CAN	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)

Heat #3

Time	20:31

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	5	Zhao Jing	CHN	2:08.97	0.58	30.83 (2)	1:03.82 (4)	1:37.23 (4)	32.99 (7)	33.41 (5)	31.74 (1)	Q
2	3	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	2:09.01	0.75	31.05 (5)	1:03.84 (5)	1:36.75 (2)	32.79 (3)	32.91 (1)	32.26 (2)	Q
3	4	Laure Manaudou	FRA	2:09.39	0.72	30.92 (4)	1:03.63 (3)	1:37.03 (3)	32.71 (2)	33.40 (4)	32.36 (3)	Q
4	6	Belinda Hocking	AUS	2:09.54	0.69	30.91 (3)	1:03.56 (1)	1:36.72 (1)	32.65 (1)	33.16 (2)	32.82 (4)	Q
5	1	Anja Čarman	SLO	2:10.49	0.65	31.34 (6)	1:04.31 (7)	1:37.65 (=6)	32.97 (=5)	33.34 (3)	32.84 (5)	Q
6	2	Gemma Spofforth	GBR	2:10.58	0.59	30.60 (1)	1:03.57 (2)	1:37.39 (5)	32.97 (=5)	33.82 (7)	33.19 (6)	Q
7	7	Evelyn Verrasztó	HUN	2:11.02	0.69	31.35 (7)	1:04.21 (6)	1:37.65 (=6)	32.86 (4)	33.44 (6)	33.37 (7)
8	8	Lindsay Seemann	CAN	2:15.07	0.71	32.21 (8)	1:05.59 (8)	1:40.17 (8)	33.38 (8)	34.58 (8)	34.90 (8)

Heat #4

Time	20:35

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	4	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	2:06.76	0.66	30.17 (2)	1:02.11 (2)	1:34.65 (2)	31.94 (2)	32.54 (1)	32.11 (1)	QOR
2	3	Meagen Nay	AUS	2:08.79	0.70	30.53 (3)	1:02.87 (3)	1:35.80 (3)	32.34 (4)	32.93 (2)	32.99 (=2)	Q
3	2	Melissa Ingram	NZL	2:09.34	0.66	30.94 (6)	1:03.36 (5)	1:36.35 (5)	32.42 (5)	32.99 (3)	32.99 (=2)	Q
4	5	Alexianne Castel	FRA	2:09.37	0.74	30.63 (=4)	1:02.90 (4)	1:36.04 (4)	32.27 (3)	33.14 (4)	33.33 (4)	Q
5	6	Hanae Ito	JPN	2:10.05	0.60	29.50 (1)	1:01.15 (1)	1:34.51 (1)	31.65 (1)	33.36 (5)	35.54 (7)	Q
6	8	Chen Yanyan	CHN	2:11.95	0.57	30.63 (=4)	1:03.68 (6)	1:37.57 (6)	33.05 (=6)	33.89 (6)	34.38 (6)
7	7	Melissa Corfe	RSA	2:12.64	0.62	31.15 (7)	1:04.23 (7)	1:38.56 (7)	33.08 (8)	34.33 (7)	34.08 (5)
8	1	Iryna Amshennikova	UKR	2:15.78	0.70	31.23 (8)	1:04.28 (8)	1:39.38 (8)	33.05 (=6)	35.10 (8)	36.40 (8)

Heat #5

Time	20:39

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	6	Lizzie Simmonds	GBR	2:08.66	0.65	30.17 (1)	1:02.79 (1)	1:35.66 (1)	32.62 (1)	32.87 (3)	33.00 (5)	Q
2	5	Elizabeth Beisel	USA	2:09.02	0.55	31.57 (6)	1:04.64 (7)	1:36.91 (2)	33.07 (5)	32.27 (1)	32.11 (1)	Q
3	4	Margaret Hoelzer	USA	2:09.12	0.65	31.59 (7)	1:04.52 (5)	1:36.93 (3)	32.93 (3)	32.41 (2)	32.19 (2)	Q
4	3	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	2:09.77	0.63	30.82 (2)	1:03.97 (3)	1:37.08 (5)	33.15 (6)	33.11 (5)	32.69 (3)	Q
5	7	Stanislava Komarova	RUS	2:09.93	0.72	31.39 (5)	1:04.10 (4)	1:37.04 (4)	32.71 (2)	32.94 (4)	32.89 (4)	Q
6	2	Nikolett Szepesi	HUN	2:11.47	0.59	31.18 (4)	1:04.53 (6)	1:38.31 (7)	33.35 (8)	33.78 (6)	33.16 (6)
7	8	Kateryna Zubkova	UKR	2:12.64	0.69	30.96 (3)	1:03.91 (2)	1:38.14 (6)	32.95 (4)	34.23 (8)	34.50 (8)
8	1	Escarlata Bernard	ESP	2:12.86	0.68	31.95 (8)	1:05.13 (8)	1:38.98 (8)	33.18 (7)	33.85 (7)	33.88 (7)

Semi-Finals

Date	15 August 2008
Format	Fastest eight swimmers advanced to final

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	4	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	2:07.76	Q
2	3	Elizabeth Beisel	USA	2:07.90	Q
3	5	Meagen Nay	AUS	2:08.09	Q
4	7	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	2:08.21	Q
5	6	Margaret Hoelzer	USA	2:08.25	Q
6	7	Belinda Hocking	AUS	2:08.80	Q
7	4	Lizzie Simmonds	GBR	2:08.96	Q
8	3	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	2:09.07	Q
9	8	Gemma Spofforth	GBR	2:09.19
10	5	Zhao Jing	CHN	2:09.59
11	6	Melissa Ingram	NZL	2:09.70
12	1	Hanae Ito	JPN	2:09.86
13	2	Alexianne Castel	FRA	2:10.04
14	1	Stanislava Komarova	RUS	2:10.50
15	2	Laure Manaudou	FRA	2:12.04
16	8	Anja Čarman	SLO	2:12.46

Heat #1

Time	10:26

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	3	Elizabeth Beisel	USA	2:07.90	0.59	30.83 (6)	1:02.93 (3)	1:35.38 (3)	32.10 (=2)	32.45 (1)	32.52 (4)	Q
2	7	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	2:08.21	0.66	29.98 (1)	1:02.08 (2)	1:34.87 (1)	32.10 (=2)	32.79 (2)	33.34 (6)	Q
3	4	Lizzie Simmonds	GBR	2:08.96	0.69	30.69 (5)	1:03.52 (6)	1:36.46 (4)	32.83 (7)	32.94 (3)	32.50 (3)	Q
4	8	Gemma Spofforth	GBR	2:09.19	0.56	30.38 (3)	1:03.13 (4)	1:37.01 (6)	32.75 (6)	33.88 (7)	32.18 (2)
5	5	Zhao Jing	CHN	2:09.59	0.59	31.05 (8)	1:04.59 (8)	1:38.10 (8)	33.54 (8)	33.51 (6)	31.49 (1)
6	6	Melissa Ingram	NZL	2:09.70	0.64	30.99 (7)	1:03.64 (7)	1:36.73 (5)	32.65 (5)	33.09 (4)	32.97 (5)
7	1	Hanae Ito	JPN	2:09.86	0.62	30.04 (2)	1:01.78 (1)	1:35.03 (2)	31.74 (1)	33.25 (5)	34.83 (8)
8	2	Laure Manaudou	FRA	2:12.04	0.71	30.61 (4)	1:03.17 (5)	1:37.24 (7)	32.56 (4)	34.07 (8)	34.80 (7)

Heat #2

Time	10:31

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	4	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	2:07.76	0.68	30.01 (1)	1:01.97 (1)	1:34.71 (1)	31.96 (1)	32.74 (3)	33.05 (5)	Q
2	5	Meagen Nay	AUS	2:08.09	0.67	30.59 (2)	1:03.05 (2)	1:35.76 (2)	32.46 (2)	32.71 (2)	32.33 (2)	Q
3	6	Margaret Hoelzer	USA	2:08.25	0.72	30.83 (3)	1:03.36 (3)	1:35.89 (3)	32.53 (3)	32.53 (1)	32.36 (3)	Q
4	7	Belinda Hocking	AUS	2:08.80	0.61	31.01 (6)	1:03.72 (6)	1:36.50 (5)	32.71 (=6)	32.78 (4)	32.30 (1)	Q
5	3	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	2:09.07	0.75	30.98 (5)	1:03.62 (5)	1:36.43 (4)	32.64 (5)	32.81 (5)	32.64 (4)	Q
6	2	Alexianne Castel	FRA	2:10.04	0.75	30.85 (4)	1:03.46 (4)	1:36.69 (6)	32.61 (4)	33.23 (7)	33.35 (7)
7	1	Stanislava Komarova	RUS	2:10.50	0.79	31.50 (8)	1:04.21 (7)	1:37.16 (7)	32.71 (=6)	32.95 (6)	33.34 (6)
8	8	Anja Čarman	SLO	2:12.46	0.72	31.38 (7)	1:04.51 (8)	1:38.61 (8)	33.13 (8)	34.10 (8)	33.85 (8)

Final Round

Date	16 August 2008 — 10:03

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m	100-150 m	150-200 m
1	4	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	2:05.24	0.69	29.62 (1)	1:00.83 (1)	1:32.69 (1)	31.21 (1)	31.86 (1)	32.55 (3)	WR
2	2	Margaret Hoelzer	USA	2:06.23	0.68	29.83 (2)	1:01.69 (2)	1:33.85 (2)	31.86 (3)	32.16 (2)	32.38 (2)
3	6	Reiko Nakamura	JPN	2:07.13	0.63	30.14 (4)	1:02.11 (4)	1:34.28 (3)	31.97 (5)	32.17 (3)	32.85 (6)
4	8	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	2:07.88	0.72	30.63 (6)	1:02.47 (5)	1:35.10 (5)	31.84 (2)	32.63 (5)	32.78 (5)
5	5	Elizabeth Beisel	USA	2:08.23	0.58	31.16 (8)	1:03.48 (7)	1:35.86 (6)	32.32 (6)	32.38 (4)	32.37 (1)
6	1	Lizzie Simmonds	GBR	2:08.51	0.65	30.06 (3)	1:02.02 (3)	1:34.86 (4)	31.96 (4)	32.84 (6)	33.65 (8)
7	3	Meagen Nay	AUS	2:08.84	0.67	30.62 (5)	1:03.05 (6)	1:36.08 (7)	32.43 (7)	33.03 (7)	32.76 (4)
8	7	Belinda Hocking	AUS	2:10.12	0.63	30.80 (7)	1:03.57 (8)	1:36.75 (8)	32.77 (8)	33.18 (8)	33.37 (7)