| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Women

Date	23 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	40 from 33 countries

With one gold medal already in her locker, Penny Heyns of South Africa looked a clear favourite to win the breaststroke double. When she broke the Olympic record in the heats and qualified for the final with a time that was a second and a half ahead of anyone else it seemed her victory was a foregone conclusion.

If the rest of the world believed Heyns was unbeatable nobody had told 14-year-old Amanda Beard of the USA. Heyns led from the gun but the gap between her and Beard closed quickly in the closing stages and the South African had only a third of a second to spare at the finish. After her country had had waited 44 years for an Olympic gold Heyns had won two within 48 hours.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Penny Heyns	RSA	2:26.63 (1 h4)	–	2:25.41 (1)	Gold
2	Amanda Beard	USA	2:28.10 (1 h5)	–	2:25.75 (2)	Silver
3	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	2:29.58 (2 h5)	–	2:26.57 (3)	Bronze
4	Sam Riley	AUS	2:28.30 (1 h6)	–	2:27.91 (4)
5	Masami Tanaka	JPN	2:29.36 (2 h6)	–	2:28.05 (5)
6	Nadine Neumann	AUS	2:29.91 (3 h5)	–	2:28.34 (6)
7	Brigitte Becue	BEL	2:29.62 (3 h6)	–	2:28.36 (7)
8	Christin Petelski	CAN	2:30.30 (4 h6)	–	2:31.45 (8)
9	Lena Eriksson	SWE	2:31.65 (3 h4)	2:28.87 (1)	–
10	Kyoko Iwasaki	JPN	2:30.84 (2 h4)	2:29.32 (2)	–
11	Lenka Maňhalová	CZE	2:32.14 (6 h5)	2:29.96 (3)	–
12	Julia Russell	RSA	2:32.44 (5 h4)	2:30.38 (4)	–
13	Alicja Pęczak	POL	2:30.64 (5 h6)	2:30.99 (5)	–
14	Marie Hardiman	GBR	2:31.12 (6 h6)	2:31.39 (6)	–
15	Jilen Siroky	USA	2:31.57 (5 h5)	2:33.43 (7)	–
16	Lin Li	CHN	2:30.64 (4 h5)	2:33.45 (8)	–
17	Svitlana Bondarenko	UKR	2:32.42 (4 h4)	–	–		1
18	Elin Austevoll	NOR	2:32.48 (6 h4)	–	–
19	Riley Mants	CAN	2:32.97 (7 h4)	–	–
20	Alenka Kejžar	SLO	2:33.34 (1 h3)	–	–
21	Maria Östling	SWE	2:33.44 (7 h6)	–	–
22	Yelena Makarova	RUS	2:33.74 (7 h5)	–	–
23	Lourdes Becerra	ESP	2:33.80 (2 h3)	–	–
=24	Elvira Fischer	AUT	2:33.89 (3 h3)	–	–
=24	Yuan Yuan	CHN	2:33.89 (8 h4)	–	–
26	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	2:34.76 (8 h5)	–	–
27	Mia Hagman	FIN	2:36.11 (4 h3)	–	–
28	No Ju-Hui	KOR	2:36.20 (5 h3)	–	–
29	Karine Brémond	FRA	2:36.26 (1 h2)	–	–
30	Isabel Ceballos	COL	2:36.94 (2 h2)	–	–
31	Kathrin Dumitru	GER	2:37.07 (6 h3)	–	–
32	María Carolina Santa Cruz	ARG	2:37.85 (7 h3)	–	–
33	Larisa Lăcusță	ROU	2:38.08 (8 h6)	–	–
34	Margarita Kalmikova	LAT	2:39.63 (3 h2)	–	–
35	Érika Graf	URU	2:42.97 (1 h1)	–	–
36	Mou Ying-Hsin	TPE	2:43.94 (4 h2)	–	–
37	Nádia Cruz	ANG	2:44.24 (5 h2)	–	–
38	Natália Kodajová	SVK	2:45.21 (6 h2)	–	–
39	Cerian Gibbes	TTO	2:45.87 (7 h2)	–	–
40	Oksana Cherevko	KGZ	2:57.65 (2 h1)	–	–
DNS	Britta Vestergaard	DEN	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	Anna Wilson	NZL	– (DNS h3)	–	–

Round One (23 July 1996)

Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Heat One (10:30)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	3	Érika Graf	URU	37.57 (1) 40.98 (1)	1:18.55 (1) 41.60 (1)	2:00.15 (1) 42.82 (2)	2:42.97	0.85
2	5	Oksana Cherevko	KGZ	37.86 (2) 45.25 (2)	1:23.11 (2) 52.64 (2)	2:15.75 (2) 41.90 (1)	2:57.65	0.87
DNS	4	Britta Vestergaard	DEN	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–	–

Heat Two (10:38)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Karine Brémond	FRA	36.25 (3) 39.45 (1)	1:15.70 (1) 40.30 (1)	1:56.00 (1) 40.26 (2)	2:36.26	0.78
2	6	Isabel Ceballos	COL	36.28 (4) 40.18 (2)	1:16.46 (3) 40.38 (2)	1:56.84 (2) 40.10 (1)	2:36.94	0.87
3	7	Margarita Kalmikova	LAT	36.16 (2) 40.44 (3)	1:16.60 (4) 41.28 (3)	1:57.88 (3) 41.75 (3)	2:39.63	0.93
4	3	Mou Ying-Hsin	TPE	37.06 (7) 41.83 (6)	1:18.89 (6) 43.01 (5)	2:01.90 (6) 42.04 (4)	2:43.94	0.80
5	2	Nádia Cruz	ANG	36.30 (5) 40.67 (4)	1:16.97 (5) 42.59 (4)	1:59.56 (4) 44.68 (6)	2:44.24	0.77
6	1	Natália Kodajová	SVK	34.94 (1) 41.23 (5)	1:16.17 (2) 44.06 (7)	2:00.23 (5) 44.98 (7)	2:45.21	0.94
7	5	Cerian Gibbes	TTO	36.98 (6) 42.04 (7)	1:19.02 (7) 43.24 (6)	2:02.26 (7) 43.61 (5)	2:45.87	0.84

Heat Three (10:46)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Alenka Kejžar	SLO	34.83 (1) 38.67 (2)	1:13.50 (1) 39.41 (1)	1:52.91 (1) 40.43 (3)	2:33.34	0.76
2	6	Lourdes Becerra	ESP	35.53 (5) 38.62 (1)	1:14.15 (4) 39.48 (2)	1:53.63 (2) 40.17 (2)	2:33.80	0.83
3	4	Elvira Fischer	AUT	35.33 (4) 38.79 (3)	1:14.12 (3) 39.88 (3)	1:54.00 (3) 39.89 (1)	2:33.89	0.81
4	1	Mia Hagman	FIN	34.95 (3) 39.42 (6)	1:14.37 (5) 40.67 (6)	1:55.04 (4) 41.07 (6)	2:36.11	0.85
5	7	No Ju-Hui	KOR	35.69 (6) 39.33 (5)	1:15.02 (6) 40.26 (4)	1:55.28 (6) 40.92 (5)	2:36.20	0.96
6	2	Kathrin Dumitru	GER	34.91 (2) 38.91 (4)	1:13.82 (2) 41.45 (7)	1:55.27 (5) 41.80 (7)	2:37.07	0.87
7	8	María Carolina Santa Cruz	ARG	36.89 (7) 39.64 (7)	1:16.53 (7) 40.53 (5)	1:57.06 (7) 40.79 (4)	2:37.85	0.80
DNS	3	Anna Wilson	NZL	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–	–

Heat Four (10:54)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Penny Heyns	RSA	33.06 (1) 37.56 (1)	1:10.62 (1) 38.42 (1)	1:49.04 (1) 37.59 (1)	2:26.63	0.81	QOR
2	3	Kyoko Iwasaki	JPN	34.65 (5) 38.04 (4)	1:12.69 (5) 38.82 (3)	1:51.51 (6) 39.33 (2)	2:30.84	0.76	q
3	7	Lena Eriksson	SWE	34.43 (3) 38.07 (5)	1:12.50 (4) 38.91 (4)	1:51.41 (3) 40.24 (4)	2:31.65	0.84	q
4	2	Svitlana Bondarenko	UKR	34.70 (6) 38.19 (6)	1:12.89 (6) 38.57 (2)	1:51.46 (4) 40.96 (6)	2:32.42	0.82	q
5	1	Julia Russell	RSA	34.13 (2) 38.00 (3)	1:12.13 (2) 39.21 (8)	1:51.34 (2) 41.10 (8)	2:32.44	0.76
6	8	Elin Austevoll	NOR	34.61 (4) 37.78 (2)	1:12.39 (3) 39.09 (5)	1:51.48 (5) 41.00 (7)	2:32.48	0.81
7	6	Riley Mants	CAN	35.14 (8) 38.49 (7)	1:13.63 (7) 39.16 (=6)	1:52.79 (7) 40.18 (3)	2:32.97	0.78
8	5	Yuan Yuan	CHN	35.05 (7) 38.79 (8)	1:13.84 (8) 39.16 (=6)	1:53.00 (8) 40.89 (5)	2:33.89	0.78

Heat Five (11:02)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Amanda Beard	USA	35.18 (6) 38.48 (5)	1:13.66 (6) 37.60 (1)	1:51.26 (2) 36.84 (1)	2:28.10	0.78	Q
2	3	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	35.12 (5) 38.41 (4)	1:13.53 (5) 38.25 (2)	1:51.78 (3) 37.80 (2)	2:29.58	0.80	Q
3	6	Nadine Neumann	AUS	34.27 (1) 37.34 (1)	1:11.61 (1) 38.37 (3)	1:49.98 (1) 39.93 (6)	2:29.91	0.80	Q
4	7	Lin Li	CHN	34.92 (3) 38.30 (2)	1:13.22 (2) 38.84 (6)	1:52.06 (4) 38.58 (3)	2:30.64	0.73	q
5	5	Jilen Siroky	USA	35.92 (8) 38.39 (3)	1:14.31 (7) 38.48 (4)	1:52.79 (6) 38.78 (4)	2:31.57	0.82	q
6	2	Lenka Maňhalová	CZE	34.99 (4) 38.49 (6)	1:13.48 (4) 38.78 (5)	1:52.26 (5) 39.88 (5)	2:32.14	0.86	q
7	1	Yelena Makarova	RUS	34.72 (2) 38.64 (7)	1:13.36 (3) 39.56 (8)	1:52.92 (7) 40.82 (8)	2:33.74	0.84
8	8	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	35.78 (7) 39.05 (8)	1:14.83 (8) 39.22 (7)	1:54.05 (8) 40.71 (7)	2:34.76	0.79

Heat Six (11:10)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Sam Riley	AUS	33.96 (1) 37.53 (3)	1:11.49 (1) 37.88 (1)	1:49.37 (1) 38.93 (2)	2:28.30	0.72	Q
2	3	Masami Tanaka	JPN	34.03 (2) 37.88 (=5)	1:11.91 (4) 38.79 (6)	1:50.70 (4) 38.66 (1)	2:29.36	0.73	Q
3	5	Brigitte Becue	BEL	34.35 (5) 37.44 (2)	1:11.79 (3) 38.37 (2)	1:50.16 (2) 39.46 (4)	2:29.62	0.72	Q
4	6	Christin Petelski	CAN	34.22 (4) 37.37 (1)	1:11.59 (2) 38.71 (5)	1:50.30 (3) 40.00 (6)	2:30.30	0.79	Q
5	2	Alicja Pęczak	POL	34.86 (7) 37.82 (4)	1:12.68 (7) 38.59 (3)	1:51.27 (6) 39.37 (3)	2:30.64	0.82	q
6	1	Marie Hardiman	GBR	34.64 (6) 37.88 (=5)	1:12.52 (5) 38.69 (4)	1:51.21 (5) 39.91 (5)	2:31.12	0.79	q
7	7	Maria Östling	SWE	34.13 (3) 38.44 (7)	1:12.57 (6) 39.56 (7)	1:52.13 (7) 41.31 (7)	2:33.44	0.81
8	8	Larisa Lăcusță	ROU	35.01 (8) 38.83 (8)	1:13.84 (8) 40.85 (8)	1:54.69 (8) 43.39 (8)	2:38.08	0.94

B Final (23 July 1996 — 19:40)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	7	Lena Eriksson	SWE	33.95 (1) 38.40 (4)	1:12.35 (2) 37.98 (1)	1:50.33 (1) 38.54 (2)	2:28.87	0.81
2	3	Kyoko Iwasaki	JPN	34.86 (5) 37.78 (1)	1:12.64 (4) 38.21 (2)	1:50.85 (3) 38.47 (1)	2:29.32	0.76
3	1	Lenka Maňhalová	CZE	34.10 (2) 38.01 (3)	1:12.11 (1) 38.57 (4)	1:50.68 (2) 39.28 (5)	2:29.96	0.81
4	8	Julia Russell	RSA	34.58 (=3) 38.51 (7)	1:13.09 (5) 38.53 (3)	1:51.62 (5) 38.76 (3)	2:30.38	0.80
5	5	Alicja Pęczak	POL	35.13 (7) 38.45 (6)	1:13.58 (7) 38.60 (5)	1:52.18 (6) 38.81 (4)	2:30.99	0.83
6	6	Marie Hardiman	GBR	34.58 (=3) 37.99 (2)	1:12.57 (3) 38.80 (6)	1:51.37 (4) 40.02 (7)	2:31.39	0.77
7	2	Jilen Siroky	USA	35.04 (6) 38.41 (5)	1:13.45 (6) 39.35 (7)	1:52.80 (7) 40.63 (8)	2:33.43	0.80
8	4	Lin Li	CHN	35.49 (8) 39.06 (8)	1:14.55 (8) 39.36 (8)	1:53.91 (8) 39.54 (6)	2:33.45	0.77

Final (23 July 1996 — 19:30)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Penny Heyns	RSA	32.38 (1) 36.68 (1)	1:09.06 (1) 37.44 (1)	1:46.50 (1) 38.91 (5)	2:25.41	0.83	OR
2	5	Amanda Beard	USA	33.97 (5) 37.33 (3)	1:11.30 (3) 37.47 (2)	1:48.77 (3) 36.98 (1)	2:25.75	0.88
3	2	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	33.96 (4) 37.47 (4)	1:11.43 (4) 37.61 (4)	1:49.04 (4) 37.53 (2)	2:26.57	0.82
4	3	Sam Riley	AUS	33.09 (2) 37.05 (2)	1:10.14 (2) 38.15 (7)	1:48.29 (2) 39.62 (7)	2:27.91	0.74
5	6	Masami Tanaka	JPN	33.78 (3) 38.15 (8)	1:11.93 (6) 38.13 (6)	1:50.06 (6) 37.99 (3)	2:28.05	0.72
6	1	Nadine Neumann	AUS	34.14 (6) 37.75 (6)	1:11.89 (5) 37.49 (3)	1:49.38 (5) 38.96 (6)	2:28.34	0.76
7	7	Brigitte Becue	BEL	34.38 (7) 37.69 (5)	1:12.07 (7) 38.00 (5)	1:50.07 (7) 38.29 (4)	2:28.36	0.72
8	8	Christin Petelski	CAN	34.47 (8) 37.87 (7)	1:12.34 (8) 39.13 (8)	1:51.47 (8) 39.98 (8)	2:31.45	0.79