| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Women

Date	20 – 21 September 2000
Status	Olympic
Location	Sydney International Aquatic Centre, Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales
Participants	35 from 29 countries

The Olympic final turned into a carbon copy of the most recent world championship final with Ágnes Kovács of Hungary and Kristy Kowal engaged in a personal duel for the gold medal. Kovács trailed in fifth at 100 metres but slowly bore down on long-time leader Kowal and in the last few metres she overtook the American for the gold medal. The Hungarian’s efforts resulted in her being named Hungary’s Sportswoman of the Year for the fourth successive time. Atlanta medalist Amanda Beard returned to the medal podium in third place.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	2:24.92 (1 h5)	2:24.03 (1 h2)	2:24.35 (1)	Gold
2	Kristy Kowal	USA	2:26.73 (1 h3)	2:25.46 (1 h1)	2:24.56 (2)	Silver
3	Amanda Beard	USA	2:27.83 (2 h3)	2:26.62 (5 h2)	2:25.35 (3)	Bronze
4	Qi Hui	CHN	2:26.76 (1 h4)	2:24.21 (2 h2)	2:25.36 (4)
5	Olga Bakaldina	RUS	2:28.19 (2 h5)	2:25.41 (3 h2)	2:25.47 (5)
6	Sarah Poewe	RSA	2:27.84 (3 h3)	2:25.54 (2 h1)	2:25.72 (6)
7	Masami Tanaka	JPN	2:27.39 (3 h4)	2:26.24 (4 h2)	2:26.98 (7)
8	Luo Xuejuan	CHN	2:28.43 (3 h5)	2:25.86 (3 h1)	2:27.33 (8)
9	Karine Brémond	FRA	2:27.13 (2 h4)	2:27.86 (4 h1)	–
10	Caroline Hildreth	AUS	2:27.60 (5 h4)	2:28.30 (5 h1)	–
11	Gu Hyo-Jin	KOR	2:28.21 (6 h4)	2:28.50 (6 h1)	–
12	Anne Poleska	GER	2:29.15 (4 h3)	2:28.99 (7 h1)	–
13	Christin Petelski	CAN	2:29.11 (4 h5)	2:29.43 (6 h2)	–
14	Rebecca Brown	AUS	2:28.24 (7 h4)	2:29.90 (7 h2)	–
15	Alicja Pęczak	POL	2:29.45 (5 h5)	2:30.02 (8 h2)	–
16	Junko Isoda	JPN	2:29.60 (6 h5)	2:31.71 (8 h1)	–
17	Beatrice Căşlaru	ROU	2:27.59 (4 h4)	–	–		1
18	Ina Hüging	GER	2:30.00 (5 h3)	–	–
19	Elvira Fischer	AUT	2:30.05 (8 h4)	–	–
20	Penny Heyns	RSA	2:30.17 (7 h5)	–	–
21	Brigitte Becue	BEL	2:31.27 (6 h3)	–	–
22	Agata Czaplicki	SUI	2:32.98 (8 h5)	–	–
23	Jaime King	GBR	2:33.10 (7 h3)	–	–
24	İlkay Dikmen	TUR	2:33.34 (1 h2)	–	–
25	Isabel Ceballos	COL	2:34.09 (1 h1)	–	–
26	Inna Nikitina	UKR	2:34.20 (2 h2)	–	–
27	Siow Yi Ting	MAS	2:34.52 (3 h2)	–	–
28	Margarita Kalmikova	LAT	2:35.69 (4 h2)	–	–
29	Adriana Marmolejo	MEX	2:36.93 (5 h2)	–	–
30	Nicolette Teo	SGP	2:37.39 (6 h2)	–	–
31	Jenny Guerrero	PHI	2:38.10 (2 h1)	–	–
32	Íris Edda Heimisdóttir	ISL	2:38.52 (7 h2)	–	–
33	Olga Molchanova	KGZ	2:41.43 (3 h1)	–	–
34	Imaday Núñez	CUB	2:41.97 (8 h2)	–	–
35	Anastasiya Korolyova	UZB	2:43.23 (4 h1)	–	–
DNS	Lourdes Becerra	ESP	– (DNS h3)	–	–

Round One (20 September 2000)

Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (10:59)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Isabel Ceballos	COL	35.23 (1) 39.22 (1)	1:14.45 (1) 39.71 (1)	1:54.16 (1) 39.93 (1)	2:34.09	0.78
2	4	Jenny Guerrero	PHI	36.39 (4) 39.88 (2)	1:16.27 (2) 40.41 (2)	1:56.68 (2) 41.42 (2)	2:38.10	0.81
3	3	Olga Molchanova	KGZ	36.33 (3) 41.20 (4)	1:17.53 (4) 41.52 (3)	1:59.05 (3) 42.38 (3)	2:41.43	0.84
4	6	Anastasiya Korolyova	UZB	35.94 (2) 40.94 (3)	1:16.88 (3) 42.48 (4)	1:59.36 (4) 43.87 (4)	2:43.23	0.88

Heat Two (11:03)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	8	İlkay Dikmen	TUR	35.29 (2) 38.85 (1)	1:14.14 (1) 39.64 (3)	1:53.78 (2) 39.56 (2)	2:33.34	0.77
2	4	Inna Nikitina	UKR	35.11 (1) 39.15 (2)	1:14.26 (2) 39.48 (2)	1:53.74 (1) 40.46 (5)	2:34.20	0.86
3	2	Siow Yi Ting	MAS	36.15 (6) 39.78 (3)	1:15.93 (5) 39.29 (1)	1:55.22 (3) 39.30 (1)	2:34.52	0.90
4	3	Margarita Kalmikova	LAT	35.82 (3) 39.84 (5)	1:15.66 (3) 39.94 (4)	1:55.60 (4) 40.09 (3)	2:35.69	0.84
5	5	Adriana Marmolejo	MEX	36.01 (5) 39.83 (4)	1:15.84 (4) 40.38 (5)	1:56.22 (5) 40.71 (6)	2:36.93	0.78
6	7	Nicolette Teo	SGP	36.52 (8) 40.10 (6)	1:16.62 (7) 40.51 (6)	1:57.13 (6) 40.26 (4)	2:37.39	0.93
7	6	Íris Edda Heimisdóttir	ISL	35.88 (4) 40.66 (7)	1:16.54 (6) 40.83 (7)	1:57.37 (7) 41.15 (7)	2:38.52	0.91
8	1	Imaday Núñez	CUB	36.29 (7) 40.96 (8)	1:17.25 (8) 42.12 (8)	1:59.37 (8) 42.60 (8)	2:41.97	0.83

Heat Three (11:07)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Kristy Kowal	USA	34.00 (2) 37.62 (2)	1:11.62 (1) 37.86 (2)	1:49.48 (1) 37.25 (1)	2:26.73	0.82	Q
2	3	Amanda Beard	USA	34.35 (5) 37.60 (1)	1:11.95 (2) 37.67 (1)	1:49.62 (2) 38.21 (4)	2:27.83	0.74	Q
3	5	Sarah Poewe	RSA	33.80 (1) 38.30 (3)	1:12.10 (3) 38.29 (4)	1:50.39 (3) 37.45 (2)	2:27.84	0.74	Q
4	6	Anne Poleska	GER	34.48 (6) 38.46 (5)	1:12.94 (6) 38.20 (3)	1:51.14 (4) 38.01 (3)	2:29.15	0.85	Q
5	2	Ina Hüging	GER	34.22 (4) 38.34 (4)	1:12.56 (4) 38.63 (5)	1:51.19 (5) 38.81 (5)	2:30.00	0.85
6	1	Brigitte Becue	BEL	34.16 (3) 38.68 (6)	1:12.84 (5) 39.18 (7)	1:52.02 (6) 39.25 (6)	2:31.27	0.74
7	7	Jaime King	GBR	35.13 (7) 39.03 (7)	1:14.16 (7) 39.14 (6)	1:53.30 (7) 39.80 (7)	2:33.10	0.78
DNS	8	Lourdes Becerra	ESP	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–	–

Heat Four (11:12)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Qi Hui	CHN	33.80 (2) 37.86 (5)	1:11.66 (2) 37.74 (3)	1:49.40 (3) 37.36 (1)	2:26.76	0.86	Q
2	2	Karine Brémond	FRA	34.58 (7) 37.57 (3)	1:12.15 (6) 37.51 (1)	1:49.66 (4) 37.47 (2)	2:27.13	0.82	Q
3	4	Masami Tanaka	JPN	34.17 (4) 37.54 (2)	1:11.71 (3) 37.55 (2)	1:49.26 (=1) 38.13 (5)	2:27.39	0.81	Q
4	3	Beatrice Căşlaru	ROU	33.78 (1) 37.43 (1)	1:11.21 (1) 38.05 (5)	1:49.26 (=1) 38.33 (7)	2:27.59	0.85	Q
5	6	Caroline Hildreth	AUS	33.98 (3) 37.93 (7)	1:11.91 (5) 38.17 (6)	1:50.08 (=5) 37.52 (3)	2:27.60	0.72	Q
6	8	Gu Hyo-Jin	KOR	34.44 (6) 37.90 (6)	1:12.34 (7) 37.91 (4)	1:50.25 (7) 37.96 (4)	2:28.21	0.87	Q
7	7	Rebecca Brown	AUS	34.22 (5) 37.68 (4)	1:11.90 (4) 38.18 (7)	1:50.08 (=5) 38.16 (6)	2:28.24	0.78	Q
8	1	Elvira Fischer	AUT	34.86 (8) 38.47 (8)	1:13.33 (8) 38.28 (8)	1:51.61 (8) 38.44 (8)	2:30.05	0.83

Heat Five (11:17)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	33.52 (1) 37.49 (1)	1:11.01 (1) 36.75 (1)	1:47.76 (1) 37.16 (1)	2:24.92	0.90	QOR
2	3	Olga Bakaldina	RUS	34.52 (6) 37.92 (3)	1:12.44 (5) 38.13 (5)	1:50.57 (4) 37.62 (2)	2:28.19	0.89	Q
3	6	Luo Xuejuan	CHN	33.95 (3) 38.18 (6)	1:12.13 (3) 37.96 (2)	1:50.09 (2) 38.34 (3)	2:28.43	0.74	Q
4	1	Christin Petelski	CAN	34.42 (5) 38.11 (5)	1:12.53 (7) 38.08 (3)	1:50.61 (5) 38.50 (4)	2:29.11	0.85	Q
5	7	Alicja Pęczak	POL	34.41 (4) 37.98 (4)	1:12.39 (4) 38.11 (4)	1:50.50 (3) 38.95 (6)	2:29.45	0.86	Q
6	2	Junko Isoda	JPN	34.62 (7) 37.88 (2)	1:12.50 (6) 38.26 (6)	1:50.76 (6) 38.84 (5)	2:29.60	0.86	q
7	4	Penny Heyns	RSA	33.76 (2) 38.21 (7)	1:11.97 (2) 39.13 (7)	1:51.10 (7) 39.07 (7)	2:30.17	0.79
8	8	Agata Czaplicki	SUI	35.17 (8) 38.30 (8)	1:13.47 (8) 39.21 (8)	1:52.68 (8) 40.30 (8)	2:32.98	0.79

Semi-Finals (20 September 2000)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One (20:08)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Kristy Kowal	USA	33.40 (3) 37.18 (2)	1:10.58 (=2) 37.58 (1)	1:48.16 (2) 37.30 (3)	2:25.46	0.79	Q
2	6	Sarah Poewe	RSA	33.10 (1) 37.48 (3)	1:10.58 (=2) 37.70 (2)	1:48.28 (3) 37.26 (2)	2:25.54	0.77	Q
3	7	Luo Xuejuan	CHN	33.24 (2) 37.12 (1)	1:10.36 (1) 37.71 (3)	1:48.07 (1) 37.79 (5)	2:25.86	0.69	Q
4	5	Karine Brémond	FRA	34.80 (8) 37.74 (4)	1:12.54 (5) 38.12 (6)	1:50.66 (5) 37.20 (1)	2:27.86	0.82
5	3	Caroline Hildreth	AUS	33.88 (4) 37.90 (5)	1:11.78 (4) 37.98 (4)	1:49.76 (4) 38.54 (7)	2:28.30	0.76
6	2	Gu Hyo-Jin	KOR	34.44 (6) 38.21 (6)	1:12.65 (6) 38.33 (7)	1:50.98 (7) 37.52 (4)	2:28.50	0.91
7	1	Anne Poleska	GER	34.24 (5) 38.42 (8)	1:12.66 (7) 38.06 (5)	1:50.72 (6) 38.27 (6)	2:28.99	0.85
8	8	Junko Isoda	JPN	34.58 (7) 38.22 (7)	1:12.80 (8) 39.20 (8)	1:52.00 (8) 39.71 (8)	2:31.71	0.74

Heat Two (20:14)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	33.36 (1) 37.36 (4)	1:10.72 (2) 36.99 (1)	1:47.71 (2) 36.32 (1)	2:24.03	0.89	QOR
2	5	Qi Hui	CHN	33.49 (2) 37.02 (2)	1:10.51 (1) 37.05 (2)	1:47.56 (1) 36.65 (2)	2:24.21	0.87	Q
3	2	Olga Bakaldina	RUS	34.04 (6) 37.18 (3)	1:11.22 (4) 37.10 (3)	1:48.32 (3) 37.09 (3)	2:25.41	0.83	Q
4	3	Masami Tanaka	JPN	33.73 (3) 37.61 (5)	1:11.34 (5) 37.31 (4)	1:48.65 (=4) 37.59 (4)	2:26.24	0.78	Q
5	6	Amanda Beard	USA	34.19 (7) 36.98 (1)	1:11.17 (3) 37.48 (5)	1:48.65 (=4) 37.97 (5)	2:26.62	0.75	Q
6	1	Christin Petelski	CAN	34.27 (8) 37.73 (6)	1:12.00 (7) 38.13 (6)	1:50.13 (6) 39.30 (8)	2:29.43	0.78
7	7	Rebecca Brown	AUS	33.78 (4) 38.12 (7)	1:11.90 (6) 38.72 (8)	1:50.62 (7) 39.28 (7)	2:29.90	0.84
8	8	Alicja Pęczak	POL	33.92 (5) 38.31 (8)	1:12.23 (8) 38.63 (7)	1:50.86 (8) 39.16 (6)	2:30.02	0.87

Final (21 September 2000 — 19:11)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Ágnes Kovács	HUN	33.31 (2) 37.33 (4)	1:10.64 (5) 37.14 (4)	1:47.78 (3) 36.57 (1)	2:24.35	0.88
2	6	Kristy Kowal	USA	33.42 (3) 36.79 (1)	1:10.21 (1) 36.92 (2)	1:47.13 (1) 37.43 (2)	2:24.56	0.78
3	8	Amanda Beard	USA	33.66 (5) 36.89 (2)	1:10.55 (3) 37.26 (5)	1:47.81 (4) 37.54 (3)	2:25.35	0.74
4	5	Qi Hui	CHN	33.46 (4) 37.14 (3)	1:10.60 (4) 37.01 (3)	1:47.61 (2) 37.75 (8)	2:25.36	0.84
5	3	Olga Bakaldina	RUS	33.68 (6) 37.36 (5)	1:11.04 (6) 36.80 (1)	1:47.84 (5) 37.63 (5)	2:25.47	0.88
6	2	Sarah Poewe	RSA	32.97 (1) 37.56 (6)	1:10.53 (2) 37.55 (6)	1:48.08 (6) 37.64 (6)	2:25.72	0.73
7	1	Masami Tanaka	JPN	33.99 (8) 37.67 (7)	1:11.66 (7) 37.73 (7)	1:49.39 (7) 37.59 (4)	2:26.98	0.77
8	7	Luo Xuejuan	CHN	33.92 (7) 37.83 (8)	1:11.75 (8) 37.86 (8)	1:49.61 (8) 37.72 (7)	2:27.33	0.71