| | 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	Swimmer	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 (14 August 2008)

Fastest 16 swimmers advanced to semi-finals

Heat One (20:23)

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

Heat Two (20:27)

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

Heat Three (20:31)

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

Heat Four (20:35)

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

Heat Five (20:39)

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

Semi-Finals (15 August 2008)

Fastest eight swimmers advanced to final

Heat One (10:26)

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

Heat Two (10:31)

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

Final (16 August 2008 — 10:03)

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