Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle

The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1–2 August at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.[1]

Women's 100 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Venue	London Aquatics Centre
Date	August 1, 2012 (heats & semifinals) August 2, 2012 (final)
Competitors	50 from 44 nations
Winning time	53.00 OR
Medalists
Ranomi Kromowidjojo  Netherlands Aliaksandra Herasimenia  Belarus Tang Yi  China

Dutch swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo blasted a new Olympic record to become the country's third gold medalist in the event since Rie Mastenbroek topped the podium in 1936 and Inge de Bruijn in 2000. Flipping fourth at the halfway turn, she pulled ahead of a tightly-packed field to touch the wall first and improve her own record in 53.00.[2][3] Belarus' Aliaksandra Herasimenia strengthened her lead on the first length under a world-record pace, but faded down the stretch to pick up a silver in 53.38.[4] Meanwhile, China's Tang Yi produced a fast burst on the final lap to capture the bronze in 53.44.[5][6]

Australia's Melanie Schlanger finished fourth in 53.47, while American teenage sensation Missy Franklin denied a chance for another Olympic medal with a fifth-place time in 53.64.[7] Great Britain's home favorite Francesca Halsall (53.66), Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen (53.75), who shared the title with Herasimenia at the 2011 World Championships, and U.S. swimmer Jessica Hardy (54.02) rounded out the finale.[6][8]

Before the breakthrough finale, Kromowidjojo threw down a top-seeded time of 53.05 to slice 0.07 seconds off the previous Olympic record set by Germany's defending champion Britta Steffen, who later missed the final roster with a twelfth-place finish (54.18) from the semifinals.[9][10]

Among the fifty swimmers registered in the event, only forty-eight had competed. Sweden's five-time Olympian Therese Alshammar suffered from a pinched nerve in her neck, and decided to skip most of her events. Additionally, Australia's Cate Campbell scratched her first individual race because of a glandular fever.[11][12]

Records

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

World record	Britta Steffen (GER)	52.07	Rome, Italy	31 July 2009	[13][14]
Olympic record	Britta Steffen (GER)	53.12	Beijing, China	15 August 2008	[15]

The following records were established during the competition:

Date	Event	Name	Nationality	Time	Record
August 1	Semifinal 2	Ranomi Kromowidjojo	Netherlands	53.05	OR
August 2	Final	Ranomi Kromowidjojo	Netherlands	53.00	OR

Results

Heats

One of the heats during the qualification

[16]

Rank	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	5	3	Tang Yi	China	53.28	Q
2	7	6	Melanie Schlanger	Australia	53.50	Q
3	5	4	Jeanette Ottesen	Denmark	53.51	Q
4	7	5	Aliaksandra Herasimenia	Belarus	53.63	Q, NR
5	7	4	Ranomi Kromowidjojo	Netherlands	53.66	Q
6	6	7	Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace	Bahamas	53.73	Q, NR
7	6	5	Francesca Halsall	Great Britain	54.02	Q
8	5	6	Jessica Hardy	United States	54.09	Q
9	6	1	Julia Wilkinson	Canada	54.16	Q
10	6	4	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	54.26	Q
	7	3	Missy Franklin	United States		Q
12	7	2	Haruka Ueda	Japan	54.35	Q
13	6	2	Amy Smith	Great Britain	54.37	Q
14	6	3	Britta Steffen	Germany	54.42	Q
15	5	5	Femke Heemskerk	Netherlands	54.43	Q
	5	7	Daniela Schreiber	Germany		Q
17	7	7	Veronika Popova	Russia	54.66
18	6	8	Hanna-Maria Seppälä	Finland	54.93
19	5	2	Pernille Blume	Denmark	55.04
20	7	8	Charlotte Bonnet	France	55.12
21	5	1	Hannah Wilson	Hong Kong	55.33
22	4	4	Burcu Dolunay	Turkey	55.35
23	3	4	Eszter Dara	Hungary	55.37
24	4	2	Nina Rangelova	Bulgaria	55.52	NR
25	3	5	Liliana Ibáñez	Mexico	55.71	NR
26	4	6	Daynara de Paula	Brazil	55.94
27	4	3	Katarzyna Wilk	Poland	56.13
28	3	3	Nastja Govejšek	Slovenia	56.21
29	3	2	Mylene Ong	Singapore	56.33
	4	7	Rūta Meilutytė	Lithuania
31	4	8	Katarína Filová	Slovakia	56.58
32	5	8	Nery Mantey Niangkouara	Greece	56.63
33	4	5	Arlene Semeco	Venezuela	56.90
34	3	6	Jasmine Alkhaldi	Philippines	57.13
35	3	1	Megan Fonteno	American Samoa	57.45
	4	1	Miroslava Najdanovski	Serbia
37	3	7	Karen Torrez	Bolivia	57.78	NR
38	3	8	Clelia Tini	San Marino	58.29
39	2	3	Jade Howard	Zambia	59.35
40	2	5	Bayan Jumah	Syria	59.78
41	2	4	Karen Riveros	Paraguay	59.86
42	2	6	Brittany van Lange	Guyana	1:01.62
43	2	2	Estellah Fils Rabetsara	Madagascar	1:02.39
44	2	7	Reshika Udugampola	Sri Lanka	1:04.93
45	2	1	Magdalena Moshi	Tanzania	1:05.80
46	1	4	Mareme Faye	Senegal	1:06.42
47	1	5	Shreya Dhital	Nepal	1:10.80
48	1	3	Ayouba Ali Sihame	Comoros	1:14.40
	6	6	Cate Campbell	Australia	DNS
	7	1	Therese Alshammar	Sweden	DNS

Semifinals

[17]

Semifinal 1

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4	Melanie Schlanger	Australia	53.38	Q
2	5	Aliaksandra Herasimenia	Belarus	53.78	Q
3	6	Jessica Hardy	United States	53.86	Q
4	2	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	53.93
5	3	Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace	Bahamas	54.12
6	1	Britta Steffen	Germany	54.18
7	8	Daniela Schreiber	Germany	54.39
8	7	Haruka Ueda	Japan	54.59

Semifinal 2

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	3	Ranomi Kromowidjojo	Netherlands	53.05	Q, OR
2	7	Missy Franklin	United States	53.59	Q
3	4	Tang Yi	China	53.60	Q
4	5	Jeanette Ottesen	Denmark	53.77	Q
	6	Francesca Halsall	Great Britain		Q
6	8	Femke Heemskerk	Netherlands	54.13
7	2	Julia Wilkinson	Canada	54.25
8	1	Amy Smith	Great Britain	54.28

Final

[18]

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	4	Ranomi Kromowidjojo	Netherlands	53.00	OR
	1	Aliaksandra Herasimenia	Belarus	53.38	NR
	6	Tang Yi	China	53.44
4	5	Melanie Schlanger	Australia	53.47
5	3	Missy Franklin	United States	53.64
6	7	Francesca Halsall	Great Britain	53.66
7	2	Jeanette Ottesen	Denmark	53.75
8	8	Jessica Hardy	United States	54.02

References

1. "Swimming: Results & Schedules". London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
2. "Kromowidjojo wins women's 100 free with OR". Fox News. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
3. "Flying Dutchwoman: Kromowidjojo cruises to gold". Washington Examiner. 2 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
4. "Herasimenia claims silver at London 2012". Belarusian Telegraph Agency. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-07-10. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
5. "China's Tang Yi bags bronze medal in women's 100m freestyle". China Daily. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
6. "2012 London Olympics: Ranomi Kromowidjojo Clinches 100 Free Gold With Olympic Record; Aliaksandra Herasimenia, Tang Yi Get Silver-Bronze; Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy Miss Podium". Swimming World Magazine. 2 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
7. "Melanie Schlanger rues missing 100m free medal". The Australian. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
8. "Soni wins gold, breaks world record in 200m breast". USA Swimming. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
9. "2012 London Olympics: The Netherlands' Ranomi Kromowidjojo Clips Olympic Record in 100 Free Semis; Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy Make Finals". Swimming World Magazine. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-05-27. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
10. "Nathan Adrian of U.S. wins 100-meter freestyle gold medal by smallest of margins". CBS News. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
11. "2012 London Olympics: China's Tang Yi Posts Olympic Textile Best in 100 Free Prelims; Jessica Hardy, Missy Franklin Advance; Defending Champ Britta Steffen In". Swimming World Magazine. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
12. Wordsworth, Matt (1 August 2012). "Cate Campbell pulls out of 100m freestyle". ABC News Australia. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
13. Bull, Andy (31 July 2009). "Fran Halsall dreams of puppy after freestyle silver at world championships". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
14. Cowley, Michael (1 August 2009). "Australians cast in bronze as more records tumble". The Age. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
15. "Steffen wins first swimming gold for Germany". NBC Olympics. 14 August 2008. Archived from the original on 2014-01-04. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
16. "Women's 100m Freestyle – Heats". London 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
17. "Women's 100m Freestyle – Semifinals". London 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
18. "Women's 100m Freestyle – Final". London 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.

External links

• NBC Olympics Coverage