Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre breaststroke explained

Event:	Men's 200 metre breaststroke
Games:	2000 Summer
Venue:	Sydney International Aquatic Centre
Date:	September 19, 2000 (heats &<br />semifinals) September 20, 2000 (final)
Competitors:	49
Nations:	44
Win Value:	2:10.87 EU
Gold:	Domenico Fioravanti
Goldnoc:	ITA
Silver:	Terence Parkin
Silvernoc:	RSA
Bronze:	Davide Rummolo
Bronzenoc:	ITA
Prev:	1996
Next:	2004

The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 19–20 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.^[1]

Domenico Fioravanti emerged as a major force on the international swimming after effortlessly winning his second gold at these Games. He maintained a lead from start to finish and posted a European record of 2:10.87, the second-fastest of all time, making him the first ever swimmer in Olympic history to strike a breaststroke double.^[2] ^[3] South Africa's Terence Parkin, a deaf mute since birth, enjoyed the race of his life to take a silver medal in an African record of 2:12.50.^[4] Fioravanti's fellowman Davide Rummolo gave Italy a further reason to celebrate, as he powered home with the bronze in 2:12.73.^[5] ^[6]

Acknowledging a massive cheer from the home crowd, Australia's Regan Harrison swam his lifetime best, but finished outside the podium by 15-hundredths of a second in 2:12.88. Czech Republic's Daniel Málek pulled off a fifth-place finish in a national record of 2:13.20, while Kyle Salyards, the only U.S. swimmer in the final, earned a sixth spot with a time of 2:13.27. France's Yohann Bernard (2:13.31) and another Aussie Ryan Mitchell (2:14.00) rounded out the finale.^[5] Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Hungary's Norbert Rózsa, the defending Olympic champion, who placed thirteenth (2:14.67), and Canada's Morgan Knabe, who had the fastest 100-metre split, but faded badly on the final lap to place tenth (2:14.01).^[7]

Shortly before the next Olympics, Fioravanti was forced to retire from swimming after failing a routine medical test carried by the Italian National Olympic Committee. Tests revealed that he was diagnosed with a genetic heart anomaly.^[8] ^[9]

Records

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

Results

Heats

Rank	Heat	Lane	Time	Notes
1	6	7	2:12.75	Q, NR
2	4	5	2:14.10	Q, NR
3	7	2	2:14.18	Q
4	7	7	2:14.37	Q, NR
5	5	6	2:14.69	Q
6	7	4	2:14.79	Q
7	7	6	2:14.85	Q
8	5	7	2:15.02	Q
9	6	2	2:15.04	Q
10	6	3	2:15.06	Q
11	6	1	2:15.27	Q
12	6	4	2:15.35	Q
13	5	3	2:15.54	Q
14	6	5	2:15.57	Q
15	2	2	2:15.63	Q
16	7	5	2:15.70	Q
17	7	3	2:15.71
18	4	3	2:16.08
19	4	4	2:16.21	NR
20	5	4	2:16.26
21	5	5	2:16.30
22	5	8	2:16.93
23	5	1	2:17.03
24	6	6	2:17.16
25	4	8	2:17.86	NR
26	7	8	2:18.08
27	4	1	2:18.14
28	2	6	2:18.28
29	3	2	2:19.16	NR
30	3	5	2:19.30
31	4	7	2:19.31
32	4	6	2:19.33
33	3	4	2:19.71
34	2	3	2:19.76
35	3	8	2:20.10
36	2	5	2:20.31
37	1	4	2:20.98
38	5	2	2:21.60
39	3	6	2:21.78
40	3	1	2:23.81
41	4	2	2:23.95
42	3	7	2:24.04
43	3	3	2:24.49
44	7	1	2:26.84
45	1	3	2:29.54
46	2	7	2:30.23
47	1	5	2:32.90
	2	4
	6	8

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank	Lane	Time	Notes
1	1	2:13.38	Q
2	4	2:13.46	Q, NR
3	7	2:13.48	Q
4	2	2:13.57	Q
5	8	2:13.95
6	5	2:14.20
7	3	2:14.59
8	6	2:15.23

Semifinal 2

Rank	Lane	Time	Notes
1	2	2:12.37	Q, NR
2	4	2:13.23	Q
3	6	2:13.75	Q
4	3	2:13.87	Q
5	5	2:14.01
6	7	2:14.67
7	1	2:15.16
8	8	2:16.90

Final

Rank	Lane	Time	Notes
	4	2:10.87	EU
	7	2:12.50	AF
	5	2:12.73
4	1	2:12.88	OC
5	6	2:13.20	NR
6	3	2:13.27
7	2	2:13.31
8	8	2:14.00

External links

Official Olympic Report

Notes and References

Web site: Swimming schedule . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. 14 May 2013.
News: Flying Fioravanti bags second gold. BBC Sport. 20 September 2000. 4 June 2013.
News: Fitzpatrick. Frank. Misty Hops Up A Golden Mountain Hyman Tops Aussie Icon In Butterfly. https://web.archive.org/web/20141211135229/http://articles.philly.com/2000-09-21/sports/25583144_1_samantha-arsenault-butterfly-misty-hyman. dead. December 11, 2014. Philadelphia Inquirer. 21 September 2000. 4 June 2013.
News: Deaf Parkin wins silver. News24. 20 September 2000. 4 June 2013.
News: Whitten. Phillip. Olympic Day 5 Finals. Swimming World Magazine. 20 September 2000. 4 June 2013. dead. https://archive.today/20130624174144/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/1809.asp. 24 June 2013.
News: Lonsbrough. Anita. Hyman denies Madam Butterfly a second farewell gold. The Daily Telegraph. 21 September 2000. 3 June 2013.
News: Whitten. Phillip. Olympic Day 4 Finals. Swimming World Magazine. 19 September 2000. 4 June 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154751/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/1804.asp. 30 September 2007.
News: Heart Trouble Sidelines Italian Olympic Champ. Swimming World Magazine. 7 November 2003. 3 June 2013.
News: Swim champion doubtful for Athens. CNN. 6 November 2003. 3 June 2013.