Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle explained

Event:	Women's 400 metre freestyle
Games:	2000 Summer
Venue:	Sydney International Aquatic Centre
Date:	September 17, 2000 (heats & final)
Competitors:	39
Nations:	32
Win Value:	4:05.80
Gold:	Brooke Bennett
Goldnoc:	USA
Silver:	Diana Munz
Silvernoc:	USA
Bronze:	Claudia Poll
Bronzenoc:	CRC
Prev:	1996
Next:	2004

The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 17 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.^[1]

Brooke Bennett emerged as a major force in long-distance swimming, after effortlessly winning a first gold for the United States in the event since Janet Evans did so in 1988. She maintained a powerful lead from start to finish, and posted a lifetime best of 4:05.80, making her the third fastest all-time swimmer in history behind Evans and China's Chen Hua.^{[2] [3]} At only 18 years of age, Diana Munz fought off a sprint challenge from Costa Rica's Claudia Poll and Jamaica's Janelle Atkinson on the final lap to take home the silver in 4:07.07, extending a distance swimming legacy for the Americans with a one–two finish.^[4] Meanwhile, Poll settled only for the bronze in 4:07.83.^{[5] [6]}

Atkinson made an Olympic milestone as the first Jamaican to reach a swimming final, but missed out the podium by almost a full second in a national record of 4:08.79.^[7] Russia's Nadezhda Chemezova finished fifth in 4:10.37, holding off a fast-pacing Hannah Stockbauer of Germany (4:10.38) by a hundredth of a second (0.01). Netherlands' Carla Geurts (4:12.36), and China's Chen Hua (4:13.11), the second fastest all-time swimmer, rounded out the finale.^[6]

Records

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

Results

Heats

Rank	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	3	4			4:07.57	Q
2	3	5			4:09.33	Q
3	3	3			4:09.61	Q, NR
4	4	5			4:10.39	Q
5	5	1			4:10.56	Q
6	4	6			4:10.76	Q
	5	4				Q
8	3	7			4:10.86	Q
9	5	7			4:11.77
10	5	6			4:11.87
11	4	4			4:11.92
12	5	3			4:12.45
13	3	6			4:12.67
14	2	4			4:13.09
15	5	5			4:13.10
16	4	1			4:13.89
17	4	2			4:15.41
18	4	7			4:15.54
19	5	8			4:15.55
20	4	8			4:15.93
21	3	1			4:16.17
22	2	2			4:16.94
23	4	3			4:17.23
24	2	5			4:17.55
25	2	8			4:17.76
26	2	6			4:17.96
27	5	2			4:18.05
28	2	3			4:18.16
29	3	2			4:18.48
30	1	4			4:19.10
31	1	2			4:19.69
32	3	8			4:19.96
33	1	3			4:21.03
34	1	7			4:23.73
35	1	1			4:24.29
36	1	5			4:25.16
37	2	1			4:25.66
38	1	6			4:27.33
39	2	7			4:29.28

Final

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	4			4:05.80
	6			4:07.07
	5			4:07.83
4	3			4:08.79	NR
5	7			4:10.37
6	1			4:10.38
7	8			4:12.36
8	2			4:13.11

External links

• Official Olympic Report

Notes and References

1. Web site: Swimming schedule . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. 14 May 2013.
2. News: De Bruijn soars to butterfly gold. BBC Sport. 17 September 2000. 15 June 2013.
3. News: Dolan, Bennett bring home gold for U.S. swimming. Sports Illustrated. CNN. 16 September 2000. 15 June 2013.
4. News: Dolan, Munz overcome ailments to win. ESPN. 17 September 2000. 9 June 2013.
5. News: Americans Bennett, Munz go 1-2 in 400 free. https://archive.today/20130619230216/http://www.canoe.ca/2000GamesSwimming/sep17_ame.html. usurped. June 19, 2013. Canoe.ca. 17 September 2000. 9 June 2013.
6. News: Whitten. Phillip. Olympic Day 2 Finals. Swimming World Magazine. 17 September 2000. 23 May 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927195839/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/1792.asp. 27 September 2007.
7. News: Atkinson superb; just misses medal in 400m freestyle. Jamaica Gleaner. 18 September 2000. 23 May 2013.