Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle explained

Event:	Women's 100 metre freestyle
Games:	2000 Summer
Venue:	Sydney International Aquatic Centre
Date:	September 20, 2000 (heats &<br />semifinals) September 21, 2000 (final)
Competitors:	56
Nations:	51
Win Value:	53.83
Gold:	Inge de Bruijn
Goldnoc:	NED
Silver:	Therese Alshammar
Silvernoc:	SWE
Bronze:	Jenny Thompson
Bronzenoc:	USA
Bronze2:	Dara Torres
Bronzenoc2:	USA
Prev:	1996
Next:	2004

The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.^[1]

Dutch rising star Inge de Bruijn stormed home on the final lap to claim her second gold at these Games. She powered past her rivals in a star-studded field to touch the wall first in 53.83.^[2] Earlier in the semifinals, she delivered a time of 53.77 to erase her own world record by 0.03 of a second.^[3] ^[4] Almost stealing the race from lane one, Therese Alshammar took home the silver in a Swedish record of 54.33. Meanwhile, top favorites Dara Torres and Jenny Thompson gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate, as they shared bronze medals in a matching time of 54.63. This was also Thompson's ninth career medal at these Games, making her the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history.^[5] ^[6]

Slovakia's Martina Moravcová, who captured two silver medals in swimming, finished outside the podium in fifth place at 54.72. South Africa's Helene Muller managed to pull off a sixth-place finish in an African standard of 55.19. Japan's Sumika Minamoto (55.53) and De Bruijn's teammate Wilma van Rijn (55.58) closed out the field.^[6]

Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Australia's overwhelming favorites Sarah Ryan and Susie O'Neill, Germany's Sandra Völker, silver medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, and Egypt's Rania Elwani, who surprisingly reached the semifinals from an unseeded heat.^[7]

Records

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

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Results

Heats

Rank	Heat	Lane	Time	Notes
1	7	4	54.77	Q
2	5	5	55.12	Q
3	6	4	55.22	Q
4	6	5	55.42	Q
5	7	2	55.45	Q, AF
6	7	5	55.49	Q
7	5	3	55.54	Q
8	6	3	55.77	Q
9	5	2	55.80	Q
10	7	6	55.82	Q
11	6	2	55.91	Q
12	6	6	56.05	Q
13	5	6	56.08	Q
14	7	7	56.30	Q
15	4	1	56.31	Q, NR
16	5	7	56.33	Q
17	4	3	56.68
18	3	6	56.69
19	7	8	56.79
20	6	7	56.97
21	4	4	57.09
22	6	1	57.15
23	4	2	57.20
24	2	6	57.21
25	5	1	57.24
26	6	8	57.37
27	5	8	57.40
28	3	4	57.47
29	2	4	57.71
29	3	5	57.71
31	7	3	57.78
32	4	8	57.82
33	4	6	57.85
34	2	2	57.91
35	4	5	58.02
36	2	1	58.44
37	3	2	58.55
38	2	7	58.62
39	3	8	58.69
40	4	7	58.77
41	3	1	58.78
42	3	3	58.79
43	2	8	58.80
44	2	3	59.08
45	2	5	59.28
46	3	7	59.39
47	1	8	1:00.89
48	1	5	1:03.26
49	1	2	1:06.23
50	1	3	1:06.67
51	1	7	1:07.37
52	1	4	1:08.15
53	1	6	1:10.22
54	1	1	1:19.12
	5	4
	7	1

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank	Lane	Time	Notes
1	4	55.02	Q
2	5	55.06	Q
3	2	55.28	Q
4	3	55.31	Q
5	6	55.69
6	7	55.93
7	1	55.94
8	8	56.40

Semifinal 2

Rank	Lane	Time	Notes
1	4	53.77	Q,
2	5	54.40	Q
3	3	55.24	Q, AF
4	2	55.62	Q
5	1	55.71
6	8	55.85	NR
7	7	55.94
8	6	55.97

Final

Rank	Lane	Time	Notes
	4	53.83
	1	54.33	NR
	5	54.63
	3	54.63
5	6	54.72
6	2	55.19	AF
7	8	55.53
8	7	55.58

Notes and References

Web site: Swimming schedule . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. 14 May 2013.
News: Berlin. Peter. De Bruijn Takes Second Gold; Hungarian and Italian Also Triumph : European Swimmers Steal the Show. New York Times. 22 September 2000. 2 June 2013.
News: De Bruijn smashes record. BBC Sport. 20 September 2000. 15 June 2013.
News: Morrissey. Rick. Dutch Treat In The Pool. Chicago Tribune. 21 September 2000. 15 June 2013.
News: Americans tie for bronze in 100 free. ESPN. 21 September 2000. 15 June 2013.
News: Whitten. Phillip. Olympic Day 6 Finals. Swimming World Magazine. 21 September 2000. 23 May 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120902050655/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/1813.asp. 2 September 2012.
News: Whitten. Phillip. Olympic Day 5 Prelims. Swimming World Magazine. 20 September 2000. 15 June 2013. dead. https://archive.today/20130624172243/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/1805.asp. 24 June 2013.