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

Event:	Women's 100 metre breaststroke
Games:	2012 Summer
Venue:	London Aquatics Centre
Date:	July 29, 2012 (heats &<br>semifinals) July 30, 2012 (final)
Competitors:	46
Nations:	36
Win Value:	1:05.47
Gold:	Rūta Meilutytė
Goldnoc:	LTU
Silver:	Rebecca Soni
Silvernoc:	USA
Bronze:	Satomi Suzuki
Bronzenoc:	JPN
Prev:	2008
Next:	2016

The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29–30 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.^{[1] [2]}

At only 15 years of age, Rūta Meilutytė defeated a vastly more sophisticated field to become Lithuania's first ever gold medalist in swimming under its own banner. Dominating the race from the start, she pulled away from the field to an unexpected triumph in a sterling time of 1:05.47.^{[3] [4]} U.S. top favorite and reigning world champion Rebecca Soni held on a sprint challenge from the Lithuanian teen at the halfway turn, but ended up defending her silver instead from Beijing four years earlier in 1:05.55.^[5] Meanwhile, Satomi Suzuki powered home with the bronze in 1:06.46, handing Japan its first ever medal in the event's history.^{[6] [7]}

Jamaica's Alia Atkinson raced on the outside lane after her swim-off triumph over Canada's Tera van Beilen in the semifinals, but narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place time in 1:06.93.^[8] Competing in her fourth Olympics as Australia's first ever swimmer, defending Olympic champion Leisel Jones finished fifth in a credible time of 1:06.96 to end her illustrious career with a full set of medals.^[9]

U.S. swimmer Breeja Larson escaped from a "no false-start" rule to pull off a sixth-place finish in 1:06.96, as the issue of her pre-race jump came with a faulty starting system.^{[10] [11]} Russia's Yuliya Yefimova (1:06.98) and Denmark's Rikke Pedersen (1:07.55) rounded out the field.^[7]

Records

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

Results

Heats

^[12]

Rank	Heat	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4	6			1:05.56	Q, NR
2	6	4			1:05.75	Q
3	6	5			1:06.51	Q
4	5	4			1:06.58	Q
5	4	4			1:06.98	Q
6	5	5			1:07.08	Q
7	6	2			1:07.12	Q
8	6	3			1:07.14	Q
9	5	3			1:07.23	Q
10	3	6			1:07.39	Q, NR
11	4	5			1:07.41	Q
12	3	2			1:07.54	Q
13	4	1			1:07.68	Q
14	4	2			1:07.69	Q
15	4	3			1:07.81	Q
16	5	2			1:07.85	Q
17	5	7			1:07.99
18	3	3			1:08.21	NR
19	5	1			1:08.28
20	6	7			1:08.31
21	6	8			1:08.32
22	5	6			1:08.43
23	6	6			1:08.44
24	3	5			1:08.59
25	4	7			1:08.64
26	4	8			1:08.80
27	3	4			1:08.83
28	5	8			1:09.22
29	3	1			1:09.43
30	2	4			1:09.63
31	2	5			1:09.65
32	2	6			1:09.76
33	3	7			1:09.79
34	2	3			1:09.92
35	2	2			1:10.62
36	2	1			1:11.12
37	3	8			1:11.23
38	2	7			1:11.28
39	6	1			1:12.58
40	2	8			1:13.30
41	1	4			1:14.04
42	1	3			1:15.76	NR
43	1	5			1:16.33
44	1	6			1:25.52
45	1	2			1:27.17
46	1	7			1:38.54

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4			1:05.98	Q
2	5			1:06.70	Q
3	3			1:07.10	Q
4	2			1:07.48
	8
6	6			1:07.57
7	7			1:07.68
8	1			1:08.26

Semifinal 2

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4			1:05.21	Q, EU, NR
2	5			1:06.57	Q
3	3			1:06.81	Q
4	2			1:06.82	Q
5	6			1:07.68
6	7			1:07.74
7	8			1:07.87
8	1			1:07.97

Semifinal swim-off

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	5			1:06.79	Q, NR
2	4			1:07.73

Final

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	4			1:05.47
	5			1:05.55
	1			1:06.46
4	8			1:06.93
5	2			1:06.95
6	6			1:06.96
7	3			1:06.98
8	7			1:07.55

* False start, but she was not disqualified due to technical error.

External links

• NBC Olympics Coverage

Notes and References

1. Web site: Swimming: Results & Schedules. London 2012. NBC Olympics. 29 July 2012. 7 July 2013. dead. https://archive.today/20130703184425/http://www.2012.nbcolympics.com/swimming/results-schedules/index.html. 3 July 2013.
2. Web site: 100 meters Breaststroke, Women . https://web.archive.org/web/20231125214042/https://www.olympedia.org/results/322107 . live . 25 November 2023 . 25 November 2023 . Olympedia.
3. News: White. Duncan. London 2012 Olympics: 15-year-old Plymouth schoolgirl Ruta Meilutyte takes shock 100m breaststroke gold. The Daily Telegraph. 30 July 2012. 8 July 2013.
4. News: Walker. Peter. Ruta Meilutyte grabs a gold for Lithuania. The Daily Telegraph. 30 July 2012. 8 July 2013.
5. News: Ruta Meilutyte wins 100m breast. ESPN. 30 July 2012. 8 July 2013.
6. News: Kano. Shintaro. Irie, Terakawa, Suzuki haul in bronze from the pool. The Japan Times. 31 July 2012. 8 July 2013.
7. News: 2012 London Olympics: Ruta Meilutyte Earns Lithuania's First Gold Medal Under Its Flag With 100 Breast Win; Rebecca Soni Places Just Behind in Second. Swimming World Magazine. 30 July 2012. 7 July 2013.
8. News: 2012 London Olympics: Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte Sets European Record to Top 100 Breast Semis; Soni and Larson Advance. Swimming World Magazine. 29 July 2012. 7 July 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130128031658/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/World/31442.asp. 2013-01-28. dead.
9. News: Jones misses medals in 'changing of the guard'. ABC News Australia. 31 July 2012. 8 July 2013.
10. News: Williams. Charean. Texas A&M swimmer Breeja Larson derailed after jumping gun before start. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 30 July 2012. 8 July 2013.
11. News: Scott-Elliott. Robin. Plymouth's Ruta Meilutyte wins shock gold (but it's not for Great Britain). https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/swimming/plymouths-ruta-meilutyte-wins-shock-gold-but-its-not-for-great-britain-7988093.html . 2022-05-26 . subscription . live. The Independent. 30 July 2012. 8 July 2013.
12. Web site: Women's 100m Breaststroke – Heats. London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 27 July 2012. 4 December 2012. https://archive.today/20121204174624/http://www.london2012.com/swimming/event/women-100m-breaststroke/phase=sww031900/index.html. dead.