Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle explained

Event:Women's 100 metre freestyle
Games:2016 Summer
Venue:Olympic Aquatics Stadium
Dates:10 August 2016 (heats &<br />semifinals)
11 August 2016 (final)
Competitors:48
Nations:37
Win Value:52.70
Gold:Penny Oleksiak
Goldnoc:CAN
Gold2:Simone Manuel
Goldnoc2:USA
Bronze:Sarah Sjöström
Bronzenoc:SWE
Prev:2012
Next:2020

The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 10–11 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.[1]

Summary

In one of the most unexpected results at these Games, Canadian teenager Penny Oleksiak and U.S. sprinter Simone Manuel pulled off an enormous upset from Australia's pre-race favorites Bronte and Cate Campbell down the home stretch to be in a dead heat for the gold medal.[2] About midway of the final lap, both Oleksiak and Manuel came from behind to overhaul almost the entire field, before touching the wall simultaneously for an Olympic record in 52.70.[3] [4] Building a new milestone, Manuel became the first ever African-American female to earn an Olympic gold in swimming, while Oleksiak picked up her fourth medal to establish herself as Canada's most successful athlete at a single edition in Summer Olympic history.[5] [6] In later years, she set the record for the most career medals won by a Canadian summer Olympian.[7]

Sweden's Sarah Sjöström captured the bronze with a 52.99 to complete a full set of medals at the Games, edging out Bronte Campbell (53.04) to fourth by a 0.05-second deficit.[8] [9] Dutch sprinter Ranomi Kromowidjojo missed her chance to defend the title with a fifth-place time in 53.08, while world-record holder Cate Campbell, who broke the existing Olympic record in the heats and then again in the semifinals, slipped to sixth in 53.24.[10] [11] Manuel's teammate Abbey Weitzeil (53.30) and Denmark's four-time Olympian Jeanette Ottesen (53.36) rounded out the top eight.[9]

Notable swimmers missed the final roster, including Brazil's home-crowd favorite Etiene Medeiros, Belarus' two-time Olympic medalist Aliaksandra Herasimenia, and Italy's Federica Pellegrini, who scratched the afternoon prelims earlier to focus on her 4×200 m freestyle relay duty instead.[12]

In the victory ceremony, the medals for the competition were presented by James Tomkins, Australia, member of the International Olympic Committee, and the gifts were presented by Matthew Dunn, Australia, Bureau Member of FINA.

Records

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

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record
August 10 Heat 5 52.78
August 10 Semifinal 2 52.71
August 11 Final
52.70

Competition format

The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.[1]

Results

Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 5 4 52.78 Q,
2 4 3 53.32 Q
3 6 5 53.37 Q
4 5 5 53.43 Q
5 5 3 53.53 Q
5 6 Q
7 6 3 53.54 Q
8 6 4 53.71 Q
9 5 2 53.89Q
10 6 2 53.93 Q
11 5 8 54.15 Q
6 7 Q
13 4 6 54.25 Q
14 4 8 54.38 Q
15 4 2 54.41 Q,
16 6 1 54.50 Q
6 8 Q
18 5 7 54.56
19 3 5 54.60
20 4 4 54.63
21 5 1 54.72
22 4 7 54.80
23 3 1 54.85
24 3 7 54.92
25 3 8 55.09
26 3 4 55.20
27 2 4 55.35
28 4 1 55.37
29 3 3 55.44
30 3 6 55.47
31 3 2 55.71
32 2 3 56.24
33 2 5 56.30
34 1 5 57.85 NR
35 2 8 58.47
36 2 6 58.72
37 2 1 58.89
38 2 7 58.90
39 2 2 59.00
40 1 3 59.23
41 1 6 59.41
42 1 4 59.59
43 1 2 59.99
44 1 8 1:01.11
45 1 7 1:04.66
46 1 1 1:05.71
4 5
6 6

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 53.11 Q
2 6 53.29 Q
3 3 53.35 Q, NR
4 5 53.42 Q
5 7 53.98
6 8 54.39
7 2 54.54
8 1 54.59

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 52.71 Q,
2 3 52.72Q, WJ, AM
3 5 53.16Q
4 6 53.53Q
5 2 54.00
6 7 54.19
7 8 54.31
8 1 54.34

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
5 align=left align=left 52.70 , WJ, AM
3 align=left align=left , AM
6 align=left align=left 52.99
4 2 align=left align=left 53.04
5 1 align=left align=left 53.08
6 4 align=left align=left 53.24
7 8 align=left align=left 53.30
8 7 align=left align=left 53.36

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Women's 100m Freestyle . . 5 August 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160922165638/https://www.rio2016.com/en/swimming-standings-sw-womens-100m-freestyle . 22 September 2016 .
  2. News: Rio Olympics 2016: Simone Manuel and Penny Oleksiak take joint gold. BBC Sport. 12 August 2016. 1 September 2016.
  3. News: Nathan. Fenno. Simone Manuel and Canada's Penny Oleksiak tie for gold in 100 freestyle. Los Angeles Times. 12 August 2016. 1 September 2016.
  4. News: Simone Manuel makes history, ties for Olympic gold. USA Today. 12 August 2016. 1 September 2016.
  5. News: Simone Manuel first female African-American swimmer to win individual Olympic medal. ESPN. 12 August 2016. 1 September 2016.
  6. News: Rob. Longley. Penny Oleksiak wins Canada's first gold medal in Rio, cementing her star in Olympic history. National Post. 12 August 2016. 1 September 2016.
  7. Web site: Penny Oleksiak wins bronze in 200m freestyle, becoming most decorated Summer Olympian in Canadian history CBC Sports.
  8. News: Rio 2016 Olympics: Penny Oleksiak and Simone Manuel tie for 100m freestyle gold. EuroSport. 12 August 2016. 1 September 2016.
  9. News: Simone Manuel, Penny Oleksiak Tie For Gold In Historic 100 Free Final. Swimming World Magazine. 11 August 2016. 1 September 2016.
  10. News: Phil. Lutton. Rio 2016: Cate Campbell breaking records for fun as Olympic mark falls in 100m heat. Sydney Morning Herald. 11 August 2016. 1 September 2016.
  11. News: Luke. Pentony. Rio 2016: Cate Campbell misses Olympic medal in stunning upset in 100 metres freestyle final. ABC News Australia. 12 August 2016. 1 September 2016.
  12. News: Cate Campbell Sets Olympic Record in 100 Freestyle Prelims. Swimming World Magazine. 10 August 2016. 1 September 2016.