The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.[1] It was the event's twenty-third consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1924. An unusual occurrence happened where the Olympic record for this event was broken three times in a single day and five times through the course of the entire competition.[2]
| Women's 100 metre backstroke at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Tokyo Aquatics Centre | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 25 July 2021 (heats) 26 July 2021 (semifinals) 27 July 2021 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 41 from 34 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 57.47 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Summary
editAustralia's world record holder Kaylee McKeown broke the Olympic record to win her first individual Olympic title in 57.47, just 0.02 seconds off her world record. Third at the turn, McKeown used a blistering back half to overtake the field and become Australia's first Olympic champion in this event. While Canada's defending Bronze medallist Kylie Masse led at the halfway mark, she could not withstand McKeown's late charge, touching for silver in 57.72 - only 0.02 seconds off her national record. U.S.' previous world record holder Regan Smith was unable to replicate her time from the heats and semi-finals, settling for bronze in 58.05. Though Smith's teammate Rhyan White (58.43) was second at the turn, she would fade over the final 50 m to take fourth place. Australia's Emily Seebohm (58.45), the 2012 silver medallist, was out-touched by 0.02 seconds to finish fifth.
Meanwhile, Great Britain's Kathleen Dawson could not repeat her stunning 58.01 swim from the European Championships months earlier, placing sixth. Dutch record holder Kira Toussaint also missed her national record from the Eindhoven Qualification Meet to take sixth. Israel's Anastasia Gorbenko came eight in 59.90, missing her personal best time from the semi-finals by 6 tenths of a second.
Records
editPrior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Kaylee McKeown (AUS) |
57.45 | Adelaide, Australia | 13 June 2021 | [3] |
| Olympic record |  Emily Seebohm (AUS) |
58.23 | London, United Kingdom | 29 July 2012 | [4] |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 25 | Heat 4 | Kylie Masse |  Canada |
58.17 | OR |
| July 25 | Heat 5 | Regan Smith |  United States |
57.96 | OR |
| July 25 | Heat 6 | Kaylee McKeown | Australia |
57.88 | OR |
| July 26 | Semifinal 1 | Regan Smith | United States |
57.86 | OR |
| July 27 | Final | Kaylee McKeown | Australia |
57.47 | OR |
Qualification
editThe Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 1:00.25. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 1:02.06. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a female swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place.[5]
Competition format
editThe 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.[6]
Schedule
editAll times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)[1]
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| 25 July 2021 | 19:00 | Heats |
| 26 July 2021 | 11:53 | Semifinals |
| 27 July 2021 | 10:51 | Final |
Results
editHeats
editThe swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.[7]
Semifinals
editThe swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.[8]
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Regan Smith | United States |
57.86 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 2 | 5 | Kylie Masse | Canada |
58.09 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 4 | Kaylee McKeown | Australia |
58.11 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | Rhyan White | United States |
58.46 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | Kathleen Dawson |  Great Britain |
58.56 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 3 | Emily Seebohm | Australia |
58.59 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 6 | Kira Toussaint |  Netherlands |
59.09 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 7 | Anastasia Gorbenko |  Israel |
59.30 | Q, NR |
| 9 | 2 | 7 | Taylor Ruck | Canada |
59.45 | |
| 10 | 1 | 2 | Maria Kameneva |  ROC |
59.49 | |
| 11 | 1 | 6 | Margherita Panziera |  Italy |
59.75 | |
| 12 | 2 | 2 | Peng Xuwei |  China |
59.98 | |
| 13 | 1 | 8 | Anna Konishi |  Japan |
1:00.07 | |
| 14 | 1 | 1 | Cassie Wild | Great Britain |
1:00.20 | |
| 2 | 1 | Anastasia Fesikova | ROC |
1:00.20 | ||
| 16 | 2 | 8 | Maaike de Waard | Netherlands |
1:00.49 |
Final
edit| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
3 | Kaylee McKeown | Australia |
57.47 | OR |
 |
5 | Kylie Masse | Canada |
57.72 | |
 |
4 | Regan Smith | United States |
58.05 | |
| 4 | 6 | Rhyan White | United States |
58.43 | |
| 5 | 7 | Emily Seebohm | Australia |
58.45 | |
| 6 | 2 | Kathleen Dawson | Great Britain |
58.70 | |
| 7 | 1 | Kira Toussaint | Netherlands |
59.11 | |
| 8 | 8 | Anastasia Gorbenko | Israel |
59.53 |
References
edit- ^ a b "Tokyo 2020: Swimming Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ Dornan, Ben (27 July 2021). "Kaylee McKeown Wins Australian Women's 1st 100 Back Gold in OLY Record Fashion". SwimSwam. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ News, ABC (13 June 2021). "Kaylee McKeown breaks 100m backstroke world record at Australian Olympic trials". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
{{cite news}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Seebohm breaks Olympic record". ABC News Australia. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "Tokyo 2020 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ "FINA Swimming Rulebook, 2017–21" (PDF). FINA. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ "Heats Results Summary" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 25 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ "Semifinals Results Summary" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 26 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Final results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.