| | Event type

200 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	21 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	42 from 35 countries

Franziska van Almsick, one of the last products of the East German sports system, had won four Olympic medals as a 14-year-old at Barcelona in 1992. By 1996 she was a genuine superstar in her native Germany and was reigning World Champion in this event – her win at the 1994 World Championship was a rare victory for the rest of the world in a championship of Chinese dominance. This made van Almsick a clear favourite to win the event though some doubts, specifically about her sometimes erratic performances in heat swims, still remained. The German swimmer actually produced one of her best qualifying swims in Atlanta and was the fastest of the eight qualifiers.

The second fastest qualifier was Claudia Poll of Costa Rica, who was the current short course world champion at the distance. To everyone’s surprise Poll took the lead from the German at 75 metres and was never headed as she sped away to take her country’s first ever Olympic gold. This completed a unique double for the Poll family as her sister Sylvia had won Costa Rica’s only other Olympic medal eight years earlier. After the race Van Almsick commented “I think I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere. There were so many people there, all yelling - I’m not used to that.”

Poll got into trouble with the Olympic authorities for wearing sponsors logos on her swimming cap and teeshirt. She was given a warning by the IOC for breaching the Olympic Charter. She returned to win more medals in 2000 and, after serving a drug suspension, also competed in 2004

Pos	Competitor	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Claudia Poll	CRC	1:59.87 (1 h5)	–	1:58.16 (1)	Gold
2	Franziska van Almsick	GER	1:59.40 (1 h6)	–	1:58.57 (2)	Silver
3	Dagmar Hase	GER	2:00.38 (3 h5)	–	1:59.56 (3)	Bronze
4	Trina Jackson	USA	2:00.29 (2 h5)	–	1:59.57 (4)
5	Susie O'Neill	AUS	2:00.89 (1 h4)	–	1:59.87 (5)
6	Cristina Teuscher	USA	2:00.57 (2 h6)	–	2:00.79 (6)
7	Julia Greville	AUS	2:00.44 (4 h5)	–	2:01.46 (7)
8	Luminița Dobrescu	ROU	2:00.85 (5 h5)	–	2:01.63 (8)
9	Martina Moravcová	SVK	2:00.99 (2 h4)	2:00.96 (1)	–
10	Suzu Chiba	JPN	2:01.11 (3 h4)	2:01.00 (2)	–
11	Louise Jöhncke	SWE	2:01.13 (3 h6)	2:01.37 (3)	–
12	Solenne Figuès	FRA	2:02.74 (6 h5)	2:01.47 (4)	–
13	Karen Pickering	GBR	2:01.46 (4 h6)	2:02.58 (5)	–
14	Tonia Machaira	GRE	2:03.21 (1 h3)	2:03.19 (6)	–
15	Dionne Bainbridge	NZL	2:02.69 (4 h4)	2:03.20 (7)	–
16	Joanne Malar	CAN	2:03.53 (5 h4)	2:03.79 (8)	–
17	Chen Yan	CHN	2:03.32 (5 h6)	–	–		1
18	Paula Harmokivi	FIN	2:03.54 (2 h3)	–	–
19	Kristýna Kyněrová	CZE	2:03.63 (6 h4)	–	–
20	Naoko Imoto	JPN	2:03.78 (7 h4)	–	–
21	Olena Lapunova	UKR	2:04.07 (7 h5)	–	–
22	Tatyana Litovchenko	RUS	2:04.09 (6 h6)	–	–
23	Shan Ying	CHN	2:04.29 (8 h4)	–	–
24	Malin Nilsson	SWE	2:04.39 (8 h5)	–	–
25	Lorena Diaconescu	ROU	2:04.59 (7 h6)	–	–
26	Sandra Cam	BEL	2:04.90 (1 h2)	–	–
27	Marion Madine	IRL	2:04.92 (3 h3)	–	–
28	Carolyn Adel	SUR	2:05.04 (2 h2)	–	–
29	Ana Alegria	POR	2:05.16 (4 h3)	–	–
30	Heleen Muller	RSA	2:05.59 (3 h2)	–	–
31	Ravee Intaporn-Udom	THA	2:05.77 (4 h2)	–	–
32	Lee Ji-Hyeon	KOR	2:05.78 (5 h2)	–	–
33	Inha Borodich	BLR	2:05.85 (6 h2)	–	–
34	Rania El-Wani	EGY	2:06.94 (5 h3)	–	–
35	Chang Wei-Chia	TPE	2:06.97 (6 h3)	–	–
36	Mia Muusfeldt	DEN	2:07.29 (8 h6)	–	–
37	Maritza Chiaway	PER	2:07.80 (7 h2)	–	–
38	Chantal Strasser	SUI	2:07.98 (7 h3)	–	–
39	Joscelin Yeo	SGP	2:08.10 (8 h3)	–	–
40	Teresa Moodie	ZIM	2:08.23 (1 h1)	–	–
41	Laura Petrutytė	LTU	2:09.78 (2 h1)	–	–
42	Marina Zarma	CYP	2:10.85 (3 h1)	–	–

Round One

Date	21 July 1996
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Franziska van Almsick	GER	1:59.40	Q
2	–	Claudia Poll	CRC	1:59.87	Q
3	–	Trina Jackson	USA	2:00.29	Q
4	–	Dagmar Hase	GER	2:00.38	Q
5	–	Julia Greville	AUS	2:00.44	Q
6	–	Cristina Teuscher	USA	2:00.57	Q
7	–	Luminița Dobrescu	ROU	2:00.85	Q
8	–	Susie O'Neill	AUS	2:00.89	Q
9	–	Martina Moravcová	SVK	2:00.99	q
10	–	Suzu Chiba	JPN	2:01.11	q
11	–	Louise Jöhncke	SWE	2:01.13	q
12	–	Karen Pickering	GBR	2:01.46	q
13	–	Dionne Bainbridge	NZL	2:02.69	q
14	–	Solenne Figuès	FRA	2:02.74	q
15	–	Tonia Machaira	GRE	2:03.21	q
16	–	Chen Yan	CHN	2:03.32	q
17	–	Joanne Malar	CAN	2:03.53
18	–	Paula Harmokivi	FIN	2:03.54
19	–	Kristýna Kyněrová	CZE	2:03.63
20	–	Naoko Imoto	JPN	2:03.78
21	–	Olena Lapunova	UKR	2:04.07
22	–	Tatyana Litovchenko	RUS	2:04.09
23	–	Shan Ying	CHN	2:04.29
24	–	Malin Nilsson	SWE	2:04.39
25	–	Lorena Diaconescu	ROU	2:04.59
26	–	Sandra Cam	BEL	2:04.90
27	–	Marion Madine	IRL	2:04.92
28	–	Carolyn Adel	SUR	2:05.04
29	–	Ana Alegria	POR	2:05.16
30	–	Heleen Muller	RSA	2:05.59
31	–	Ravee Intaporn-Udom	THA	2:05.77
32	–	Lee Ji-Hyeon	KOR	2:05.78
33	–	Inha Borodich	BLR	2:05.85
34	–	Rania El-Wani	EGY	2:06.94
35	–	Chang Wei-Chia	TPE	2:06.97
36	–	Mia Muusfeldt	DEN	2:07.29
37	–	Maritza Chiaway	PER	2:07.80
38	–	Chantal Strasser	SUI	2:07.98
39	–	Joscelin Yeo	SGP	2:08.10
40	–	Teresa Moodie	ZIM	2:08.23
41	–	Laura Petrutytė	LTU	2:09.78
42	–	Marina Zarma	CYP	2:10.85

Heat #1

Time	10:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Teresa Moodie	ZIM	2:08.23	0.79	30.07 (2)	1:02.72 (1)	1:35.75 (1)	32.65 (1)	33.03 (1)	32.48 (1)
2	–	Laura Petrutytė	LTU	2:09.78	0.81	30.13 (3)	1:02.95 (3)	1:36.44 (2)	32.82 (2)	33.49 (2)	33.34 (2)
3	–	Marina Zarma	CYP	2:10.85	0.92	30.03 (1)	1:02.92 (2)	1:37.01 (3)	32.89 (3)	34.09 (3)	33.84 (3)

Heat #2

Time	10:07

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Sandra Cam	BEL	2:04.90	0.78	29.63 (2)	1:01.13 (2)	1:33.12 (1)	31.50 (3)	31.99 (2)	31.78 (3)
2	–	Carolyn Adel	SUR	2:05.04	0.77	29.79 (4)	1:01.11 (1)	1:33.30 (2)	31.32 (1)	32.19 (3)	31.74 (2)
3	–	Heleen Muller	RSA	2:05.59	0.73	30.00 (6)	1:01.77 (6)	1:34.28 (6)	31.77 (5)	32.51 (5)	31.31 (1)
4	–	Ravee Intaporn-Udom	THA	2:05.77	0.80	29.96 (5)	1:01.74 (5)	1:33.65 (4)	31.78 (6)	31.91 (1)	32.12 (6)
5	–	Lee Ji-Hyeon	KOR	2:05.78	0.85	29.76 (3)	1:01.18 (3)	1:33.58 (3)	31.42 (2)	32.40 (4)	32.20 (7)
6	–	Inha Borodich	BLR	2:05.85	0.83	29.62 (1)	1:01.27 (4)	1:33.85 (5)	31.65 (4)	32.58 (6)	32.00 (4)
7	–	Maritza Chiaway	PER	2:07.80	0.90	30.99 (7)	1:03.10 (7)	1:35.75 (7)	32.11 (7)	32.65 (7)	32.05 (5)

Heat #3

Time	10:14

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Tonia Machaira	GRE	2:03.21	0.79	28.83 (2)	59.10 (1)	1:30.76 (1)	30.27 (1)	31.66 (1)	32.45 (4)	q
2	–	Paula Harmokivi	FIN	2:03.54	0.84	28.85 (3)	59.61 (3)	1:31.46 (2)	30.76 (2)	31.85 (3)	32.08 (3)
3	–	Marion Madine	IRL	2:04.92	0.74	29.70 (7)	1:01.22 (6)	1:33.02 (4)	31.52 (6)	31.80 (2)	31.90 (1)
4	–	Ana Alegria	POR	2:05.16	0.87	29.37 (5)	1:00.64 (5)	1:33.13 (5)	31.27 (4)	32.49 (4)	32.03 (2)
5	–	Rania El-Wani	EGY	2:06.94	0.77	28.50 (1)	59.60 (2)	1:32.11 (3)	31.10 (3)	32.51 (5)	34.83 (8)
6	–	Chang Wei-Chia	TPE	2:06.97	0.83	29.63 (6)	1:01.79 (7)	1:34.48 (7)	32.16 (8)	32.69 (6)	32.49 (5)
7	–	Chantal Strasser	SUI	2:07.98	0.87	29.25 (4)	1:00.62 (4)	1:34.41 (6)	31.37 (5)	33.79 (8)	33.57 (7)
8	–	Joscelin Yeo	SGP	2:08.10	0.78	29.89 (8)	1:02.00 (8)	1:35.32 (8)	32.11 (7)	33.32 (7)	32.78 (6)

Heat #4

Time	10:21

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Susie O'Neill	AUS	2:00.89	0.88	28.77 (5)	59.47 (3)	1:30.32 (1)	30.70 (3)	30.85 (1)	30.57 (3)	Q
2	–	Martina Moravcová	SVK	2:00.99	0.84	28.70 (4)	59.44 (2)	1:30.74 (2)	30.74 (4)	31.30 (3)	30.25 (2)	q
3	–	Suzu Chiba	JPN	2:01.11	0.81	29.31 (8)	59.93 (=6)	1:31.16 (3)	30.62 (1)	31.23 (2)	29.95 (1)	q
4	–	Dionne Bainbridge	NZL	2:02.69	0.77	29.18 (6)	59.93 (=6)	1:31.58 (5)	30.75 (5)	31.65 (4)	31.11 (4)	q
5	–	Joanne Malar	CAN	2:03.53	0.85	29.27 (7)	1:00.04 (8)	1:32.07 (8)	30.77 (6)	32.03 (5)	31.46 (5)
6	–	Kristýna Kyněrová	CZE	2:03.63	0.84	28.53 (2)	59.49 (4)	1:31.72 (6)	30.96 (7)	32.23 (8)	31.91 (6)
7	–	Naoko Imoto	JPN	2:03.78	0.80	28.57 (3)	59.21 (1)	1:31.25 (4)	30.64 (2)	32.04 (6)	32.53 (8)
8	–	Shan Ying	CHN	2:04.29	0.98	28.39 (1)	59.84 (5)	1:32.03 (7)	31.45 (8)	32.19 (7)	32.26 (7)

Heat #5

Time	10:28

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Claudia Poll	CRC	1:59.87	0.95	28.65 (5)	58.69 (2)	1:29.69 (1)	30.04 (1)	31.00 (3)	30.18 (1)	Q
2	–	Trina Jackson	USA	2:00.29	0.68	28.41 (4)	58.67 (1)	1:29.77 (3)	30.26 (2)	31.10 (5)	30.52 (4)	Q
3	–	Dagmar Hase	GER	2:00.38	0.83	28.68 (6)	59.01 (4)	1:29.89 (4)	30.33 (3)	30.88 (2)	30.49 (3)	Q
4	–	Julia Greville	AUS	2:00.44	0.77	28.34 (3)	58.70 (3)	1:29.73 (2)	30.36 (4)	31.03 (4)	30.71 (5)	Q
5	–	Luminița Dobrescu	ROU	2:00.85	0.81	28.05 (1)	59.12 (5)	1:30.62 (5)	31.07 (7)	31.50 (6)	30.23 (2)	Q
6	–	Solenne Figuès	FRA	2:02.74	0.78	29.46 (8)	59.99 (7)	1:30.83 (6)	30.53 (5)	30.84 (1)	31.91 (=6)	q
7	–	Olena Lapunova	UKR	2:04.07	0.88	28.21 (2)	59.16 (6)	1:31.61 (7)	30.95 (6)	32.45 (8)	32.46 (8)
8	–	Malin Nilsson	SWE	2:04.39	0.83	29.23 (7)	1:00.60 (8)	1:32.48 (8)	31.37 (8)	31.88 (7)	31.91 (=6)

Heat #6

Time	10:35

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Franziska van Almsick	GER	1:59.40	0.81	28.12 (1)	58.39 (1)	1:29.12 (1)	30.27 (2)	30.73 (1)	30.28 (1)	Q
2	–	Cristina Teuscher	USA	2:00.57	0.81	28.43 (2)	58.82 (3)	1:29.67 (2)	30.39 (4)	30.85 (2)	30.90 (2)	Q
3	–	Louise Jöhncke	SWE	2:01.13	0.84	28.52 (3)	58.61 (2)	1:29.86 (3)	30.09 (1)	31.25 (4)	31.27 (4)	q
4	–	Karen Pickering	GBR	2:01.46	0.81	28.67 (4)	59.37 (4)	1:30.34 (4)	30.70 (6)	30.97 (3)	31.12 (3)	q
5	–	Chen Yan	CHN	2:03.32	0.85	29.12 (6)	59.43 (5)	1:30.78 (5)	30.31 (3)	31.35 (5)	32.54 (7)	q
6	–	Tatyana Litovchenko	RUS	2:04.09	0.83	29.34 (8)	59.76 (6)	1:31.85 (6)	30.42 (5)	32.09 (6)	32.24 (6)
7	–	Lorena Diaconescu	ROU	2:04.59	0.87	29.08 (5)	1:00.36 (7)	1:32.47 (7)	31.28 (7)	32.11 (7)	32.12 (5)
8	–	Mia Muusfeldt	DEN	2:07.29	0.87	29.13 (7)	1:00.79 (8)	1:33.50 (8)	31.66 (8)	32.71 (8)	33.79 (8)

B Final

Date	21 July 1996 — 19:40

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Martina Moravcová	SVK	2:00.96	0.78	28.47 (3)	59.27 (3)	1:30.61 (4)	30.80 (5)	31.34 (3)	30.35 (1)
2	–	Suzu Chiba	JPN	2:01.00	0.82	28.70 (4)	59.47 (4)	1:30.33 (=2)	30.77 (4)	30.86 (2)	30.67 (2)
3	–	Louise Jöhncke	SWE	2:01.37	0.79	27.96 (1)	58.41 (1)	1:29.83 (1)	30.45 (1)	31.42 (4)	31.54 (6)
4	–	Solenne Figuès	FRA	2:01.47	0.77	29.16 (6)	59.83 (5)	1:30.62 (5)	30.67 (3)	30.79 (1)	30.85 (3)
5	–	Karen Pickering	GBR	2:02.58	0.77	28.14 (2)	58.60 (2)	1:30.33 (=2)	30.46 (2)	31.73 (6)	32.25 (8)
6	–	Tonia Machaira	GRE	2:03.19	0.81	29.24 (7)	1:00.36 (7)	1:31.98 (7)	31.12 (7)	31.62 (5)	31.21 (4)
7	–	Dionne Bainbridge	NZL	2:03.20	0.75	28.82 (5)	59.84 (6)	1:31.61 (6)	31.02 (6)	31.77 (7)	31.59 (7)
8	–	Joanne Malar	CAN	2:03.79	0.88	29.36 (8)	1:00.62 (8)	1:32.40 (8)	31.26 (8)	31.78 (8)	31.39 (5)

Final Round

Date	21 July 1996 — 19:30

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Claudia Poll	CRC	1:58.16	0.92	27.95 (2)	57.67 (1)	1:27.97 (1)	29.72 (1)	30.30 (1)	30.19 (2)
2	–	Franziska van Almsick	GER	1:58.57	0.81	27.59 (1)	57.69 (2)	1:28.20 (2)	30.10 (3)	30.51 (2)	30.37 (4)
3	–	Dagmar Hase	GER	1:59.56	0.83	28.70 (8)	59.10 (6)	1:29.74 (5)	30.40 (5)	30.64 (3)	29.82 (1)
4	–	Trina Jackson	USA	1:59.57	0.70	28.32 (6)	58.57 (4)	1:29.35 (4)	30.25 (4)	30.78 (4)	30.22 (3)
5	–	Susie O'Neill	AUS	1:59.87	0.83	28.09 (4)	57.85 (3)	1:28.69 (3)	29.76 (2)	30.84 (5)	31.18 (8)
6	–	Cristina Teuscher	USA	2:00.79	0.82	28.30 (5)	58.71 (5)	1:29.81 (6)	30.41 (6)	31.10 (6)	30.98 (7)
7	–	Julia Greville	AUS	2:01.46	0.79	28.54 (7)	59.21 (8)	1:30.49 (7)	30.67 (7)	31.28 (7)	30.97 (6)
8	–	Luminița Dobrescu	ROU	2:01.63	0.77	27.97 (3)	59.14 (7)	1:31.20 (8)	31.17 (8)	32.06 (8)	30.43 (5)