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


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.
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. 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. Meanwhile, Satomi Suzuki powered home with the bronze in 1:06.46, handing Japan its first ever medal in the event's history.
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. 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.
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. Russia's Yuliya Yefimova and Denmark's Rikke Pedersen rounded out the field.

Records

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

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
146Rūta Meilutytė1:05.56Q, NR
264Rebecca Soni1:05.75Q
365Yuliya Yefimova1:06.51Q
454Breeja Larson1:06.58Q
544Leisel Jones1:06.98Q
655Satomi Suzuki1:07.08Q
762Sarah Poewe1:07.12Q
863Jennie Johansson1:07.14Q
953Rikke Pedersen1:07.23Q
1036Alia Atkinson1:07.39Q, NR
1145Leiston Pickett1:07.41Q
1232Suzaan van Biljon1:07.54Q
1341Zhao Jin1:07.68Q
1442Mina Matsushima1:07.69Q
1543Jillian Tyler1:07.81Q
1652Tera van Beilen1:07.85Q
1757Liu Xiaoyu1:07.99
1833Sara El Bekri1:08.21NR
1951Joline Höstman1:08.28
2067Moniek Nijhuis1:08.31
2168Siobhan-Marie O'Connor1:08.32
2256Caroline Ruhnau1:08.43
2366Daria Deeva1:08.44
2435Petra Chocová1:08.59
2547Marina Garcia Urzainqui1:08.64
2648Sycerika McMahon1:08.80
2734Michela Guzzetti1:08.83
2858Kate Haywood1:09.22
2931Dilara Buse Günaydin1:09.43
3024Tjaša Vozel1:09.63
3125Anna Sztankovics1:09.65
3226Fanny Babou1:09.76
3337Kim Hye-jin1:09.79
3423Jenna Laukkanen1:09.92
3522Ana Rodrigues1:10.62
3621Danielle Beaubrun1:11.12
3738Mariya Liver1:11.23
3827Chen I-chuan1:11.28
3961Concepcion Badillo Diaz1:12.58
4028Tatiana Chisca1:13.30
4114Ivana Ninković1:14.04
4213Pilar Shimizu1:15.76NR
4315Matelita Buadromo1:16.33
4416Oksana Hatamkhanova1:25.52
4512Oyungerel Gantumur1:27.17
4617Dede Camara1:38.54

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Semifinal swim-off

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
4Rūta Meilutytė1:05.47
5Rebecca Soni1:05.55
1Satomi Suzuki1:06.46
48Alia Atkinson1:06.93
52Leisel Jones1:06.95
66Breeja Larson1:06.96*
73Yuliya Yefimova1:06.98
87Rikke Pedersen1:07.55

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