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


The women's 100 metre butterfly event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 28–29 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
U.S. swimmer Dana Vollmer demolished a new world record to clear a 56-second barrier and to claim the Olympic title in the event for the first time since Amy Van Dyken did so in 1996. She touched third at the initial length, but powered home with a back-half strategy on the final stretch to capture the gold in 55.98, the first sub-56 second time in the event's history, shaving 0.08 seconds off the previous record set by Sweden's Sarah Sjöström in a since-banned high-tech body suit from the 2009 World Championships. China's Lu Ying came from behind with the same tactic to grab a silver in 56.87, while Australia's Alicia Coutts nearly pulled from worst-to-podium effort after turning last at the 50-metre lap to put up a late resistant surge for the bronze in 56.94.
Sjostrom, the former world record holder, finished off the podium with a fourth-place time in 57.17, and was followed in fifth by Italy's Ilaria Bianchi at a lifetime best and national record of 57.27. Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen Gray paid for an aggressive strategy with an early lead on the first half, before fading to sixth in 57.35. Vollmer's teammate Claire Donahue and Great Britain's Ellen Gandy rounded out the field. For the first time in Olympic history, all eight finalists finished the race under a 58-second barrier.
Earlier in the prelims, Vollmer posted both a textile and an American best of 56.25 to lead all swimmers for the top seed, wiping out Inge de Bruijn's 2000 Olympic record by 36-hundredths of a second.
Notable swimmers missed the final roster including Singapore's Tao Li, who delivered a surprise fifth-place finish in Beijing four years earlier; Gandy's home teammate Francesca Halsall; Poland's four-time Olympian Otylia Jędrzejczak; Australia's defending bronze medalist Jessicah Schipper; and Netherlands' Inge Dekker, who later scratched the semifinals to focus on her 4×100 m freestyle relay duty.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following records were established during the competition:
DateRoundNameNationalityTimeRecord
July 28Heat 6Dana Vollmer56.25
July 29FinalDana Vollmer55.98,

Results

Heats

RankHeatLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
164Dana Vollmer56.25Q,, AM
265Lu Ying57.17Q
344Alicia Coutts57.36Q
454Sarah Sjöström57.45Q
567Jeanette Ottesen57.64Q
666Jiao Liuyang57.71Q
763Claire Donahue58.06Q
845Francesca Halsall58.23Q
955Ellen Gandy58.25Q
1053Inge Dekker58.30Q,
1148Tao Li58.34Q
1257Ilaria Bianchi58.42Q
1342Aliaksandra Herasimenia58.50Q, NR
1452Martina Granström58.70Q
1543Yuka Kato58.72Q
1647Kristel Vourna58.74Q
1756Katerine Savard58.76Q
1858Amit Ivry58.78
1933Irina Bespalova58.79
1968Kimberly Buys58.79
2141Alexandra Wenk58.85
2262Ingvild Snildal59.01
2351Natsumi Hoshi59.06
2446Jessicah Schipper59.17
2535Otylia Jędrzejczak59.31
2623Danielle Villars59.42NR
2624Judit Ignacio Sorribes59.42
2837Denisa Smolenová59.48
2936Emilia Pikkarainen59.55
3031Hannah Wilson59.59
3127Sara Isaković59.86
3222Sarah Blake Bateman59.87NR
3361Daynara de Paula1:00.14
3432Liliána Szilágyi1:00.34
3526Triin Aljand1:00.43
3638Sara Oliveira1:00.44
3734Birgit Koschischek1:00.54
3825Justine Bruno1:01.14
3921Dalia Torrez Zamora1:05.42
4014Noel Borshi1:05.49
4113Dorian McMenemy1:05.78NR
4215Marie Laura Meza1:07.01

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

RankLaneNameNationalityTimeNotes
4Dana Vollmer55.98
7Lu Ying56.87
5Alicia Coutts56.94
46Sarah Sjöström57.17
58Ilaria Bianchi57.27NR
63Jeanette Ottesen57.35
72Claire Donahue57.48
81Ellen Gandy57.76