Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

Women's 200 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
VenueAlberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez
Date22 October (heats)
23 October (final)
Competitors31 from 20 nations
Winning time2:44.4 (OR)
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sharon Wichman  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Đurđica Bjedov  Yugoslavia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Galina Prozumenshchikova  Soviet Union
← 1964
1972 →
Swimming at the
1968 Summer Olympics
Freestyle
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mwomen
1500 mmen
Backstroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Breaststroke
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Butterfly
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
Individual medley
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
Freestyle relay
4×100 mmenwomen
4×200 mmen
Medley relay
4×100 mmenwomen

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event, included in the swimming competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics, took place on October 22–23, at the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez. In this event, swimmers covered four lengths of the 50-metre (160 ft) Olympic-sized pool employing the breaststroke. It was the tenth appearance of the event, which first appeared at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. A total of 31 competitors from 20 nations participated in the event.[1] American Catie Ball was the large favourite to win the event, as she had broken the world record in this event the last three times.[2] However, she was suffering from a virus infection and was forced to withdraw from the heats.[3] Her 16-year-old teammate Sharon Wichman won the event, breaking bronze medalist Galina Prozumenshchikova's Olympic record in the final.[4]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were:

World record  Catie Ball (USA) 2:38.5 s Los Angeles, United States 26 August 1968 [5]
Olympic record  Galina Prozumenshchikova (URS) 2:46.4 s Tokyo, Japan 12 October 1964 [6]

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Round Name Nationality Time OR WR
23 October Final Sharon Wichman  United States 2:44.4 OR

Results

Heats

Rank Heat Lane[7] Name Nationality Time Notes
1 2 1 Sharon Wichman  United States 2:46.8 Q
2 4 6 Galina Prozumenshchikova  Soviet Union 2:47.8 Q
3 5 2 Ana María Norbis  Uruguay 2:49.4 Q
4 3 1 Svetlana Babanina  Soviet Union 2:49.8 Q
4 5 4 Alla Grebennikova  Soviet Union 2:49.8 Q
6 3 3 Cathy Jamison  United States 2:50.1 Q
7 3 4 Đurđica Bjedov  Yugoslavia 2:50.2 Q
8 4 3 Chieno Shibata  Japan 2:50.6 Q
9 2 6 Jill Slattery  Great Britain 2:51.2
10 1 3 Christl Filippovits  Austria 2:51.3
11 2 4 Tamara Oynick  Mexico 2:52.4
12 2 3 Vreni Eberle  West Germany 2:52.5
13 1 2 Judy Playfair  Australia 2:52.9
14 4 2 Sue McKenzie  Australia 2:53.1
15 1 4 Dorothy Harrison  Great Britain 2:55.1
16 5 3 Yoshimi Nishigawa  Japan 2:55.3
17 3 2 Yvonne Brage  Sweden 2:56.3
18 5 7 Ann O'Connor  Ireland 2:56.4
19 4 1 Jo-Anne Barnes  Australia 2:57.4
20 5 6 Klenie Bimolt  Netherlands 2:57.9
21 4 4 Yukari Takemoto  Japan 2:57.9
22 4 5 Ellen Ingvadóttir  Iceland 2:58.2
23 3 6 Shlomit Nir  Israel 2:58.5
24 2 2 Víctoria Casas  Mexico 3:01.0
25 2 5 Diana Harris  Great Britain 3:03.4
26 3 6 Ana Elena de la Portilla  Mexico 3:03.5
27 5 5 Arlette Wilmes  Luxembourg 3:06.7
28 1 5 Hedy García  Philippines 3:08.1
29 1 1 Tamara Orejuela  Ecuador 3:08.5
30 4 7 María Moreño  El Salvador 3:15.4
31 5 1 Liana Vicens  Puerto Rico 3:16.2

Final

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sharon Wichman  United States 2:44.4 OR[4]
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Đurđica Bjedov  Yugoslavia 2:46.4
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Galina Prozumenshchikova  Soviet Union 2:47.0
4 Alla Grebennikova  Soviet Union 2:47.1
5 Cathy Jamison  United States 2:48.4
6 Svetlana Babanina  Soviet Union 2:48.4
7 Chieno Shibata  Japan 2:51.5
8 Ana María Norbis  Uruguay 2:51.9

Sources

References

  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Women's 200 metres Breaststroke Final". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  2. ^ "LCM Women Records" (PDF). USA Swimming. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Catie Ball". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b OCGOM, p. 369
  5. ^ Schoenfeld, p. 15
  6. ^ "The Games of the XVIII Olympiad Tokyo 1964: The Official Report of the Organising Committee" (PDF). Volume Two, Part 2. Organizing Committee of the Games of the XVIII Olympiad Tokyo. 1964. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  7. ^ Schoenfeld, pp. 55-56