By Stephen J. Thomas
ATHENS, Greece August 16. AMERICAN 16-year-old Dana Vollmer made a real impression on her more experienced 200 meter freestyle rivals with an excellent morning swim of 1:59.49 just 0.29 of a second outside her PR set in winning the Olympic trials last month.
Most of the top-ranked swimmers were through, notably the Atlanta gold medalist, Costa Rica’s Claudia Poll (pictured), who looked very strong in winning her heat in 1:59.50. With 400 free winner Otylia Jedrzejczak scratching from this race, another Polish swimmer, 18-year-old Paulina Barzycka, swam a PR to qualify third fastest in 1:59.52.
American record-holder Lindsay Benko went 2:00.21, and said after her race, “what I will need to do is go a lot faster to qualify. Hopefully I can get closer to my PB (1:57.41). If I don’t, I will hit my head on a brick wall,” she exclaimed.
British top seed Melanie Marshall went 2:00.46 and said after her race she was pleased with her time. “I can only take one stage at a time,” she said.
World record-holder Germany’s Franzi van Almsick (2:00.23) will be aiming for her first Olympic gold at her fourth Olympiad. She was not happy with the outdoor conditions that are gradually getting worse each day. “I am feeling the wind a lot. I’m not used to it as I usually swim indoors. I don’t feel comfortable; hopefully it will be better tonight.
World Championships gold medalist Alena Popchanka (2:00.67), Italian Federica Pellegrini (1:59.80) and France’s Solenne Figues (1:59.90) will be there as will Aussie Elka Graham (2:00.13) who might become a favorite if the conditions keep up. Graham, who grew up by of Sydney’s northern beaches, is an open water swimmer and those skills may be useful in the final!
Sydney Olympic silver medalist Martina Moravcova made it through in 2:01.00 but does not look in her usual form after finishing well out of the money in the 100 fly last night. “I am feeling tired after yesterday’s final. I hope to make the semis tonight,” she said.
Tonight’s semifinals will give a clearer picture in this very open event.
Women 200m Freestyle Heats
Record Splits Name NOC Location Date
WR 1:56.64 27.14 56.27 1:26.33 van ALMSICK Franziska GER Berlin (GER) 03 AUG 2002
OR 1:57.65 28.55 58.50 1:26.03 FRIEDRICH Heike GDR Seoul (KOR) 21 SEP 1988
Event No: 13
Rank Heat Lane Name NOC R.T. 50m 100m 150m Time Time
Behind
1 4 2 VOLLMER Dana USA 0.72 28.23 58.34
30.11 1:28.95
30.61 1:59.49
30.54
2 6 2 POLL AHRENS Claudia CRC 0.87 28.69 58.94
30.25 1:29.39
30.45 1:59.50
30.11 0.01
3 5 7 BARZYCKA Paulina POL 0.88 28.43 58.68
30.25 1:29.27
30.59 1:59.52
30.25 0.03
4 5 6 PELLEGRINI Federica ITA 0.85 29.01 59.02
30.01 1:29.39
30.37 1:59.80
30.41 0.31
5 6 3 FIGUES Solenne FRA 0.85 28.61 58.37
29.76 1:29.18
30.81 1:59.90
30.72 0.41
6 6 7 LILLHAGE Josefin SWE 0.81 28.66 58.86
30.20 1:29.58
30.72 2:00.04
30.46 0.55
7 4 6 GRAHAM Elka AUS 0.86 28.76 59.17
30.41 1:29.99
30.82 2:00.13
30.14 0.64
8 6 4 BENKO Lindsay USA 0.79 28.37 58.34
29.97 1:29.40
31.06 2:00.21
30.81 0.72
9 6 5 van ALMSICK Franziska GER 0.89 28.38 58.87
30.49 1:29.74
30.87 2:00.23
30.49 0.74
10 5 4 MARSHALL Melanie GBR 0.71 28.28 58.52
30.24 1:29.69
31.17 2:00.46
30.77 0.97
11 4 5 POTEC Camelia ROM 0.92 29.02 59.46
30.44 1:30.24
30.78 2:00.50
30.26 1.01
12 5 3 POPCHANKA Alena BLR 0.75 28.57 58.79
30.22 1:30.15
31.36 2:00.67
30.52 1.18
13 4 1 NAGAI Tomoko JPN 0.75 28.09 58.59
30.50 1:29.44
30.85 2:00.73
31.29 1.24
14 5 5 PANG Jiaying CHN 0.82 28.39 58.64
30.25 1:29.76
31.12 2:00.80
31.04 1.31
15 4 3 MORAVCOVA Martina SVK 0.83 28.36 58.80
30.44 1:29.84
31.04 2:01.00
31.16 1.51
16 4 4 YANG Yu CHN 0.75 28.41 58.82
30.41 1:30.09
31.27 2:01.33
31.24 1.84
17 6 8 REIMER Brittany CAN 0.91 29.20 59.71
30.51 1:31.01
31.30 2:01.39
30.38 1.90
18 4 7 ISAKOVIC Sara SLO 0.89 28.91 59.51
30.60 1:30.85
31.34 2:01.71
30.86 2.22
19 6 6 MACKENZIE Linda AUS 0.78 28.80 59.50
30.70 1:30.95
31.45 2:02.04
31.09 2.55
20 5 2 HARSTICK Sara GER 0.87 28.77 59.23
30.46 1:30.74
31.51 2:02.25
31.51 2.76
21 5 1 SHALAGINA Natalia RUS 0.86 29.30 59.49
30.19 1:31.01
31.52 2:02.37
31.36 2.88
22 3 5 LAPUNOVA Olena UKR 0.89 28.57 59.24
30.67 1:31.01
31.77 2:02.71
31.70 3.22
23 5 8 BROCHADO Mariana BRA 0.79 28.39 58.94
30.55 1:30.85
31.91 2:02.91
32.06 3.42
24 3 3 MILUSKA Hanna SUI 0.88 28.39 59.20
30.81 1:31.27
32.07 2:03.28
32.01 3.79
25 3 1 SZIGETI Florencia ARG 0.75 28.91 59.25
30.34 1:31.09
31.84 2:03.29
32.20 3.80
26 4 8 KIM Hyun-Ju KOR 0.77 28.34 58.97
30.63 1:30.95
31.98 2:03.33
32.38 3.84
27 6 1 DIMOSCHAKI Zoi GRE 0.86 29.59 1:00.27
30.68 1:31.72
31.45 2:03.38
31.66 3.89
28 3 4 PARTOKA Elina EST 0.84 28.68 59.59
30.91 1:31.48
31.89 2:03.54
32.06 4.05
29 3 2 FITCH Alison NZL 0.93 28.57 59.01
30.44 1:30.57
31.56 2:03.58
33.01 4.09
30 3 8 ATKINSON Janelle JAM 0.67 29.15 1:00.25
31.10 1:32.23
31.98 2:04.06
31.83 4.57
31 3 7 HOSSZU Katinka HUN 0.95 28.52 59.21
30.69 1:31.64
32.43 2:04.22
32.58 4.73
32 3 6 BANOVIC Petra CRO 0.81 29.43 1:00.32
30.89 1:32.12
31.80 2:04.24
32.12 4.75
33 2 2 MYSKOVA Jana CZE 0.91 28.82 1:00.90
32.08 1:32.57
31.67 2:04.62
32.05 5.13
34 2 4 STOJANOVSKA Vesna MKD 0.79 29.06 59.75
30.69 1:32.09
32.34 2:04.64
32.55 5.15
35 1 3 TACHAKITTIRANAN Pilin THA 0.93 30.01 1:02.14
32.13 1:33.70
31.56 2:05.29
31.59 5.80
36 1 4 YANG Chin-Kuei TPE 0.90 29.30 1:00.88
31.58 1:33.84
32.96 2:05.65
31.81 6.16
37 2 3 JANSEN Louise DEN 0.78 29.31 1:00.77
31.46 1:33.24
32.47 2:06.06
32.82 6.57
38 2 5 LACUSTA Larisa ROM 0.88 29.67 1:01.98
32.31 1:34.50
32.52 2:06.62
32.12 7.13
39 2 6 SZE Hang Yu HKG 0.81 29.85 1:02.03
32.18 1:35.24
33.21 2:07.55
32.31 8.06
40 2 7 CISS Khadija SEN 0.90 30.07 1:02.28
32.21 1:35.62
33.34 2:09.04
33.42 9.55
41 1 5 RISSIK Yuliya KAZ 0.92 30.06 1:02.13
32.07 1:35.44
33.31 2:09.93
34.49 10.44