By Stephen J. Thomas
ATHENS. Greece, 16 August. FIFTEEN-year-old Katie Hoff (pictured) got her first Olympic assignment back on track today after putting behind her a disasterous start in the 400IM on the first day of competition. Hoff qualified thrid fastest in 2:14.03 behind world record-holder and Olympic champ Yana Klochkova, 2:13.40, and fastest qualifier, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who set an African record 2:13.33.
The 20-year-old Coventry has been a surprise packet to most observers, also qualifying for the final of the 100 backstroke tonight. However, she is an outstanding member of the US collegiate champion Auburn University team and she is also the Commonwealth champion in the 200 IM.
Top-ranked American Amanda Beard was fourth fastest in 2:14.49. Beard has always said this race is just a bonus and it is the first time she has raced it internatioanlly. "Tonight I'll just take each race as they come," she said. "The 100 breaststroke is first, then I will try and recover," she said after her prelim.
Hoff had recorded the fastest time in 2004 over the 400IM coming into Athens but admitted the occasion had got the better of her, which led to her collaping and being physically ill on the pool deck after her prelim. "I was really struggling with my nerves, but I'm back now and ready to go," she said after her strong performance today. "The 200IM is all about racing and I like this race."
Again, the semifinals will sort out the contenders with some big names vying for a final place.
Look for the 2000 Olympic silver medalist, Romanian Beatrice Caslaru, with a time of 2:14.70; Aussie Alice Mills, second in the World Championships in Barcelona last year, who went 2:15.62; and China's Zhou Yafei, third in the World Championships, who clocked 2:15.62 this morning. The other Chinese swimmer, Qi Hui, who was ranked eighth coming into the meet, finished 29th in 2:26.02!
Women 200m Individual Medley Heats
Record Splits Name NOC Location Date
WR 2:09.72 28.81 1:01.91 1:39.44 WU Yanyan CHN Shanghai (CHN) 17 OKT 1997
OR 2:10.68 28.70 1:01.78 1:40.05 KLOCHKOVA Yana UKR Sydney (AUS) 19 SEP 2000
Event No: 15
Rank Heat Lane Name NOC R.T. 50m 100m 150m Time Time
Behind
1 4 2 COVENTRY Kirsty ZIM 0.78 30.61 1:04.33
33.72 1:42.69
38.36 2:13.33
30.64 AF
2 4 4 KLOCHKOVA Yana UKR 0.91 29.13 1:03.23
34.10 1:42.52
39.29 2:13.40
30.88 0.07
3 4 5 HOFF Katie USA 0.83 29.18 1:03.18
34.00 1:42.35
39.17 2:14.03
31.68 0.70
4 3 4 BEARD Amanda USA 0.73 29.29 1:05.56
36.27 1:42.82
37.26 2:14.49
31.67 1.16
5 2 3 SHCHERBA Hanna BLR 0.77 29.09 1:03.04
33.95 1:42.76
39.72 2:14.59
31.83 1.26
6 2 6 CASLARU Beatrice ROM 0.80 29.74 1:04.58
34.84 1:42.95
38.37 2:14.70
31.75 1.37
7 3 6 KOVACS Agnes HUN 0.82 29.37 1:04.67
35.30 1:42.97
38.30 2:15.17
32.20 1.84
8 2 5 ZHOU Yafei CHN 0.74 28.67 1:03.28
34.61 1:43.63
40.35 2:15.56
31.93 2.23
9 3 5 MILLS Alice AUS 0.77 28.55 1:03.09
34.54 1:43.92
40.83 2:15.62
31.70 2.29
10 2 4 ROHMANN Teresa GER 0.91 30.16 1:04.67
34.51 1:43.94
39.27 2:16.06
32.12 2.73
11 4 6 CARROLL Lara AUS 0.91 30.18 1:03.29
33.11 1:42.73
39.44 2:16.17
33.44 2.84
12 3 1 MELO Joanna BRA 0.73 30.04 1:04.95
34.91 1:45.41
40.46 2:16.21
30.80 2.88
13 3 2 VEREVKA Oxana RUS 0.89 30.55 1:05.59
35.04 1:44.84
39.25 2:16.63
31.79 3.30
14 4 7 BARDACH Georgina ARG 0.90 30.43 1:05.81
35.38 1:45.38
39.57 2:16.68
31.30 3.35
15 4 3 WARDEN Elizabeth CAN 1.00 30.23 1:04.45
34.22 1:44.47
40.02 2:17.12
32.65 3.79
16 4 8 NORFOLK Helen NZL 0.85 30.05 1:04.85
34.80 1:45.20
40.35 2:17.27
32.07 3.94
17 2 7 AMANO Misa JPN 0.81 30.88 1:06.36
35.48 1:45.52
39.16 2:17.88
32.36 4.55
18 2 2 KEJZAR Alenka SLO 0.88 29.87 1:04.98
35.11 1:44.82
39.84 2:18.60
33.78 5.27
19 4 1 YEO Joscelin SIN 0.77 29.33 1:08.54
39.21 1:47.47
38.93 2:18.61
31.14 5.28
20 2 8 LIN Man Hsu TPE 0.79 30.26 1:04.72
34.46 1:45.07
40.35 2:18.86
33.79 5.53
21 2 1 FILIPPI Alessia ITA 0.97 30.53 1:04.75
34.22 1:46.96
42.21 2:19.29
32.33 5.96
22 3 8 SIOW Yi Ting MAS 0.80 30.81 1:07.27
36.46 1:46.94
39.67 2:19.52
32.58 6.19
23 3 7 TZAVELLA Athina GRE 0.82 30.67 1:06.32
35.65 1:47.46
41.14 2:20.30
32.84 6.97
24 1 2 BOROCHOVSKI Vered ISR 0.98 31.40 1:08.04
36.64 1:48.82
40.78 2:20.62
31.80 7.29
25 1 4 BANOVIC Petra CRO 0.78 30.27 1:05.39
35.12 1:47.92
42.53 2:20.83
32.91 7.50
26 1 5 PARK Na-Ri KOR 1.05 30.23 1:06.04
35.81 1:47.95
41.91 2:21.48
33.53 8.15
27 1 6 BJARGARDOTTIR Lara Hrund ISL 0.81 30.62 1:06.88
36.26 1:48.06
41.18 2:22.00
33.94 8.67
28 1 7 MULYAYEVA Marina KAZ 0.76 31.53 1:07.22
35.69 1:50.53
43.31 2:24.25
33.72 10.92
29 3 3 QI Hui CHN 0.82 30.33 1:09.04
38.71 1:50.23
41.19 2:26.02
35.79 12.69
30 1 3 JANSEN Louise DEN 0.81 31.85 1:10.31
38.46 1:53.84
43.53 2:27.08
33.24 13.75