Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre freestyle

The women's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held on 28 and 29 July 2024 at Paris La Défense Arena, which was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events.^[1] Since an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, each competitor had to swim four lengths of the pool.

Women's 200 metre freestyle at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad
Paris La Défense Arena after it was converted to a swimming pool for the swimming events
Venue	Paris La Défense Arena
Dates	28 July 2024 (Heats and Semis) 29 July 2024 (Final)
Competitors	31 from 27 nations
Winning time	1:53.27 OR
Medalists
Mollie O'Callaghan  Australia Ariarne Titmus  Australia Siobhán Haughey  Hong Kong
← 2020 2028 →

Australia's defending Olympic champion and world record holder Ariarne Titmus and fellow Australian Mollie O'Callaghan were the favourites for the event. Other contenders included Hong Kong's Siobhán Haughey and China's Yang Junxuan. All four progressed through the heats and semifinals to the final.

In the final, Haughey led to the 150 metre mark, but on the final length she was overtaken by Titmus and O'Callaghan. O'Callaghan won with a new Olympic record of 1:53.27, Titmus finished second with 1:53.81 and Haughey finished third with 1:54.55.

Background

Australia's Ariarne Titmus was the defending Olympic champion in the event, while fellow Australian Mollie O'Callaghan won it at the 2023 World Championships.^[2] At the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials, Titmus qualified with a new world record of 1:52.23.^[3] In the same race, O'Callaghan finished second with the second fastest qualifying time of 1:52:48, which would also have been a new world record if Titmus hadn't have swum faster.^[3][4] Hong Kong's 2024 World Champion Siobhán Haughey had the third fastest qualifying time of 1:53.96, while China's 2022 World Champion Yang Junxuan held the fourth fastest qualifying time of 1:54.37.^[5]

SwimSwam predicted Titmus would win and O'Callaghan would take second, while Swimming World predicted it would be the other way around. Both predicted Haughey would take third.^[2][6]

Qualification

Further information: Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was permitted to enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event, but only if both of them had attained the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT).^[7] For this event, the OQT was 1:57.26. World Aquatics then considered athletes qualifying through universality; NOCs were given one event entry for each gender, which could be used by any athlete regardless of qualification time, providing the spaces had not already been taken by athletes from that nation who had achieved the OQT.^[7][4] Finally, the rest of the spaces were filled by athletes who had met the Olympic Consideration Time (OCT), which was 1:57.85 for this event.^[7] In total, 16 athletes qualified through achieving the OQT, 14 athletes qualified through universality places and one athlete qualified through achieving the OCT.^[4]

Top 10 fastest qualification times^[4]

Swimmer	Country	Time	Competition
Ariarne Titmus	Australia	01:52:23	2024 Australian Olympic Trials
Mollie O'Callaghan	Australia	01:52:48	2024 Australian Olympic Trials
Siobhán Haughey	Hong Kong	01:53:96	2023 World Aquatics Championships
Yang Junxuan	China	01:54:37	2024 Chinese Championships
Barbora Seemanová	Czech Republic	01:55:12	2024 AP Race London International
Claire Weinstein	United States	01:55:26	2023 United States National Championships
Mary-Sophie Harvey	Canada	01:55:44	2024 Canadian Olympic Trials
Erika Fairweather	New Zealand	01:55:45	2024 New Zealand Championships
Li Bingjie	China	01:55:73	2024 Chinese Championships
Erin Gemmell	United States	01:55:97	2023 World Aquatics Championships

Heats

Four heats took place on 28 July 2024, starting at 12:00.^[8][a] The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals.^[9] O'Callaghan qualified with the fastest time of 1:55.79, while Titmus, Haughey and Junxuan also all qualified.^[10]

Results^[8]

Rank	Heat	Lane	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	4	Mollie O'Callaghan	Australia	1:55.79	Q
2	4	3	Mary-Sophie Harvey	Canada	1:56.21	Q
3	4	4	Ariarne Titmus	Australia	1:56.23	Q
4	2	3	Li Bingjie	China	1:56.28	Q
5	2	4	Siobhán Haughey	Hong Kong	1:56.38	Q
6	2	5	Claire Weinstein	United States	1:56.48	Q
7	3	3	Erika Fairweather	New Zealand	1:56.54	Q
8	2	6	Maria Fernanda Costa	Brazil	1:56.65	Q
9	4	5	Yang Junxuan	China	1:56.83	Q
10	3	5	Barbora Seemanová	Czech Republic	1:57.02	Q
11	4	6	Erin Gemmell	United States	1:57.23	Q
12	3	2	Valentine Dumont	Belgium	1:57.50	Q
13	2	2	Lilla Minna Ábrahám	Hungary	1:57.77	Q
14	4	2	Aimee Canny	South Africa	1:57.81	Q
15	3	7	Snæfríður Jórunnardóttir	Iceland	1:58.32	Q
16	4	1	Rebecca Diaconescu	Romania	1:59.29	Q
17	4	7	Julia Mrozinski	Germany	1:59.87
18	2	1	Enkhkhuslen Batbayar	Mongolia	1:59.94
19	2	7	Lea Polonsky	Israel	2:00.38
20	3	1	María Yegres	Venezuela	2:00.66
21	4	8	Andrea Becali	Cuba	2:03.38
22	3	8	Julimar Ávila	Honduras	2:04.88
23	1	4	Dhinidhi Desinghu	India	2:06.96
24	2	8	Lojine Abdalla Salah	Egypt	2:07.19
25	1	5	Ariana Southa Dirkzwager	Laos	2:07.22
26	1	3	Jehanara Nabi	Pakistan	2:10.69
27	1	6	Kaltra Meca	Albania	2:12.21
28	1	7	Maha Alshehhi	United Arab Emirates	2:17.17
29	1	1	Mashael Meshari A Alayed	Saudi Arabia	2:19.61
30	1	2	Duana Lama	Nepal	2:20.74
	3	6	Nikolett Pádár	Hungary	DSQ

Semifinals

Two semifinals took place on 28 July, starting at 21:50.^[11] The swimmers with the best eight times in the semifinals advanced to the final.^[9] The USA's Claire Weinstein won the first semifinal with the third fastest qualifying time of 1:55.24, while Titmus won the second semifinal with the fastest qualifying time of 1:54.64. O'Callaghan, Haughey, Junxuan, Barbora Seemanová of the Czech Republic, Erika Fairweather of New Zealand and Canada's Mary-Sophie Harvey also qualified.^[12]

Results^[11]

Rank	Heat	Lane	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
1	2	5	Ariarne Titmus	Australia	1:54.64	Q
2	2	4	Mollie O'Callaghan	Australia	1:54.70	Q
3	1	3	Claire Weinstein	United States	1:55.24	Q
4	2	3	Siobhán Haughey	Hong Kong	1:55.51	Q
5	2	2	Yang Junxuan	China	1:55.90	Q
6	1	2	Barbora Seemanová	Czech Republic	1:56.06	Q
7	2	6	Erika Fairweather	New Zealand	1:56.31	Q
8	1	4	Mary-Sophie Harvey	Canada	1:56.37	Q
9	2	7	Erin Gemmell	United States	1:56.46
10	1	5	Li Bingjie	China	1:56.56
11	1	6	Maria Fernanda Costa	Brazil	1:56.89
12	1	1	Aimee Canny	South Africa	1:57.34
13	1	7	Valentine Dumont	Belgium	1:57.50
14	2	1	Lilla Minna Ábrahám	Hungary	1:57.78
15	2	8	Snæfríður Jórunnardóttir	Iceland	1:58.78
16	1	8	Rebecca Diaconescu	Romania	1:59.58

Final

External videos
Women's 200 metre freestyle final

The final took place at 21:53 on 29 July.^[13] Haughey led the race up the 150 metre mark, but on the final length she was overtaken by O'Callaghan and Titmus.^[14][15] During the underwater of the final length,^[16] O'Callaghan also overtook Titmus to win gold with a new Olympic record of 1:53.27.^[17][18] Titmus won silver with 1:53.81 and Haughey won bronze with 1:54.55.^[14]

Results^[13]

Rank	Lane	Swimmer	Nation	Time	Notes
	5	Mollie O'Callaghan	Australia	1:53.27	OR
	4	Ariarne Titmus	Australia	1:53.81
	6	Siobhán Haughey	Hong Kong	1:54.55
4	8	Mary-Sophie Harvey	Canada	1:55.29
5	2	Yang Junxuan	China	1:55.38
6	7	Barbora Seemanová	Czech Republic	1:55.47
7	1	Erika Fairweather	New Zealand	1:55.59
8	3	Claire Weinstein	United States	1:56.60

Statistics^[15]

Name	50 metre split	100 metre split	150 metre split	Time	Stroke rate (strokes/min)
Mollie O'Callaghan	00:27.01	00:56.07	01:25.29	1:53.27	41.8
Ariarne Titmus	00:27.00	00:55.88	01:25.17	1:53.81	46.9
Siobhán Haughey	00:26.72	00:55.70	01:24.97	1:54.55	45.4
Mary-Sophie Harvey	00:27.49	00:56.64	01:26.05	1:55.29	44.6
Yang Junxuan	00:26.87	00:56.05	01:25.88	1:55.38	46.0
Barbora Seemanová	00:26.88	00:55.97	01:25.73	1:55.47	43.7
Erika Fairweather	00:27.24	00:56.66	01:26.31	1:55.59	45.2
Claire Weinstein	00:27.42	00:56.74	01:26.45	1:56.60	43.7

Further reading

• Hodges, Coleman (19 September 2024). "How Mollie O'Callaghan Transitioned from Sprint Backstroker to 200 Free Olympic Champion". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 20 November 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
• Kaufman, Sophie (29 July 2024). "2024 Paris, Oceania Recap: O'Callaghan Goes From Relay Swimmer to Olympic Champ In 3 Years". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 10 August 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
• Michaels, Jake (29 July 2024). "From watching to winning: O'Callaghan tops Titmus in classic 200m final". ESPN. Archived from the original on 24 December 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.

Notes

1. All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

References

1. Burgaud, Florian (22 July 2024). "From concert hall and rugby stadium to Olympic swimming pool arena in a matter of weeks, the metamorphosis of the Paris La Défense Arena is complete". olympics.com. International Olympic Committee (IOC). Archived from the original on 4 August 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
2. Kaufman, Sophie (14 July 2024). "2024 Olympic Preview: Titmus and O'Callaghan Set For 200 FR Rematch With Olympic Gold At Stake". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
3. Penland, Spencer (12 June 2024). "Ariarne Titmus Shatters Women's 200 FR World Record with 1:52.23, MOC Swims 1:52.48". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
4. Entries list - Swimming, World Aquatics, archived from the original on 12 July 2024, retrieved 18 December 2024
5. Kaufman, Sophie (14 July 2024). "2024 Olympic Preview: Titmus and O'Callaghan Set For 200 FR Rematch With Olympic Gold At Stake". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
6. Rieder, David (22 July 2024). "Olympic Swimming Predictions, Day 3: Summer McIntosh, David Popovici to Claim Gold Medals". Swimming World. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
7. "Paris 2024 – Swimming Info". World Aquatics. 5 April 2022. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
8. "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
9. "Olympic swimming rules: How can swimmers qualify for finals and win medals - format explained". olympics.com. International Olympic Committee (IOC). 24 July 2024. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
10. Rosado, Laura (28 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 23 December 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
11. "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
12. Rosado, Laura (29 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 2 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
13. "Results" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
14. Penland, Spencer (29 July 2024). "2024 Paris Olympics: Day 3 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
15. Bodard, Simon; Decron, Nathan; Dernoncourt, Eric; Hui, Pierre; Jambu, Clément; Loisel, Camille; Pla, Robin; Raineteau, Yannis. "Jeux Olympiques 2024: Analyses de course des Finales" (PDF). French Swimming Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
16. Pender, Kieran (30 July 2024). "Mollie O'Callaghan's Olympic dream is one to share with rival inspiring greatness". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 31 December 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
17. Ransom, Ian (29 July 2024). "Swimming-Australia's O'Callaghan foils clubmate Titmus for 200m freestyle gold". Reuters. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
18. Pelshaw, Anya (29 July 2024). "Mollie O'Callaghan Breaks Olympic Record With 1:53.27 200 Freestyle". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 31 December 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.