# Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle

The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 20–21 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.
Dutch rising star Inge de Bruijn stormed home on the final lap to claim her second gold at these Games. She powered past her rivals in a star-studded field to touch the wall first in 53.83. Earlier in the semifinals, she delivered a time of 53.77 to erase her own world record by 0.03 of a second. Almost stealing the race from lane one, Therese Alshammar took home the silver in a Swedish record of 54.33. Meanwhile, top favorites Dara Torres and Jenny Thompson gave the Americans a further reason to celebrate, as they shared bronze medals in a matching time of 54.63. This was also Thompson's ninth career medal at these Games, making her the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history.
Slovakia's Martina Moravcová, who captured two silver medals in swimming, finished outside the podium in fifth place at 54.72. South Africa's Helene Muller managed to pull off a sixth-place finish in an African standard of 55.19. Japan's Sumika Minamoto (55.53) and De Bruijn's teammate Wilma van Rijn (55.58) closed out the field.
Notable swimmers failed to reach the top 8 final, featuring Australia's overwhelming favorites Sarah Ryan and Susie O'Neill, Germany's Sandra Völker, silver medalist in Atlanta four years earlier, and Egypt's Rania Elwani, who surprisingly reached the semifinals from an unseeded heat.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Inge de Bruijn (NED) | 53.80 | Sheffield, Great Britain | 28 May 2000 |
| Olympic record | Le Jingyi (CHN) | 54.50 | Atlanta, United States | 20 July 1996 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 20 September | Semifinal 2 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 53.77 | WR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | 4 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 54.77 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | 5 | Dara Torres | United States | 55.12 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | 4 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 55.22 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | 5 | Martina Moravcová | Slovakia | 55.42 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | 2 | Helene Muller | South Africa | 55.45 | Q, AF |
| 6 | 7 | 5 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 55.49 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 3 | Sandra Völker | Germany | 55.54 | Q |
| 8 | 6 | 3 | Sue Rolph | Great Britain | 55.77 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 2 | Sumika Minamoto | Japan | 55.80 | Q |
| 10 | 7 | 6 | Wilma van Rijn | Netherlands | 55.82 | Q |
| 11 | 6 | 2 | Louise Jöhncke | Sweden | 55.91 | Q |
| 12 | 6 | 6 | Sarah Ryan | Australia | 56.05 | Q |
| 13 | 5 | 6 | Karen Pickering | Great Britain | 56.08 | Q |
| 14 | 7 | 7 | Laura Nicholls | Canada | 56.30 | Q |
| 15 | 4 | 1 | Rania Elwani | Egypt | 56.31 | Q, NR |
| 16 | 5 | 7 | Alena Popchanka | Belarus | 56.33 | Q |
| 17 | 4 | 3 | Hanna-Maria Seppälä | Finland | 56.68 | |
| 18 | 3 | 6 | Olga Mukomol | Ukraine | 56.69 | |
| 19 | 7 | 8 | Han Xue | China | 56.79 | |
| 20 | 6 | 7 | Yekaterina Kibalo | Russia | 56.97 | |
| 21 | 4 | 4 | Cristina Chiuso | Italy | 57.09 | |
| 22 | 6 | 1 | Joscelin Yeo | Singapore | 57.15 | |
| 23 | 4 | 2 | Florencia Szigeti | Argentina | 57.20 | |
| 24 | 2 | 6 | Leah Martindale | Barbados | 57.21 | |
| 25 | 5 | 1 | Antonia Machaira | Greece | 57.24 | |
| 26 | 6 | 8 | Ilona Hlaváčková | Czech Republic | 57.37 | |
| 27 | 5 | 8 | Judith Draxler | Austria | 57.40 | |
| 28 | 3 | 4 | Kirsty Coventry | Zimbabwe | 57.47 | |
| 29 | 2 | 4 | Elina Partõka | Estonia | 57.71 | |
| 29 | 3 | 5 | Gyöngyver Lakos | Hungary | 57.71 | |
| 31 | 7 | 3 | Susie O'Neill | Australia | 57.78 | |
| 32 | 4 | 8 | Eileen Coparropa | Panama | 57.82 | |
| 33 | 4 | 6 | Monique Robins | New Zealand | 57.85 | |
| 34 | 2 | 2 | Siobhan Cropper | Trinidad and Tobago | 57.91 | |
| 35 | 4 | 5 | Tine Bossuyt | Belgium | 58.02 | |
| 36 | 2 | 1 | Lára Hrund Bjargardóttir | Iceland | 58.44 | |
| 37 | 3 | 2 | Lara Heinz | Luxembourg | 58.55 | |
| 38 | 2 | 7 | Caroline Pickering | Fiji | 58.62 | |
| 39 | 3 | 8 | Pilin Tachakittiranan | Thailand | 58.69 | |
| 40 | 4 | 7 | Chang Hee-jin | South Korea | 58.77 | |
| 41 | 3 | 1 | Jūratė Ladavičiūtė | Lithuania | 58.78 | |
| 42 | 3 | 3 | Chantal Gibney | Ireland | 58.79 | |
| 43 | 2 | 8 | Yekaterina Tochenaya | Kyrgyzstan | 58.80 | |
| 44 | 2 | 3 | Anna Stylianou | Cyprus | 59.08 | |
| 45 | 2 | 5 | Agnese Ozoliņa | Latvia | 59.28 | |
| 46 | 3 | 7 | Tsai Shu-min | Chinese Taipei | 59.39 | |
| 47 | 1 | 8 | Nicole Hayes | Palau | 1:00.89 | |
| 48 | 1 | 5 | Rola El Haress | Lebanon | 1:03.26 | |
| 49 | 1 | 2 | Maria Awori | Kenya | 1:06.23 | |
| 50 | 1 | 3 | Nathalie Lee Baw | Mauritius | 1:06.67 | |
| 51 | 1 | 7 | Zeïna Sahelí | Senegal | 1:07.37 | |
| 52 | 1 | 4 | Supra Singhal | Uganda | 1:08.15 | |
| 53 | 1 | 6 | Sanjaajamtsyn Altantuyaa | Mongolia | 1:10.22 | |
| 54 | 1 | 1 | Katerina Izmaylova | Tajikistan | 1:19.12 | |
| | 5 | 4 | Antje Buschschulte | Germany | DNS | |
| | 7 | 1 | Marianne Limpert | Canada | DNS | |

### Semifinals
#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Dara Torres | United States | 55.02 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Martina Moravcová | Slovakia | 55.06 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Wilma van Rijn | Netherlands | 55.28 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 55.31 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Sue Rolph | Great Britain | 55.69 | |
| 6 | 7 | Sarah Ryan | Australia | 55.93 | |
| 7 | 1 | Laura Nicholls | Canada | 55.94 | |
| 8 | 8 | Alena Popchanka | Belarus | 56.40 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 53.77 | Q, WR |
| 2 | 5 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 54.40 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Helene Muller | South Africa | 55.24 | Q, AF |
| 4 | 2 | Sumika Minamoto | Japan | 55.62 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Karen Pickering | Great Britain | 55.71 | |
| 6 | 8 | Rania Elwani | Egypt | 55.85 | NR |
| 7 | 7 | Louise Jöhncke | Sweden | 55.94 | |
| 8 | 6 | Sandra Völker | Germany | 55.97 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 53.83 | |
| | 1 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 54.33 | NR |
| | 5 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 54.43 | |
| | 3 | Dara Torres | United States | 54.43 | |
| 5 | 6 | Martina Moravcová | Slovakia | 54.72 | |
| 6 | 2 | Helene Muller | South Africa | 55.19 | AF |
| 7 | 8 | Sumika Minamoto | Japan | 55.53 | |
| 8 | 7 | Wilma van Rijn | Netherlands | 55.58 | |