# Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre butterfly

The women's 200 metre butterfly event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 27 to 29 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's fourteenth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1968.

## Summary

China's Zhang Yufei commanded the race from the beginning to continue a strong run of Chinese dominance in the event, delivering the nation its third title in four Olympics. Rebounding from a narrow loss in the 100 m butterfly earlier in the week, Zhang similarly roared to an early lead, touching more than a second and a half ahead of the U.S.' Hali Flickinger at the halfway mark. While she began to tire in the latter half of the race, Zhang clocked a new Olympic record of 2:03.86 - the fastest performance in textile and quickest time in 12 years - to best the field and win gold.
While the American duo of Flickinger and Regan Smith battled for the silver, Smith fired off the fastest closing split in the field to edge her compatriot and record a personal best time of 2:05.30. Meanwhile Flickinger, the bronze medallist in the 400 m individual medley, could not hold off her teammate at the finish and settled for her second bronze at these Games in 2:05.65. Hungary's reigning World champion Boglárka Kapás (2:06.53) was 3-hundredths of a second off her national record to take fourth. More than a second back, ROC's Svetlana Chimrova (2:07.70) claimed fifth while Zhang's teammate Yu Liyan (2:07.85) took sixth. Great Britain's 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Alys Thomas (2:07.90) could not replicate her winning performance from those championships, taking the penultimate spot in the final. Australia's Brianna Throssell repeated her eighth-place finish from Rio five years earlier, touching in 2:09.48 - almost three seconds behind her personal best time.
The medals for the competition were presented by Costa Rica's Laura Chinchilla, IOC Member, and the gifts were presented by Kazakhstan's Andrey Kryukov, FINA Bureau Member.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Liu Zige (CHN) | 2:01.81 | Jinan, China | 21 October 2009 |
| Olympic record | Jiao Liuyang (CHN) | 2:04.06 | London, United Kingdom | 1 August 2012 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
| 29 July | Final | Zhang Yufei | China | 2:03.86 | OR |

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 2:08.43. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 2:12.28. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a female swimmer qualified in any event can also use their universality place.

## Competition format

The competition consists of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advance to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Date | Time | Round |
| 27 July | 19:25 | Heats |
| 28 July | 10:57 | Semifinals |
| 29 July | 11:28 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.
As Katinka Hosszú withdrew before the event, all sixteen remaining swimmers were guaranteed to qualify for the semi-finals.
Although FINA rules would have allowed the Heats to be scratched and two straight semi-finals held, the decision was made to keep the original schedule.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | 4 | Zhang Yufei | China | 2:07.50 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Hali Flickinger | United States | 2:08.31 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Yu Liyan | China | 2:08.36 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | Regan Smith | United States | 2:08.46 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | 5 | Boglárka Kapás | Hungary | 2:08.58 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | 6 | Svetlana Chimrova | ROC | 2:08.84 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | 3 | Laura Stephens | Great Britain | 2:09.00 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | 6 | Alys Thomas | Great Britain | 2:09.06 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 3 | Brianna Throssell | Australia | 2:09.34 | Q |
| 10 | 2 | 2 | Helena Bach | Denmark | 2:09.37 | Q |
| 11 | 3 | 6 | Franziska Hentke | Germany | 2:09.98 | Q |
| 12 | 1 | 2 | Defne Taçyıldız | Turkey | 2:10.00 | Q |
| 13 | 1 | 3 | Suzuka Hasegawa | Japan | 2:10.43 | Q |
| 14 | 3 | 2 | Ana Monteiro | Portugal | 2:11.45 | Q |
| 15 | 3 | 7 | Remedy Rule | Philippines | 2:12.23 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | 7 | Julimar Ávila | Honduras | 2:15.36 | Q, NR |
| | 2 | 5 | Katinka Hosszú | Hungary | DNS | |

### Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | Zhang Yufei | China | 2:04.89 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | Hali Flickinger | United States | 2:06.23 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 3 | Boglárka Kapás | Hungary | 2:06.59 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 5 | Regan Smith | United States | 2:06.64 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 5 | Yu Liyan | China | 2:07.04 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 2 | Brianna Throssell | Australia | 2:08.41 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 3 | Svetlana Chimrova | ROC | 2:08.62 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 6 | Alys Thomas | Great Britain | 2:09.07 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 1 | Suzuka Hasegawa | Japan | 2:09.42 | |
| 10 | 2 | 6 | Laura Stephens | Great Britain | 2:09.49 | |
| 11 | 1 | 1 | Ana Monteiro | Portugal | 2:09.82 | |
| 12 | 1 | 2 | Helena Bach | Denmark | 2:10.05 | |
| 13 | 2 | 7 | Franziska Hentke | Germany | 2:10.89 | |
| 14 | 1 | 7 | Defne Taçyıldız | Turkey | 2:11.27 | |
| 15 | 2 | 8 | Remedy Rule | Philippines | 2:12.89 | |
| 16 | 1 | 8 | Julimar Ávila | Honduras | 2:16.38 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Zhang Yufei | China | 2:03.86 | OR |
| | 6 | Regan Smith | United States | 2:05.30 | |
| | 5 | Hali Flickinger | United States | 2:05.65 | |
| 4 | 3 | Boglárka Kapás | Hungary | 2:06.53 | |
| 5 | 1 | Svetlana Chimrova | ROC | 2:07.70 | |
| 6 | 2 | Yu Liyan | China | 2:07.85 | |
| 7 | 8 | Alys Thomas | Great Britain | 2:07.90 | |
| 8 | 7 | Brianna Throssell | Australia | 2:09.48 | |