Olympic Swimming 2021: Women's 200M Breaststroke Medal Winners, Times, Results

Tatjana Schoenmaker won the gold medal in the women's 200-meter breaststroke at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Schoenmaker broke the world record in the process as she finished in 2:18.95.

Lilly King got off to a fast start and led at the halfway mark, swimming at a pace to shatter the world record. The event turned into a two-woman race between King and Schoenmaker. As the swimmers made their way down the final 50 meters, Schoenmaker surged ahead.

King earned silver, and Annie Lazor edged out Evgeniia Chikunova to capture bronze.

---

Women's 200-Meter Breaststroke Final Results

Gold: Tatjana Schoenmaker, South Africa (2:18.95)

Silver: Lilly King, United States (2:19.92)

Bronze: Annie Lazor, United States (2:20.84)

4th: Evgeniia Chikunova, ROC (2:20.88)

5th: Kaylene Corbett, South Africa (2:22.06)

6th: Molly Renshaw, Great Britain (2:22.65)

7th: Abbie Wood, Great Britain (2:23.72)

8th: Fanny Lecluyse, Belgium (2:24.57)

---

Fresh off earning silver in the 100-meter breaststroke, Schoenmaker set the pace during the semifinals with a time of 2:19.33. She had also broken the Olympic record in her qualifying heat by touching the wall in 2:19.16.

As a result, the 24-year-old South African was the heavy favorite coming into the final.

Schoenmaker certainly lived up to the hype. King may have had the inside line through the first 100 meters, but there was nothing she could do to stop the force of nature coming down Lane 4.

It has been quite the showing from Schoenmaker in her first foray into the Summer Games.

King improved significantly from the 2:22.27 she swam in the semifinals, and her silver medal comes five years after she failed to get out of the semis in the 200-meter breaststroke in Rio de Janeiro.

That Lazor, King's teammate, joined her on the podium will have more than made up for any disappointment at coming up short on a night when a history-making performance was required.