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

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-third consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1924.

Summary
South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker came from behind to become her nation's first Olympic champion in this event since Penny Heyns in 1996. Trailing the U.S.' Lilly King at the halfway mark, Schoenmaker moved through the field in the penultimate lap. Almost half a second ahead of world record pace at the final turn, Schoenmaker closed strongly to become the first woman to break the 2:19 barrier and win gold in a world record time of 2:18.95.

King, a 100 m breaststroke specialist over the years, established an early lead out of lane 2. However, King could not hold off Schoenmaker's ferocious charge over the back-half and settled for silver in 2:19.92. Meanwhile, King's teammate Annie Lazor (2:20.84) had the fastest final lap in the field, edging out ROC's Evgeniia Chikunova (2:20.88) by four one-hundredths of a second to claim bronze. More than a second back, Schoenmaker's teammate Kaylene Corbett (2:22.06) took fifth, while Great Britain duo Molly Renshaw (2:22.65) and Abbie Wood (2:23.72) placed sixth and seventh. Belgium's Fanny Lecluyse (2:24.57) rounded out the championship field.

Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

The following records were established during the competition:

Qualification
The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 2:25.52. 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 2:29.89. 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)

Heats
The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.

Semifinals
The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.