| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Women

Date	29 – 30 July 2012
Status	Olympic
Location	London Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park, Stratford, London
Participants	45 from 38 countries

Missy Franklin (USA) had won the 2011 World Championships at 200 metres and the US Olympic Trials in both backstrokes, but Australian Emily Seebohm had been best in the preliminaries in London, setting an Olympic record of 58.23 in her heat. Franklin swam this final only 12 minutes after she left the pool from her 200 freestyle semi-final, in which she placed fourth in her heat. Because of the close time between races she was allowed to cool down in the diving warm-down pool before this final.

Seebohm led out the final, turning 0.14 seconds ahead of world record pace, but Franklin stayed close. She took the lead only a few strokes from the finish and won the gold medal in an American record 58.33, with Seebohm second. Japan’s Aya Terakawa won the bronze in an Asian record 58.83. The final was very close with the top seven finishers within one second of each other, with Franklin’s winning time ranking fourth all-time. This was Franklin’s second medal of the 2012 Olympics, after the 4x100 free relay, but she would eventually win five medals and four gold medals in London.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Missy Franklin	USA	59.37 (1 h6)	59.12 (1 h1)	58.33 (1)	Gold
2	Emily Seebohm	AUS	58.23 (1 h4)	58.39 (1 h2)	58.68 (2)	Silver
3	Aya Terakawa	JPN	59.82 (3 h6)	59.34 (2 h1)	58.83 (3)	Bronze
4	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	59.88 (1 h5)	59.68 (3 h2)	59.00 (4)
5	Gemma Spofforth	GBR	1:00.05 (4 h5)	59.70 (3 h1)	59.20 (5)
6	Zhao Jing	CHN	59.97 (3 h4)	59.55 (2 h2)	59.23 (6)
7	Belinda Hocking	AUS	59.61 (2 h6)	59.79 (4 h2)	59.29 (7)
8	Fu Yuanhui	CHN	59.96 (4 h6)	59.82 (4 h1)	1:00.50 (8)
9	Julia Wilkinson	CAN	59.94 (2 h5)	59.91 (5 h2)	–
10	Simona Baumrtová	CZE	59.99 (5 h6)	1:00.02 (5 h1)	–
11	Rachel Bootsma	USA	1:00.03 (3 h5)	1:00.04 (6 h2)	–
12	Alexianne Castel	FRA	1:00.16 (6 h6)	1:00.24 (6 h1)	–
13	Arianna Barbieri	ITA	1:00.25 (5 h4)	1:00.27 (7 h1)	–
14	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	1:00.24 (4 h4)	1:00.39 (7 h2)	–
15	Georgia Davies	GBR	59.92 (2 h4)	1:00.56 (8 h1)	–
16	Sinéad Russell	CAN	1:00.10 (5 h5)	1:00.57 (8 h2)	–
17	Mie Ø. Nielsen	DEN	1:00.38 (6 h4)	–	–
=18	Daryna Zevina	UKR	1:00.57 (6 h5)	–	–
=18	Duane Da Rocha	ESP	1:00.57 (7 h4)	–	–
20	Sharon van Rouwendaal	NED	1:00.61 (8 h4)	–	–
21	Jenny Mensing	GER	1:00.72 (7 h6)	–	–
22	Laure Manaudou	FRA	1:01.03 (8 h6)	–	–
23	Fernanda González	MEX	1:01.28 (1 h3)	–	–
24	Fabíola Molina	BRA	1:01.40 (7 h5)	–	–
25	Alicja Tchórz	POL	1:01.44 (2 h3)	–	–
26	Tao Li	SGP	1:01.60 (1 h2)	–	–
27	Elena Gemo	ITA	1:01.77 (8 h5)	–	–
28	Carolina Colorado	COL	1:01.81 (3 h3)	–	–
29	Kimberly Buys	BEL	1:01.92 (4 h3)	–	–
30	Melissa Ingram	NZL	1:01.94 (5 h3)	–	–
31	Ekaterina Avramova	BUL	1:02.20 (6 h3)	–	–
32	Eygló Ósk Gústafsdóttir	ISL	1:02.40 (2 h2)	–	–
33	Melanie Nocher	IRL	1:02.44 (3 h2)	–	–
34	Anja Čarman	SLO	1:02.68 (4 h2)	–	–
35	Therese Svendsen	SWE	1:03.11 (7 h3)	–	–
36	Sanja Jovanović	CRO	1:03.38 (5 h2)	–	–
37	Eszter Povázsay	HUN	1:03.55 (6 h2)	–	–
38	Yekaterina Rudenko	KAZ	1:03.64 (7 h2)	–	–
39	Stephanie Au	HKG	1:04.31 (8 h3)	–	–
40	Hazal Sarıkaya	TUR	1:04.80 (8 h2)	–	–
41	Karen Vilorio	HON	1:06.38 (1 h1)	–	–
42	Mònica Ramírez	AND	1:07.72 (2 h1)	–	–
43	Inés Remersaro	URU	1:08.03 (3 h1)	–	–
44	Anahit Barseghyan	ARM	1:08.19 (4 h1)	–	–
45	Angélique Trinquier	MON	1:10.79 (5 h1)	–	–

Round One (29 July 2012 — 10:00)

Fastest 16 swimmers advanced to semi-finals

Heat One (10:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	3	Karen Vilorio	HON	32.17 (1) 34.21	1:06.38	0.74
2	4	Mònica Ramírez	AND	33.39 (3) 34.33	1:07.72	0.67
3	5	Inés Remersaro	URU	33.45 (4) 34.58	1:08.03	0.66
4	6	Anahit Barseghyan	ARM	32.62 (2) 35.57	1:08.19	0.62
5	2	Angélique Trinquier	MON	33.88 (5) 36.91	1:10.79	0.80

Heat Two (10:03)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	8	Tao Li	SGP	29.80 (1) 31.80	1:01.60	0.55
2	3	Eygló Ósk Gústafsdóttir	ISL	30.42 (=4) 31.98	1:02.40	0.68
3	4	Melanie Nocher	IRL	30.42 (=4) 32.02	1:02.44	0.69
4	1	Anja Čarman	SLO	30.59 (7) 32.09	1:02.68	0.68
5	5	Sanja Jovanović	CRO	30.36 (3) 33.02	1:03.38	0.77
6	6	Eszter Povázsay	HUN	30.57 (6) 32.98	1:03.55	0.66
7	7	Yekaterina Rudenko	KAZ	30.30 (2) 33.34	1:03.64	0.73
8	2	Hazal Sarıkaya	TUR	31.71 (8) 33.09	1:04.80	0.67

Heat Three (10:06)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Fernanda González	MEX	30.05 (2) 31.23	1:01.28	0.58
2	5	Alicja Tchórz	POL	30.18 (3) 31.26	1:01.44	0.63
3	2	Carolina Colorado	COL	30.47 (6) 31.34	1:01.81	0.68
4	8	Kimberly Buys	BEL	29.79 (1) 32.13	1:01.92	0.63
5	7	Melissa Ingram	NZL	30.38 (5) 31.56	1:01.94	0.67
6	6	Ekaterina Avramova	BUL	30.48 (7) 31.72	1:02.20	0.64
7	1	Therese Svendsen	SWE	30.25 (4) 32.86	1:03.11	0.72
8	3	Stephanie Au	HKG	30.89 (8) 33.42	1:04.31	0.58

Heat Four (10:09)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Emily Seebohm	AUS	28.57 (1) 29.66	58.23	0.68	QOR
2	6	Georgia Davies	GBR	29.19 (4) 30.73	59.92	0.69	Q
3	4	Zhao Jing	CHN	29.26 (5) 30.71	59.97	0.58	Q
4	8	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	29.16 (3) 31.08	1:00.24	0.62	Q
5	7	Arianna Barbieri	ITA	29.10 (2) 31.15	1:00.25	0.70	Q
6	3	Mie Ø. Nielsen	DEN	29.60 (7) 30.78	1:00.38	0.62
7	1	Duane Da Rocha	ESP	29.29 (6) 31.28	1:00.57	0.71
8	2	Sharon van Rouwendaal	NED	29.90 (8) 30.71	1:00.61	0.60

Heat Five (10:13)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	29.17 (3) 30.71	59.88	0.70	Q
2	6	Julia Wilkinson	CAN	28.89 (1) 31.05	59.94	0.64	Q
3	5	Rachel Bootsma	USA	29.10 (2) 30.93	1:00.03	0.59	Q
4	7	Gemma Spofforth	GBR	29.34 (4) 30.71	1:00.05	0.67	Q
5	3	Sinéad Russell	CAN	29.38 (5) 30.72	1:00.10	0.64	Q
6	2	Daryna Zevina	UKR	29.68 (6) 30.89	1:00.57	0.61
7	1	Fabíola Molina	BRA	30.15 (8) 31.25	1:01.40	0.61
8	8	Elena Gemo	ITA	29.93 (7) 31.84	1:01.77	0.77

Heat Six (10:16)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Missy Franklin	USA	29.09 (2) 30.28	59.37	0.66	Q
2	3	Belinda Hocking	AUS	29.38 (=6) 30.23	59.61	0.72	Q
3	5	Aya Terakawa	JPN	29.26 (=3) 30.56	59.82	0.57	Q
4	2	Fu Yuanhui	CHN	28.60 (1) 31.36	59.96	0.61	Q
5	8	Simona Baumrtová	CZE	29.31 (5) 30.68	59.99	0.60	Q
6	1	Alexianne Castel	FRA	29.26 (=3) 30.90	1:00.16	0.75	Q
7	6	Jenny Mensing	GER	29.80 (8) 30.92	1:00.72	0.76
8	7	Laure Manaudou	FRA	29.38 (=6) 31.65	1:01.03	0.62

Semi-Finals (29 July 2012 — 20:49)

Fastest eight swimmers advanced to final

Heat One (20:49)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Missy Franklin	USA	29.09 (=2) 30.03	59.12	0.64	Q
2	5	Aya Terakawa	JPN	29.01 (1) 30.33	59.34	0.60	Q
3	7	Gemma Spofforth	GBR	29.28 (5) 30.42	59.70	0.69	Q
4	6	Fu Yuanhui	CHN	29.13 (4) 30.69	59.82	0.59	Q
5	2	Simona Baumrtová	CZE	29.52 (7) 30.50	1:00.02	0.61
6	1	Alexianne Castel	FRA	29.75 (8) 30.49	1:00.24	0.73
7	8	Arianna Barbieri	ITA	29.09 (=2) 31.18	1:00.27	0.73
8	3	Georgia Davies	GBR	29.43 (6) 31.13	1:00.56	0.68

Heat Two (20:56)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	4	Emily Seebohm	AUS	28.66 (1) 29.73	58.39	0.64	Q
2	2	Zhao Jing	CHN	28.97 (3) 30.58	59.55	0.59	Q
3	3	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	29.02 (4) 30.66	59.68	0.71	Q
4	5	Belinda Hocking	AUS	29.52 (7) 30.27	59.79	0.73	Q
5	6	Julia Wilkinson	CAN	29.09 (5) 30.82	59.91	0.65
6	7	Rachel Bootsma	USA	28.71 (2) 31.33	1:00.04	0.59
7	8	Kirsty Coventry	ZIM	29.59 (8) 30.80	1:00.39	0.61
8	1	Sinéad Russell	CAN	29.45 (6) 31.12	1:00.57	0.64

Final (30 July 2012 — 19:51)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction
1	5	Missy Franklin	USA	28.82 (2) 29.51	58.33	0.63
2	4	Emily Seebohm	AUS	28.57 (1) 30.11	58.68	0.65
3	3	Aya Terakawa	JPN	28.96 (5) 29.87	58.83	0.58
4	2	Anastasiya Zuyeva	RUS	28.82 (2) 30.18	59.00	0.71
5	7	Gemma Spofforth	GBR	29.03 (6) 30.17	59.20	0.67
6	6	Zhao Jing	CHN	28.84 (4) 30.39	59.23	0.57
7	1	Belinda Hocking	AUS	29.35 (8) 29.94	59.29	0.67
8	8	Fu Yuanhui	CHN	29.23 (7) 31.27	1:00.50	0.60