| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Women

Date	22 – 23 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	40 from 23 countries

The favorite was Canada’s Elaine Tanner, the 1967 Pan American Games champion who had set two world records in the event in 1967. But missing was the current world record holder, Karen Muir of South Africa, who could not compete because her nation was banned from the Olympics because of its policy of apartheid in sport (and elsewhere), and would remain banned until 1992. America’s Kaye Hall, second at the 1967 Pan Ams, was expected to contend and medal. In the semi-finals Tanner bested Hall and posted the fastest qualifier. In the final, Hall made the turn first in 30.9, with Tanner on her shoulder, and America’s Jane Swagerty in third. And that is how they would finish, as Tanner could not catch Hall, who won an upset gold medal.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Kaye Hall	USA	1:09.8 (1 h6)	1:08.2 (2 h2)	1:06.2 (1)	Gold
2	Elaine Tanner	CAN	1:07.6 (1 h3)	1:07.4 (1 h2)	1:06.7 (2)	Silver
3	Jane Swagerty	USA	1:10.2 (2 h2)	1:08.6 (3 h2)	1:08.1 (3)	Bronze
4	Kendis Moore	USA	1:10.5 (1 h4)	1:09.6 (2 h1)	1:08.3 (4)
5	Andrea Gyarmati	HUN	1:11.3 (3 h2)	1:09.9 (5 h2)	1:09.1 (5)
6	Lynne Watson	AUS	1:09.4 (2 h3)	1:09.0 (1 h1)	1:09.1 (6)
7	Sylvie Canet	FRA	1:10.4 (1 h5)	1:09.0 (4 h2)	1:09.3 (7)
8	Glenda Stirling	NZL	1:10.2 (2 h1)	1:10.1 (3 h1)	1:10.6 (8)
9	Yukiko Goushi	JPN	1:10.2 (1 h1)	1:10.2 (4 h1)	–
10	Bénédicte Duprez	FRA	1:11.6 (3 h5)	1:10.6 (5 h1)	–
11	Cobie Buter	NED	1:10.0 (2 h6)	1:10.7 (6 h2)	–
=12	Kiki Caron	FRA	1:10.5 (3 h1)	1:10.8 (7 h2)	–
=12	Zdenka Gašparac	YUG	1:09.9 (1 h2)	1:10.8 (6 h1)	–
=14	María Corominas	ESP	1:10.7 (3 h3)	1:11.0 (7 h1)	–
=14	Tina Lek'veishvili	URS	1:11.3 (2 h5)	1:11.0 (8 h1)	–
16	Ulla Patrikka	FIN	1:11.6 (4 h3)	1:12.1 (8 h2)	–
17	Tatyana Savelyeva	URS	1:11.7 (2 h4)	–	–
=18	Yvette Hafner	AUT	1:11.8 (4 h2)	–	–
=18	Anca Andreiu	ROU	1:11.8 (3 h4)	–	–
=20	Mária Balla-Lantos	HUN	1:11.9 (3 h6)	–	–
=20	Coby Sikkens	NED	1:11.9 (4 h6)	–	–
22	Wendy Burrell	GBR	1:12.0 (5 h6)	–	–
23	Dianna Rickard	AUS	1:12.4 (4 h4)	–	–
24	Bep Weeteling	NED	1:12.5 (4 h1)	–	–
25	Angelika Kraus	FRG	1:12.6 (5 h3)	–	–
=26	Anne Walton	CAN	1:13.0 (5 h4)	–	–
=26	Jackie Brown	GBR	1:13.0 (5 h1)	–	–
28	Patricia Sentous	ARG	1:13.5 (4 h5)	–	–
29	Adriana Comolli	ARG	1:13.8 (5 h2)	–	–
30	Doris Meister	FRG	1:14.1 (6 h2)	–	–
31	Lidia Ramírez	MEX	1:14.5 (6 h1)	–	–
32	Pru Chapman	NZL	1:15.2 (5 h5)	–	–
33	Francine Dauven	BEL	1:15.3 (6 h6)	–	–
34	María Procopio	ARG	1:15.9 (6 h4)	–	–
35	Judit Bárányi	HUN	1:16.0 (7 h6)	–	–
36	Felicia Ospitaletche	URU	1:17.7 (6 h3)	–	–
37	Carmen Ferracuti	ESA	1:17.8 (6 h5)	–	–
38	Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Lien	VNM	1:19.2 (7 h3)	–	–
39	Rosa Hasbún	ESA	1:20.5 (7 h2)	–	–
40	Shen Bao-Ni	TPE	1:21.5 (7 h4)	–	–
DNS	Hedy García	PHI	– (DNS h1)	–	–

Round One (22 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Yukiko Goushi	JPN	– (–) –	1:10.2	Q
2	5	Glenda Stirling	NZL	– (–) –	1:10.2	Q
3	6	Kiki Caron	FRA	– (–) –	1:10.5	Q
4	4	Bep Weeteling	NED	– (–) –	1:12.5
5	2	Jackie Brown	GBR	– (–) –	1:13.0
6	7	Lidia Ramírez	MEX	– (–) –	1:14.5
DNS	–	Hedy García	PHI	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Zdenka Gašparac	YUG	– (–) –	1:09.9	Q
2	6	Jane Swagerty	USA	– (–) –	1:10.2	Q
3	2	Andrea Gyarmati	HUN	– (–) –	1:11.3	Q
4	1	Yvette Hafner	AUT	– (–) –	1:11.8
5	5	Adriana Comolli	ARG	– (–) –	1:13.8
6	3	Doris Meister	FRG	– (–) –	1:14.1
7	7	Rosa Hasbún	ESA	– (–) –	1:20.5

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	7	Elaine Tanner	CAN	– (–) –	1:07.6	QOR
2	3	Lynne Watson	AUS	– (–) –	1:09.4	Q
3	5	María Corominas	ESP	– (–) –	1:10.7	Q
4	2	Ulla Patrikka	FIN	– (–) –	1:11.6	Q
5	1	Angelika Kraus	FRG	– (–) –	1:12.6
6	4	Felicia Ospitaletche	URU	– (–) –	1:17.7
7	6	Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Lien	VNM	– (–) –	1:19.2

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Kendis Moore	USA	– (–) –	1:10.5	Q
2	2	Tatyana Savelyeva	URS	– (–) –	1:11.7
3	7	Anca Andreiu	ROU	– (–) –	1:11.8
4	1	Dianna Rickard	AUS	– (–) –	1:12.4
5	3	Anne Walton	CAN	– (–) –	1:13.0
6	6	María Procopio	ARG	– (–) –	1:15.9
7	5	Shen Bao-Ni	TPE	– (–) –	1:21.5

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Sylvie Canet	FRA	– (–) –	1:10.4	Q
2	3	Tina Lek'veishvili	URS	– (–) –	1:11.3	Q
3	4	Bénédicte Duprez	FRA	– (–) –	1:11.6	Q
4	2	Patricia Sentous	ARG	– (–) –	1:13.5
5	7	Pru Chapman	NZL	– (–) –	1:15.2
6	6	Carmen Ferracuti	ESA	– (–) –	1:17.8

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Kaye Hall	USA	– (–) –	1:09.8	Q
2	2	Cobie Buter	NED	– (–) –	1:10.0	Q
3	4	Mária Balla-Lantos	HUN	– (–) –	1:11.9
4	6	Coby Sikkens	NED	– (–) –	1:11.9
5	3	Wendy Burrell	GBR	– (–) –	1:12.0
6	1	Francine Dauven	BEL	– (–) –	1:15.3
7	7	Judit Bárányi	HUN	– (–) –	1:16.0

Semi-Finals (22 October 1968 — 17:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Lynne Watson	AUS	– (–) –	1:09.0	Q
2	2	Kendis Moore	USA	– (–) –	1:09.6	Q
3	6	Glenda Stirling	NZL	– (–) –	1:10.1	Q
4	3	Yukiko Goushi	JPN	– (–) –	1:10.2
5	8	Bénédicte Duprez	FRA	– (–) –	1:10.6
6	5	Zdenka Gašparac	YUG	– (–) –	1:10.8
7	7	María Corominas	ESP	– (–) –	1:11.0
8	1	Tina Lek'veishvili	URS	– (–) –	1:11.0

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Elaine Tanner	CAN	– (–) –	1:07.4	QOR
2	5	Kaye Hall	USA	– (–) –	1:08.2	Q
3	6	Jane Swagerty	USA	– (–) –	1:08.6	Q
4	2	Sylvie Canet	FRA	– (–) –	1:09.0	Q
5	1	Andrea Gyarmati	HUN	– (–) –	1:09.9	Q
6	3	Cobie Buter	NED	– (–) –	1:10.7
7	7	Kiki Caron	FRA	– (–) –	1:10.8
8	8	Ulla Patrikka	FIN	– (–) –	1:12.1

Final (23 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Kaye Hall	USA	– (–) –	1:06.2	WR
2	4	Elaine Tanner	CAN	– (–) –	1:06.7
3	3	Jane Swagerty	USA	– (–) –	1:08.1
4	7	Kendis Moore	USA	– (–) –	1:08.3
5	1	Andrea Gyarmati	HUN	– (–) –	1:09.1
6	6	Lynne Watson	AUS	– (–) –	1:09.1
7	2	Sylvie Canet	FRA	– (–) –	1:09.3
8	8	Glenda Stirling	NZL	– (–) –	1:10.6