| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Women

Date	22 – 23 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	31 from 20 countries

American Catie Ball had set the last three world records, but she had struggled in the 100 breaststroke and was withdrawn after that race, as she had been sick her entire time in Mexico. That left the favorite’s role to Soviet Halyna Prozumenshchykova, the defending champion and the world record holder until Ball came along. In the end the medalists in this race were the same three that had won the medals in the 100 breaststroke four days before. But Sharon Wichman, bronze medalist in the 100, moved up to win the gold, with the 100 gold medalist, Yugoslavia’s Ðurđica Bjedov, placing second, and Prozumenshchikova finishing third. Prozu would again finish third at the 1972 Olympics, earning her third medal in this event.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Sharon Wichman	USA	2:46.8 (1 h2)	2:44.4 (1)	Gold
2	Đurđica Bjedov	YUG	2:50.2 (3 h3)	2:46.4 (2)	Silver
3	Galina Prozumenshchikova	URS	2:47.8 (1 h4)	2:47.0 (3)	Bronze
4	Alla Grebennikova	URS	2:49.8 (2 h5)	2:47.1 (4)
5	Cathy Jamison	USA	2:50.1 (2 h3)	2:48.4 (5)
6	Svetlana Babanina	URS	2:49.8 (1 h3)	2:48.4 (6)
7	Chieno Shibata	JPN	2:50.6 (2 h4)	2:51.5 (7)
8	Ana María Norbis	URU	2:49.4 (1 h5)	2:51.9 (8)
9	Jill Slattery	GBR	2:51.2 (2 h2)	–
10	Christl Filippovits	AUT	2:51.3 (1 h1)	–
11	Tamara Oynick	MEX	2:52.4 (3 h2)	–
12	Vreni Eberle	FRG	2:52.5 (4 h2)	–
13	Judy Playfair	AUS	2:52.9 (2 h1)	–
14	Sue McKenzie	AUS	2:53.1 (3 h4)	–
15	Dorothy Harrison	GBR	2:55.1 (3 h1)	–
16	Yoshimi Nishigawa	JPN	2:55.3 (3 h5)	–
17	Yvonne Brage	SWE	2:56.3 (4 h3)	–
18	Ann O'Connor	IRL	2:56.4 (4 h5)	–
19	Jo-Anne Barnes	AUS	2:57.4 (4 h4)	–
=20	Yukari Takemoto	JPN	2:57.9 (5 h4)	–
=20	Klenie Bimolt	NED	2:57.9 (5 h5)	–
22	Ellen Ingvadóttir	ISL	2:58.2 (6 h4)	–
23	Shlomit Nir	ISR	2:58.5 (5 h3)	–
24	Víctoria Casas	MEX	3:01.0 (5 h2)	–
25	Diana Harris	GBR	3:03.4 (6 h2)	–
26	Ana Elena de la Portilla	MEX	3:03.5 (6 h3)	–
27	Arlette Wilmes	LUX	3:06.7 (6 h5)	–
28	Hedy García	PHI	3:08.1 (4 h1)	–
29	Tamara Orejuela	ECU	3:08.5 (5 h1)	–
30	María Moreno	ESA	3:15.4 (7 h4)	–
31	Liana Vicens	PUR	3:16.2 (7 h5)	–
DNS	Catie Ball	USA	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	María Castro	ESA	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Uta Frommater	FRG	– (DNS h3)	–

Round One (22 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	4	Christl Filippovits	AUT	1:21.0 (1) 1:30.3 (2)	2:51.3
2	3	Judy Playfair	AUS	1:23.5 (3) 1:29.4 (1)	2:52.9
3	5	Dorothy Harrison	GBR	1:23.1 (2) 1:32.0 (3)	2:55.1
4	6	Hedy García	PHI	1:29.6 (5) 1:38.5 (4)	3:08.1
5	2	Tamara Orejuela	ECU	1:29.3 (4) 1:39.2 (5)	3:08.5
DNS	–	Catie Ball	USA	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	2	Sharon Wichman	USA	1:19.4 (1) 1:27.4 (1)	2:46.8	Q
2	7	Jill Slattery	GBR	1:21.6 (2) 1:29.6 (4)	2:51.2
3	5	Tamara Oynick	MEX	1:23.8 (3) 1:28.6 (3)	2:52.4
4	4	Vreni Eberle	FRG	1:25.0 (4) 1:27.5 (2)	2:52.5
5	3	Víctoria Casas	MEX	1:26.3 (6) 1:34.7 (5)	3:01.0
6	6	Diana Harris	GBR	1:25.8 (5) 1:37.6 (6)	3:03.4
DNS	–	María Castro	ESA	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	2	Svetlana Babanina	URS	1:22.7 (3) 1:27.1 (1)	2:49.8	Q
2	4	Cathy Jamison	USA	1:21.6 (2) 1:28.5 (2)	2:50.1	Q
3	5	Đurđica Bjedov	YUG	1:20.0 (1) 1:30.2 (3)	2:50.2	Q
4	3	Yvonne Brage	SWE	1:23.7 (5) 1:32.6 (4)	2:56.3
5	7	Shlomit Nir	ISR	1:23.0 (4) 1:35.5 (6)	2:58.5
6	6	Ana Elena de la Portilla	MEX	1:29.9 (6) 1:33.6 (5)	3:03.5
DNS	–	Uta Frommater	FRG	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	6	Galina Prozumenshchikova	URS	1:20.6 (1) 1:27.2 (3)	2:47.8	Q
2	3	Chieno Shibata	JPN	1:24.6 (3) 1:26.0 (1)	2:50.6	Q
3	2	Sue McKenzie	AUS	1:26.4 (4) 1:26.7 (2)	2:53.1
4	1	Jo-Anne Barnes	AUS	1:24.4 (2) 1:33.0 (6)	2:57.4
5	4	Yukari Takemoto	JPN	1:27.4 (5) 1:30.5 (4)	2:57.9
6	5	Ellen Ingvadóttir	ISL	1:27.5 (6) 1:30.7 (5)	2:58.2
7	7	María Moreno	ESA	1:29.9 (7) 1:45.5 (7)	3:15.4

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	2	Ana María Norbis	URU	1:23.8 (2) 1:25.6 (1)	2:49.4	Q
2	4	Alla Grebennikova	URS	1:22.9 (1) 1:26.9 (2)	2:49.8	Q
3	3	Yoshimi Nishigawa	JPN	1:26.2 (4) 1:29.1 (3)	2:55.3
4	7	Ann O'Connor	IRL	1:25.6 (3) 1:30.8 (4)	2:56.4
5	6	Klenie Bimolt	NED	1:27.0 (5) 1:30.9 (5)	2:57.9
6	5	Arlette Wilmes	LUX	1:29.4 (6) 1:37.3 (6)	3:06.7
7	1	Liana Vicens	PUR	1:36.7 (7) 1:39.5 (7)	3:16.2

Final (23 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	Time
1	4	Sharon Wichman	USA	1:18.6 (2) 1:25.8 (1)	2:44.4	OR
2	1	Đurđica Bjedov	YUG	1:19.3 (3) 1:27.1 (3)	2:46.4
3	5	Galina Prozumenshchikova	URS	1:18.4 (1) 1:28.6 (7)	2:47.0
4	2	Alla Grebennikova	URS	1:20.4 (4) 1:26.7 (2)	2:47.1
5	7	Cathy Jamison	USA	1:20.5 (5) 1:27.9 (5)	2:48.4
6	6	Svetlana Babanina	URS	1:21.1 (6) 1:27.3 (4)	2:48.4
7	8	Chieno Shibata	JPN	1:23.4 (8) 1:28.1 (6)	2:51.5
8	3	Ana María Norbis	URU	1:21.6 (7) 1:30.3 (8)	2:51.9