| Date | 20 – 21 July 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva |
| Participants | 30 from 21 countries |
East German Barbara Krause had won this event at the 1978 World Championships in a world record of 55.41 that still stood in July 1980. In the first round in Moscow she became the first woman to swim 100 metres in under 55 seconds, breaking her world record with 54.98. But Krause bettered that in the final, recording 54.79 for another world mark. Behind her came her teammates Caren Metschuck (silver) and Ines Diers (bronze) as the East German women swept the medals, as Metschuck and Diers became the second and fourth fastest performers of all-time. This was one of six swimming events in Moscow swept by the GDR women. The event had seen a medal sweep four times previously, by the United States in 1920, 1924, and 1968, and by Australia in 1956.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | Barbara Krause |  GDR | 54.98 (1 h3) | 54.79 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 74 | Caren Metschuck | GDR | 55.44 (1 h4) | 55.16 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Ines Diers | GDR | 56.83 (1 h2) | 55.65 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 160 | Olga Klevakina |  URS | 57.62 (2 h1) | 57.40 (4) | |||
| 5 | 94 | Conny van Bentum |  NED | 57.51 (2 h4) | 57.63 (5) | |||
| 6 | – | Nataliya Strunnikova | URS | 57.43 (1 h1) | 57.83 (6) | |||
| 7 | 39 | Guylaine Berger |  FRA | 57.80 (2 h2) | 57.88 (7) | |||
| 8 | 137 | Agneta Eriksson |  SWE | 57.67 (3 h4) | 57.90 (8) | |||
| 9 | 48 | June Croft |  GBR | 57.88 (2 h3) | – | |||
| 10 | 142 | Carina Ljungdahl | SWE | 58.05 (3 h3) | – | |||
| 11 | 118 | Isabel Reuss |  MEX | 58.36 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 12 | 61 | Jackie Willmott | GBR | 58.78 (3 h1) | – | |||
| 13 | – | Michelle Pearson |  AUS | 58.90 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 14 | 17 | Carine Verbauwen |  BEL | 59.08 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 15 | 167 | Larisa Tsaryova | URS | 59.12 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 16 | – | Rosemary Brown | AUS | 59.35 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 17 | 109 | Monica Vallarin |  ITA | 59.43 (4 h4) | – | |||
| 18 | 36 | Natalia Mas |  ESP | 59.53 (5 h4) | – | |||
| 19 | 12 | Heidi Koch |  AUT | 59.73 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 20 | 117 | Helen Plaschinski | MEX | 59.75 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 21 | 26 | María París |  CRC | 1:01.08 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 22 | – | Celeste García |  PER | 1:02.44 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 23 | 177 | Lynne Tasker |  ZIM | 1:03.36 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 24 | 29 | Olga Loizou |  CYP | 1:06.50 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 25 | – | Bako Ratsifa |  MAD | 1:07.21 (6 h4) | – | |||
| 26 | 180 | Garnet Charwat |  NCA | 1:08.98 (8 h3) | – | |||
| 27 | 179 | Michele Pessoa |  ANG | 1:09.10 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 28 | 110 | Nadia Fezzani |  LBA | 1:09.28 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 29 | 172 | Chung Thị Thanh Lan |  VIE | 1:12.27 (7 h4) | – | |||
| 92 | Monique Drost | NED | – (DQ h4) | – | ||||
| 9 | Karen Van de Graaf | AUS | – (DNS h1) | – |
| Date | 20 July 1980 — 18:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Barbara Krause | GDR | 54.98 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Caren Metschuck | GDR | 55.44 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Ines Diers | GDR | 56.83 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Nataliya Strunnikova | URS | 57.43 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Conny van Bentum | NED | 57.51 | ||
| 6 | 4 | Olga Klevakina | URS | 57.62 | ||
| 7 | 5 | Agneta Eriksson | SWE | 57.67 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Guylaine Berger | FRA | 57.80 | ||
| 9 | 5 | June Croft | GBR | 57.88 | ||
| 10 | 3 | Carina Ljungdahl | SWE | 58.05 | ||
| 11 | 2 | Isabel Reuss | MEX | 58.36 | ||
| 12 | 3 | Jackie Willmott | GBR | 58.78 | ||
| 13 | 2 | Michelle Pearson | AUS | 58.90 | ||
| 14 | 6 | Carine Verbauwen | BEL | 59.08 | ||
| 15 | 5 | Larisa Tsaryova | URS | 59.12 | ||
| 16 | 6 | Rosemary Brown | AUS | 59.35 | ||
| 17 | 7 | Monica Vallarin | ITA | 59.43 | ||
| 18 | 2 | Natalia Mas | ESP | 59.53 | ||
| 19 | 7 | Heidi Koch | AUT | 59.73 | ||
| 20 | 6 | Helen Plaschinski | MEX | 59.75 | ||
| 21 | 7 | María París | CRC | 1:01.08 | ||
| 22 | 7 | Celeste García | PER | 1:02.44 | ||
| 23 | 8 | Lynne Tasker | ZIM | 1:03.36 | ||
| 24 | 8 | Olga Loizou | CYP | 1:06.50 | ||
| 25 | 1 | Bako Ratsifa | MAD | 1:07.21 | ||
| 26 | 1 | Garnet Charwat | NCA | 1:08.98 | ||
| 27 | 1 | Michele Pessoa | ANG | 1:09.10 | ||
| 28 | 1 | Nadia Fezzani | LBA | 1:09.28 | ||
| 29 | 8 | Chung Thị Thanh Lan | VIE | 1:12.27 | ||
| 6 | Monique Drost | NED | – | |||
| 2 | Karen Van de Graaf | AUS | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Nataliya Strunnikova | URS | 57.43 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Olga Klevakina | URS | 57.62 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Jackie Willmott | GBR | 58.78 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Carine Verbauwen | BEL | 59.08 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Celeste García | PER | 1:02.44 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Michele Pessoa | ANG | 1:09.10 | ||
| 2 | Karen Van de Graaf | AUS | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ines Diers | GDR | 56.83 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Guylaine Berger | FRA | 57.80 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Isabel Reuss | MEX | 58.36 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Larisa Tsaryova | URS | 59.12 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Rosemary Brown | AUS | 59.35 | ||
| 6 | 7 | María París | CRC | 1:01.08 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Lynne Tasker | ZIM | 1:03.36 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Nadia Fezzani | LBA | 1:09.28 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Barbara Krause | GDR | 54.98 | ||
| 2 | 5 | June Croft | GBR | 57.88 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Carina Ljungdahl | SWE | 58.05 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Michelle Pearson | AUS | 58.90 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Heidi Koch | AUT | 59.73 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Helen Plaschinski | MEX | 59.75 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Olga Loizou | CYP | 1:06.50 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Garnet Charwat | NCA | 1:08.98 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Caren Metschuck | GDR | 55.44 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Conny van Bentum | NED | 57.51 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Agneta Eriksson | SWE | 57.67 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Monica Vallarin | ITA | 59.43 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Natalia Mas | ESP | 59.53 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Bako Ratsifa | MAD | 1:07.21 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Chung Thị Thanh Lan | VIE | 1:12.27 | ||
| 6 | Monique Drost | NED | – |
| Date | 21 July 1980 — 19:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Barbara Krause | GDR | 54.79 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Caren Metschuck | GDR | 55.16 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Ines Diers | GDR | 55.65 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Olga Klevakina | URS | 57.40 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Conny van Bentum | NED | 57.63 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Nataliya Strunnikova | URS | 57.83 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Guylaine Berger | FRA | 57.88 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Agneta Eriksson | SWE | 57.90 |
