| Date | 21 July 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva |
| Participants | 21 from 14 countries |
Mary T. Meagher was the world’s greatest butterfly swimmer, bar none. She had set three world records in 1979, lowering the mark from Tracy Caulkins’s 2:09.87, set in 1978, to 2:07.01. The two weeks before the Moscow Olympics, Meagher took the mark down further, to 2:06.37, at a meet in Irvine, California. In August 1981 at the US Nationals, that mark fell to her as she finished in 2:05.96, a world record that would last until 1999. Despite the East German women’s hegemony in Moscow, Meagher would have won.
Without her the gold medal went to the GDR’s Ines Geißler, who would later win the event at the 1981 Europeans and 1982 World Championships. Her Moscow gold came by only 1/100th of a second over teammate Sybille Schönrock, who was never heard from again.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Ines Geißler |  GDR | 2:13.23 (1 h2) | 2:10.44 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 83 | Sybille Schönrock | GDR | 2:13.68 (1 h1) | 2:10.45 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Michelle Ford |  AUS | 2:12.72 (1 h3) | 2:11.66 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 76 | Andrea Pollack | GDR | 2:13.88 (2 h3) | 2:12.13 (4) | |||
| 5 | – | Dorota Brzozowska |  POL | 2:14.74 (2 h1) | 2:14.12 (5) | |||
| 6 | 57 | Ann Osgerby |  GBR | 2:15.17 (3 h1) | 2:14.83 (6) | |||
| 7 | 143 | Agneta Mårtensson |  SWE | 2:16.41 (2 h2) | 2:15.22 (7) | |||
| 8 | 156 | Alla Grishchenkova |  URS | 2:16.01 (3 h3) | 2:15.70 (8) | |||
| 9 | 101 | Éva Miklósfalvy |  HUN | 2:17.32 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 10 | 107 | Cinzia Savi Scarponi |  ITA | 2:17.53 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | 9 | Karen Van de Graaf | AUS | 2:17.82 (4 h2) | – | |||
| =12 | 164 | Larisa Polivoda | URS | 2:17.88 (5 h1) | – | |||
| =12 | 10 | Sonja Hausladen |  AUT | 2:17.88 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 14 | – | Janet Osgerby | GBR | 2:18.01 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 15 | 136 | Armi Airaksinen | SWE | 2:19.39 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 16 | 127 | Małgorzata Różycka | POL | 2:19.70 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 17 | 26 | María París |  CRC | 2:21.14 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 18 | 95 | Wilma van Velsen |  NED | 2:21.81 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 19 | 134 | Carole Brook |  SUI | 2:24.82 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 20 | 15 | Marion Michel |  BEL | 2:25.10 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 21 | – | Celeste García |  PER | 2:26.07 (7 h1) | – |
| Date | 21 July 1980 — 11:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Michelle Ford | AUS | 2:12.72 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Ines Geißler | GDR | 2:13.23 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Sybille Schönrock | GDR | 2:13.68 | ||
| 4 | 4 | Andrea Pollack | GDR | 2:13.88 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Dorota Brzozowska | POL | 2:14.74 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Ann Osgerby | GBR | 2:15.17 | ||
| 7 | 6 | Alla Grishchenkova | URS | 2:16.01 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Agneta Mårtensson | SWE | 2:16.41 | ||
| 9 | 6 | Éva Miklósfalvy | HUN | 2:17.32 | ||
| 10 | 6 | Cinzia Savi Scarponi | ITA | 2:17.53 | ||
| 11 | 5 | Karen Van de Graaf | AUS | 2:17.82 | ||
| =12 | 2 | Larisa Polivoda | URS | 2:17.88 | 1 | |
| =12 | 7 | Sonja Hausladen | AUT | 2:17.88 | ||
| 14 | 2 | Janet Osgerby | GBR | 2:18.01 | ||
| 15 | 3 | Armi Airaksinen | SWE | 2:19.39 | ||
| 16 | 2 | Małgorzata Różycka | POL | 2:19.70 | ||
| 17 | 7 | María París | CRC | 2:21.14 | ||
| 18 | 1 | Wilma van Velsen | NED | 2:21.81 | ||
| 19 | 7 | Carole Brook | SUI | 2:24.82 | ||
| 20 | 1 | Marion Michel | BEL | 2:25.10 | ||
| 21 | 1 | Celeste García | PER | 2:26.07 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Sybille Schönrock | GDR | 2:13.68 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Dorota Brzozowska | POL | 2:14.74 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Ann Osgerby | GBR | 2:15.17 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Éva Miklósfalvy | HUN | 2:17.32 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Larisa Polivoda | URS | 2:17.88 | 2 | |
| 6 | 7 | Carole Brook | SUI | 2:24.82 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Celeste García | PER | 2:26.07 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ines Geißler | GDR | 2:13.23 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Agneta Mårtensson | SWE | 2:16.41 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Cinzia Savi Scarponi | ITA | 2:17.53 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Karen Van de Graaf | AUS | 2:17.82 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Janet Osgerby | GBR | 2:18.01 | ||
| 6 | 7 | María París | CRC | 2:21.14 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Marion Michel | BEL | 2:25.10 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Michelle Ford | AUS | 2:12.72 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Andrea Pollack | GDR | 2:13.88 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Alla Grishchenkova | URS | 2:16.01 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Sonja Hausladen | AUT | 2:17.88 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Armi Airaksinen | SWE | 2:19.39 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Małgorzata Różycka | POL | 2:19.70 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Wilma van Velsen | NED | 2:21.81 |
| Date | 21 July 1980 — 20:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Ines Geißler | GDR | 2:10.44 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Sybille Schönrock | GDR | 2:10.45 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Michelle Ford | AUS | 2:11.66 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Andrea Pollack | GDR | 2:12.13 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Dorota Brzozowska | POL | 2:14.12 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Ann Osgerby | GBR | 2:14.83 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Agneta Mårtensson | SWE | 2:15.22 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Alla Grishchenkova | URS | 2:15.70 |
