| Date | 30 July 1984 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympic Swim Stadium, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 36 from 25 countries |
At the beginning of 1984 the world record was held by American Sippy Woodhead, who had set three world marks back in 1978-79. She had been World Swimmer of the Year in 1979 and was crushed by not being able to compete in Moscow. Now an ancient 20-year-old, for a world-class swimmer in that era, Woodhead was nowhere near the swimmer she had been in the late 70s, but she made the US team. Just prior to the Los Angeles, her world record was broken by Kristin Otto at the East German trials, who could not be there because of the Soviet-led boycott. Woodhead had won the US Trials, leading home Mary Wayte, but in Los Angeles Wayte was the one winning, coming to the wall in 1:59.23, with Woodhead taking silver. Woodhead’s time of 1:59.50 was her best in three years. A few weeks later Otto won this event at the Friendship Games, but her time was a surprisingly slow 1:59.48.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | B Final | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 264 | Mary Wayte |  USA | 2:00.69 (1 h3) | – | 1:59.23 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 266 | Sippy Woodhead | USA | 2:00.85 (1 h4) | – | 1:59.50 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 147 | Annemarie Verstappen |  NED | 2:01.61 (1 h1) | – | 1:59.69 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 17 | Michelle Pearson |  AUS | 2:01.49 (2 h3) | – | 1:59.79 (4) | |||
| 5 | 142 | Conny van Bentum | NED | 2:01.52 (1 h2) | – | 2:00.59 (5) | |||
| 6 | 111 | June Croft |  GBR | 2:01.05 (1 h5) | – | 2:00.64 (6) | |||
| 7 | 91 | Ina Beyermann |  FRG | 2:02.42 (2 h5) | – | 2:01.89 (7) | |||
| 8 | 14 | Anna McVann | AUS | 2:03.14 (3 h3) | – | 2:02.87 (8) | |||
| 9 | 165 | Silvia Persi |  ITA | 2:03.98 (2 h2) | 2:03.17 (1) | – | |||
| 10 | 106 | Iris Zscherpe | FRG | 2:03.95 (4 h3) | 2:03.42 (2) | – | |||
| 11 | 41 | Julie Daigneault |  CAN | 2:03.40 (3 h5) | 2:03.67 (3) | – | |||
| 12 | 231 | Ann Linder |  SWE | 2:04.60 (2 h1) | 2:03.85 (4) | – | |||
| 13 | 178 | Chikako Nakamori |  JPN | 2:03.94 (2 h4) | 2:04.11 (5) | – | |||
| 14 | 48 | Jane Kerr | CAN | 2:04.02 (3 h4) | 2:04.19 (6) | – | |||
| 15 | 110 | Annabelle Cripps | GBR | 2:04.44 (3 h2) | 2:04.90 (7) | – | |||
| 16 | 184 | Kaori Yanase | JPN | 2:04.38 (4 h4) | 2:05.24 (8) | – | |||
| 17 | 163 | Carla Lasi | ITA | 2:05.86 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 18 | – | Lisa Ann Wen |  TPE | 2:06.01 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 19 | 83 | Laurence Bensimon |  FRA | 2:06.61 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 20 | 151 | Carol-Ann Heavey |  IRL | 2:07.75 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 21 | 193 | Patricia Kohlmann |  MEX | 2:08.15 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 22 | 209 | Sandra Crousse |  PER | 2:09.42 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 128 | Sofia Dara |  GRE | 2:09.52 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 24 | 192 | Irma Huerta | MEX | 2:09.79 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 25 | 210 | Christine Jacob |  PHI | 2:12.17 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 26 | 154 | Hadar Rubinstein |  ISR | 2:12.32 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 27 | 4 | Virginia Sachero |  ARG | 2:13.41 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 28 | 238 | Chang Hui-Chien | TPE | 2:13.67 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 29 | 186 | Kim Jin-Suk |  KOR | 2:13.76 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 30 | 133 | Fenella Ng |  HKG | 2:13.94 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 31 | 130 | Karin Slowing |  GUA | 2:14.39 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 32 | 129 | Blanca Morales | GUA | 2:14.79 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 33 | 72 | Sherwite Hafez |  EGY | 2:16.11 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 34 | 214 | Daniela Galassi |  SMR | 2:19.22 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 35 | 80 | Sharon Pickering |  FIJ | 2:19.31 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 36 | 150 | María Lardizábal |  HON | 2:28.25 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 229 | Maria Kardum | SWE | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| 240 | Faten Ghattas |  TUN | – (DNS h4) | – | – |
| Date | 30 July 1984 — 9:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Annemarie Verstappen | NED | 2:01.61 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Ann Linder | SWE | 2:04.60 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Laurence Bensimon | FRA | 2:06.61 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Sofia Dara | GRE | 2:09.52 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Kim Jin-Suk | KOR | 2:13.76 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Fenella Ng | HKG | 2:13.94 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Daniela Galassi | SMR | 2:19.22 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Conny van Bentum | NED | 2:01.52 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Silvia Persi | ITA | 2:03.98 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Annabelle Cripps | GBR | 2:04.44 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Carla Lasi | ITA | 2:05.86 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Lisa Ann Wen | TPE | 2:06.01 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Carol-Ann Heavey | IRL | 2:07.75 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Karin Slowing | GUA | 2:14.39 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Mary Wayte | USA | 2:00.69 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Michelle Pearson | AUS | 2:01.49 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Anna McVann | AUS | 2:03.14 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Iris Zscherpe | FRG | 2:03.95 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Hadar Rubinstein | ISR | 2:12.32 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Virginia Sachero | ARG | 2:13.41 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Sherwite Hafez | EGY | 2:16.11 | ||
| 8 | 8 | María Lardizábal | HON | 2:28.25 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Sippy Woodhead | USA | 2:00.85 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Chikako Nakamori | JPN | 2:03.94 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Jane Kerr | CAN | 2:04.02 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Kaori Yanase | JPN | 2:04.38 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Irma Huerta | MEX | 2:09.79 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Christine Jacob | PHI | 2:12.17 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Blanca Morales | GUA | 2:14.79 | ||
| 7 | Faten Ghattas | TUN | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | June Croft | GBR | 2:01.05 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Ina Beyermann | FRG | 2:02.42 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Julie Daigneault | CAN | 2:03.40 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Patricia Kohlmann | MEX | 2:08.15 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Sandra Crousse | PER | 2:09.42 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Chang Hui-Chien | TPE | 2:13.67 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Sharon Pickering | FIJ | 2:19.31 | ||
| 6 | Maria Kardum | SWE | – |
| Date | 30 July 1984 — 16:35 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Silvia Persi | ITA | 2:03.17 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Iris Zscherpe | FRG | 2:03.42 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Julie Daigneault | CAN | 2:03.67 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Ann Linder | SWE | 2:03.85 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Chikako Nakamori | JPN | 2:04.11 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Jane Kerr | CAN | 2:04.19 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Annabelle Cripps | GBR | 2:04.90 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Kaori Yanase | JPN | 2:05.24 |
| Date | 30 July 1984 — 16:25 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Mary Wayte | USA | 1:59.23 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Sippy Woodhead | USA | 1:59.50 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Annemarie Verstappen | NED | 1:59.69 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Michelle Pearson | AUS | 1:59.79 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Conny van Bentum | NED | 2:00.59 | ||
| 6 | 3 | June Croft | GBR | 2:00.64 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Ina Beyermann | FRG | 2:01.89 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Anna McVann | AUS | 2:02.87 |
