| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Women

Date	20 – 21 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul
Participants	43 from 27 countries

The gold medal favorite was East German Silke Hörner who was the 1986 World Champion, the 1987 European Champion, and had set two world records in the event. But in May, at the Canadian trials, Allison Higson broke Hörner’s world record with 2:27.27. She was somewhat of an unknown factor as she had never beaten the East Germans head on, and was only 16th in the world in 1987. In the prelims Hörner confirmed her fitness, leading in 2:27.63, within ½-second of Higson’s world mark, while Higson qualified fourth.

In the final, the pace through 100 metres was set by Bulgarian Tanya Dangalakova, who was recovering from having a baby in June 1987, and having surgery related to it in October 1987. But then Hörner took over, winning in a world record 2:26.71, well ahead of China’s Huang Xiaomin. Dangalakova could not hang on, placing fourth, also behind her teammate Antoaneta Frenkeva, but she would recover and win the 100 breast in a few days, upsetting Hörner. Higson was never a factor in this race, placing seventh.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	172	Silke Hörner	GDR	2:27.63 (1 h6)	–	2:26.71 (1)	Gold
2	73	Huang Xiaomin	CHN	2:30.03 (3 h5)	–	2:27.49 (2)	Silver
3	46	Antoaneta Frenkeva	BUL	2:29.57 (1 h4)	–	2:28.34 (3)	Bronze
4	45	Tanya Dangalakova	BUL	2:29.91 (2 h5)	–	2:28.43 (4)
5	303	Yuliya Bogachova	URS	2:28.94 (1 h5)	–	2:28.54 (5)
6	34	Ingrid Lempereur	BEL	2:30.07 (2 h4)	–	2:29.42 (6)
7	60	Allison Higson	CAN	2:29.67 (2 h6)	–	2:29.60 (7)
8	214	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	2:30.60 (3 h4)	–	2:29.86 (8)
9	170	Susanne Börnike	GDR	2:30.71 (3 h6)	2:28.55 (1)	–
10	308	Svetlana Kuzmina	URS	2:30.93 (4 h4)	2:30.03 (2)	–
11	195	Linda Moes	NED	2:31.98 (4 h5)	2:30.83 (3)	–
12	217	Annalisa Nisiro	ITA	2:32.77 (5 h4)	2:31.19 (4)	–
13	335	Susan Rapp	USA	2:34.21 (5 h6)	2:32.90 (5)	–
14	330	Tracey McFarlane	USA	2:32.11 (4 h6)	2:33.46 (6)	–
15	56	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	2:34.36 (5 h5)	2:33.55 (7)	–
16	32	Brigitte Becue	BEL	2:33.13 (1 h3)	2:34.10 (8)	–
17	127	Britta Dahm	FRG	2:35.06 (6 h4)	–	–
18	109	Silvia Parera	ESP	2:35.57 (2 h3)	–	–
19	233	Yoshie Nishioka	JPN	2:35.81 (6 h6)	–	–
20	147	Suki Brownsdon	GBR	2:36.14 (7 h4)	–	–
21	268	Kornelia Stawicka	POL	2:36.86 (6 h5)	–	–
22	113	Virginie Bojaryn	FRA	2:37.38 (7 h6)	–	–
23	230	Hiroko Nagasaki	JPN	2:37.44 (7 h5)	–	–
24	265	Karen Horning	PER	2:37.84 (1 h2)	–	–
25	100	Pia Sørensen	DEN	2:38.49 (8 h5)	–	–
26	119	Pascaline Louvrier	FRA	2:38.75 (8 h4)	–	–
27	211	Ragnheiður Runólfsdóttir	ISL	2:39.10 (3 h3)	–	–
28	267	Dorota Chylak	POL	2:39.38 (4 h3)	–	–
29	248	Park Seong-Won	KOR	2:39.40 (2 h2)	–	–
30	18	Lara Hooiveld	AUS	2:39.97 (5 h3)	–	–
31	250	Nancy Arendt	LUX	2:40.78 (3 h2)	–	–
32	345	Anamarija Petričević	YUG	2:40.80 (6 h3)	–	–
33	153	Helen Frank	GBR	2:41.12 (4 h2)	–	–
34	129	Heike Esser	FRG	2:41.34 (8 h6)	–	–
35	297	Seto Car-Wai	TPE	2:42.31 (1 h1)	–	–
36	279	Patricia Brülhart	SUI	2:42.82 (5 h2)	–	–
37	91	Montserrat Hidalgo	CRC	2:44.72 (2 h1)	–	–
38	348	Sigrid Niehaus	CRC	2:45.35 (6 h2)	–	–
39	8	Alicia María Boscatto	ARG	2:45.80 (7 h3)	–	–
40	70	Chen Huiling	CHN	2:45.87 (8 h3)	–	–
41	295	Kim Chen	TPE	2:50.84 (7 h2)	–	–
42	276	Dipika Chanmugam	SRI	2:51.60 (3 h1)	–	–
DQ	7	Valentina Aracil	ARG	– (DQ h2)	–	–

Round One

Date	20 September 1988 — 9:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Silke Hörner	GDR	2:27.63	QOR
2	–	Yuliya Bogachova	URS	2:28.94	QOR
3	–	Antoaneta Frenkeva	BUL	2:29.57	Q
4	–	Allison Higson	CAN	2:29.67	Q
5	–	Tanya Dangalakova	BUL	2:29.91	Q
6	–	Huang Xiaomin	CHN	2:30.03	Q
7	–	Ingrid Lempereur	BEL	2:30.07	Q
8	–	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	2:30.60	Q
9	–	Susanne Börnike	GDR	2:30.71	q
10	–	Svetlana Kuzmina	URS	2:30.93	q
11	–	Linda Moes	NED	2:31.98	q
12	–	Tracey McFarlane	USA	2:32.11	q
13	–	Annalisa Nisiro	ITA	2:32.77	q
14	–	Brigitte Becue	BEL	2:33.13	q
15	–	Susan Rapp	USA	2:34.21	q
16	–	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	2:34.36	q
17	–	Britta Dahm	FRG	2:35.06
18	–	Silvia Parera	ESP	2:35.57
19	–	Yoshie Nishioka	JPN	2:35.81
20	–	Suki Brownsdon	GBR	2:36.14
21	–	Kornelia Stawicka	POL	2:36.86
22	–	Virginie Bojaryn	FRA	2:37.38
23	–	Hiroko Nagasaki	JPN	2:37.44
24	–	Karen Horning	PER	2:37.84
25	–	Pia Sørensen	DEN	2:38.49
26	–	Pascaline Louvrier	FRA	2:38.75
27	–	Ragnheiður Runólfsdóttir	ISL	2:39.10
28	–	Dorota Chylak	POL	2:39.38
29	–	Park Seong-Won	KOR	2:39.40
30	–	Lara Hooiveld	AUS	2:39.97
31	–	Nancy Arendt	LUX	2:40.78
32	–	Anamarija Petričević	YUG	2:40.80
33	–	Helen Frank	GBR	2:41.12
34	–	Heike Esser	FRG	2:41.34
35	–	Seto Car-Wai	TPE	2:42.31
36	–	Patricia Brülhart	SUI	2:42.82
37	–	Montserrat Hidalgo	CRC	2:44.72
38	–	Sigrid Niehaus	CRC	2:45.35
39	–	Alicia María Boscatto	ARG	2:45.80
40	–	Chen Huiling	CHN	2:45.87
41	–	Kim Chen	TPE	2:50.84
42	–	Dipika Chanmugam	SRI	2:51.60
DQ	–	Valentina Aracil	ARG	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Seto Car-Wai	TPE	2:42.31	36.53 (1)	1:17.45 (1)	1:59.52 (1)	40.92 (1)	42.07 (1)	42.79 (1)
2	–	Montserrat Hidalgo	CRC	2:44.72	37.33 (2)	1:19.09 (2)	2:01.49 (2)	41.76 (2)	42.40 (2)	43.23 (2)
3	–	Dipika Chanmugam	SRI	2:51.60	38.37 (3)	1:21.41 (3)	2:06.24 (3)	43.04 (3)	44.83 (3)	45.36 (3)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Karen Horning	PER	2:37.84	36.86 (6)	1:16.73 (2)	1:56.71 (2)	39.87 (1)	39.98 (2)	41.13 (1)
2	–	Park Seong-Won	KOR	2:39.40	36.23 (1)	1:16.62 (1)	1:56.57 (1)	40.39 (2)	39.95 (1)	42.83 (4)
3	–	Nancy Arendt	LUX	2:40.78	36.68 (3)	1:17.43 (4)	1:58.92 (4)	40.75 (4)	41.49 (3)	41.86 (3)
4	–	Helen Frank	GBR	2:41.12	36.74 (4)	1:17.84 (6)	1:59.35 (5)	41.10 (6)	41.51 (4)	41.77 (2)
5	–	Patricia Brülhart	SUI	2:42.82	36.58 (2)	1:17.06 (3)	1:58.81 (3)	40.48 (3)	41.75 (5)	44.01 (5)
6	–	Sigrid Niehaus	CRC	2:45.35	36.79 (5)	1:17.82 (5)	2:00.95 (6)	41.03 (5)	43.13 (6)	44.40 (6)
7	–	Kim Chen	TPE	2:50.84	38.59 (7)	1:21.61 (7)	2:05.72 (7)	43.02 (7)	44.11 (7)	45.12 (7)
DQ	–	Valentina Aracil	ARG	–	– (–)	– (–)	– (–)	–	–	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Brigitte Becue	BEL	2:33.13	35.09 (2)	1:14.56 (1)	1:54.33 (1)	39.47 (1)	39.77 (2)	38.80 (1)	q
2	–	Silvia Parera	ESP	2:35.57	35.81 (6)	1:15.29 (3)	1:54.98 (2)	39.48 (2)	39.69 (1)	40.59 (2)
3	–	Ragnheiður Runólfsdóttir	ISL	2:39.10	35.28 (5)	1:15.68 (5)	1:57.40 (4)	40.40 (4)	41.72 (5)	41.70 (3)
4	–	Dorota Chylak	POL	2:39.38	35.25 (4)	1:15.13 (2)	1:56.79 (3)	39.88 (3)	41.66 (3)	42.59 (6)
5	–	Lara Hooiveld	AUS	2:39.97	34.72 (1)	1:15.49 (4)	1:57.75 (5)	40.77 (6)	42.26 (6)	42.22 (5)
6	–	Anamarija Petričević	YUG	2:40.80	36.57 (7)	1:17.02 (7)	1:58.71 (6)	40.45 (5)	41.69 (4)	42.09 (4)
7	–	Alicia María Boscatto	ARG	2:45.80	37.26 (8)	1:18.63 (8)	2:01.84 (8)	41.37 (8)	43.21 (7)	43.96 (7)
8	–	Chen Huiling	CHN	2:45.87	35.13 (3)	1:16.31 (6)	2:00.32 (7)	41.18 (7)	44.01 (8)	45.55 (8)

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Antoaneta Frenkeva	BUL	2:29.57	33.18 (1)	1:10.20 (1)	1:48.86 (1)	37.02 (1)	38.66 (2)	40.71 (6)	Q
2	–	Ingrid Lempereur	BEL	2:30.07	34.89 (4)	1:13.46 (3)	1:52.17 (4)	38.57 (3)	38.71 (3)	37.90 (1)	Q
3	–	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	2:30.60	35.38 (7)	1:14.01 (6)	1:51.61 (2)	38.63 (4)	37.60 (1)	38.99 (2)	Q
4	–	Svetlana Kuzmina	URS	2:30.93	34.15 (2)	1:12.33 (2)	1:51.74 (3)	38.18 (2)	39.41 (5)	39.19 (3)	q
5	–	Annalisa Nisiro	ITA	2:32.77	34.84 (3)	1:13.99 (5)	1:53.25 (5)	39.15 (6)	39.26 (4)	39.52 (4)	q
6	–	Britta Dahm	FRG	2:35.06	35.09 (5)	1:13.96 (4)	1:54.10 (6)	38.87 (5)	40.14 (6)	40.96 (7)
7	–	Suki Brownsdon	GBR	2:36.14	35.20 (6)	1:15.24 (8)	1:55.53 (7)	40.04 (8)	40.29 (7)	40.61 (5)
8	–	Pascaline Louvrier	FRA	2:38.75	35.62 (8)	1:15.21 (7)	1:55.84 (8)	39.59 (7)	40.63 (8)	42.91 (8)

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Yuliya Bogachova	URS	2:28.94	34.85 (5)	1:13.04 (4)	1:51.05 (3)	38.19 (2)	38.01 (1)	37.89 (1)	QOR
2	–	Tanya Dangalakova	BUL	2:29.91	33.73 (2)	1:12.21 (2)	1:50.89 (2)	38.48 (4)	38.68 (2)	39.02 (2)	Q
3	–	Huang Xiaomin	CHN	2:30.03	33.65 (1)	1:11.48 (1)	1:50.48 (1)	37.83 (1)	39.00 (3)	39.55 (4)	Q
4	–	Linda Moes	NED	2:31.98	34.58 (4)	1:13.19 (5)	1:52.60 (4)	38.61 (5)	39.41 (4)	39.38 (3)	q
5	–	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	2:34.36	34.53 (3)	1:12.99 (3)	1:53.54 (5)	38.46 (3)	40.55 (6)	40.82 (6)	q
6	–	Kornelia Stawicka	POL	2:36.86	37.21 (8)	1:17.02 (8)	1:56.92 (8)	39.81 (8)	39.90 (5)	39.94 (5)
7	–	Hiroko Nagasaki	JPN	2:37.44	35.44 (6)	1:14.94 (7)	1:55.76 (7)	39.50 (7)	40.82 (8)	41.68 (7)
8	–	Pia Sørensen	DEN	2:38.49	35.51 (7)	1:14.90 (6)	1:55.70 (6)	39.39 (6)	40.80 (7)	42.79 (8)

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Silke Hörner	GDR	2:27.63	33.10 (1)	1:10.46 (1)	1:48.37 (1)	37.36 (1)	37.91 (1)	39.26 (2)	QOR
2	–	Allison Higson	CAN	2:29.67	33.53 (2)	1:11.35 (2)	1:50.10 (2)	37.82 (3)	38.75 (2)	39.57 (5)	Q
3	–	Susanne Börnike	GDR	2:30.71	34.87 (5)	1:12.55 (3)	1:51.54 (3)	37.68 (2)	38.99 (3)	39.17 (1)	q
4	–	Tracey McFarlane	USA	2:32.11	34.44 (3)	1:13.33 (5)	1:52.63 (4)	38.89 (5)	39.30 (4)	39.48 (3)	q
5	–	Susan Rapp	USA	2:34.21	34.86 (4)	1:13.24 (4)	1:52.89 (5)	38.38 (4)	39.65 (5)	41.32 (6)	q
6	–	Yoshie Nishioka	JPN	2:35.81	36.13 (7)	1:15.56 (7)	1:56.27 (7)	39.43 (7)	40.71 (6)	39.54 (4)
7	–	Virginie Bojaryn	FRA	2:37.38	35.29 (6)	1:14.49 (6)	1:55.42 (6)	39.20 (6)	40.93 (7)	41.96 (7)
8	–	Heike Esser	FRG	2:41.34	36.37 (8)	1:16.19 (8)	1:57.92 (8)	39.82 (8)	41.73 (8)	43.42 (8)

B Final

Date	21 September 1988 — 12:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Susanne Börnike	GDR	2:28.55	33.98 (1)	1:11.26 (1)	1:49.77 (1)	37.28 (1)	38.51 (3)	38.78 (4)
2	–	Svetlana Kuzmina	URS	2:30.03	35.35 (5)	1:13.85 (5)	1:51.93 (3)	38.50 (3)	38.08 (1)	38.10 (1)
3	–	Linda Moes	NED	2:30.83	35.00 (3)	1:13.00 (2)	1:51.60 (2)	38.00 (2)	38.60 (4)	39.23 (5)
4	–	Annalisa Nisiro	ITA	2:31.19	35.58 (7)	1:14.21 (6)	1:52.60 (4)	38.63 (5)	38.39 (2)	38.59 (3)
5	–	Susan Rapp	USA	2:32.90	35.12 (4)	1:13.73 (4)	1:52.94 (5)	38.61 (4)	39.21 (5)	39.96 (7)
6	–	Tracey McFarlane	USA	2:33.46	34.62 (2)	1:13.37 (3)	1:53.05 (6)	38.75 (6)	39.68 (8)	40.41 (8)
7	–	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	2:33.55	35.39 (6)	1:14.47 (7)	1:53.98 (7)	39.08 (7)	39.51 (7)	39.57 (6)
8	–	Brigitte Becue	BEL	2:34.10	36.59 (8)	1:16.65 (8)	1:55.89 (8)	40.06 (8)	39.24 (6)	38.21 (2)

Final Round

Date	21 September 1988 — 12:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time	50 m	100 m	150 m	50-100 m Time (Rank)	100-150 m Time (Rank)	150-200 m Time (Rank)
1	–	Silke Hörner	GDR	2:26.71	32.88 (3)	1:10.24 (3)	1:47.38 (1)	37.36 (4)	37.14 (1)	39.33 (5)	WR
2	–	Huang Xiaomin	CHN	2:27.49	34.00 (5)	1:11.41 (5)	1:49.22 (5)	37.41 (5)	37.81 (3)	38.27 (2)
3	–	Antoaneta Frenkeva	BUL	2:28.34	33.16 (4)	1:10.32 (4)	1:48.83 (4)	37.16 (2)	38.51 (6)	39.51 (6)
4	–	Tanya Dangalakova	BUL	2:28.43	32.26 (1)	1:09.22 (1)	1:47.48 (2)	36.96 (1)	38.26 (5)	40.95 (7)
5	–	Yuliya Bogachova	URS	2:28.54	34.44 (6)	1:12.44 (6)	1:49.98 (6)	38.00 (7)	37.54 (2)	38.56 (3)
6	–	Ingrid Lempereur	BEL	2:29.42	34.79 (7)	1:13.39 (8)	1:52.02 (8)	38.60 (8)	38.63 (7)	37.40 (1)
7	–	Allison Higson	CAN	2:29.60	32.71 (2)	1:09.91 (2)	1:48.56 (3)	37.20 (3)	38.65 (8)	41.04 (8)
8	–	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	2:29.86	35.07 (8)	1:12.90 (7)	1:50.79 (7)	37.83 (6)	37.89 (4)	39.07 (4)