| Date | 26 July 1992 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscinas Bernat Picornell, Barcelona |
| Participants | 48 from 34 countries |
Australians had held the world record in this event from 1956-73, and East German swimmers then took over, setting multiple records from 1973-92, with the current mark as the Olympic year started being 54.73, set by Kristin Otto at the 1986 World Championships. At the US Olympic Trials Jenny Thompson swam 54.48 in the preliminaries to better Otto’s mark. She was favored in Barcelona, although her teammate, Nicole Haislett, 1991 World Champion and runner-up at 1991 Pan Pacs, was expected to be her biggest competition.
In the final, China’s Zhuang Yong surprisingly led Thompson at the turn, 26.46 to 26.54. But Thompson’s strong finish never came and Zhuang held on to win the gold medal, Thompson later saying, “I just choked hard coming home and I don’t know why.”
This was the first individual Olympic medal for Thompson, who would compete at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics, finishing her career with 12 Olympic medals, eight of them gold. But an individual gold medal would always elude her. Third-place in this event would go to German Franziska van Almsick, also beginning an Olympic career that would last through 2004. Van Almsick would win 10 Olympic medals, but like Thompson she would be frustrated, in her case never managing any Olympic gold.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | B Final | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 123 | Zhuang Yong |  CHN | 55.78 (1 h4) | – | 54.64 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 635 | Jenny Thompson |  USA | 54.69 (1 h6) | – | 54.84 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 292 | Franziska van Almsick |  GER | 55.40 (2 h6) | – | 54.94 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 610 | Nicole Haislett | USA | 55.67 (1 h5) | – | 55.19 (4) | |||
| 5 | 231 | Catherine Plewinski |  FRA | 55.44 (3 h6) | – | 55.72 (5) | |||
| 6 | 110 | Le Jingyi | CHN | 55.87 (4 h6) | – | 55.89 (6) | |||
| 7 | 281 | Simone Osygus | GER | 55.98 (2 h5) | – | 55.93 (7) | |||
| 8 | 442 | Karin Brienesse |  NED | 55.98 (2 h4) | – | 56.59 (8) | |||
| 9 | 379 | Suzu Chiba |  JPN | 56.26 (3 h5) | 55.97 (1) | – | |||
| 10 | 510 | Luminița Dobrescu |  ROU | 56.45 (4 h5) | 56.17 (2) | – | |||
| 11 | 170 | Yelena Shubina |  EUN | 56.31 (5 h6) | 56.19 (3) | – | |||
| 12 | 131 | Gitta Jensen |  DEN | 56.47 (6 h6) | 56.59 (4) | – | |||
| 13 | 448 | Mildred Muis | NED | 56.67 (3 h4) | 56.64 (5) | – | |||
| 14 | 172 | Yevgeniya Yermakova | EUN | 56.67 (6 h5) | 56.66 (6) | – | |||
| 15 | 30 | Susie O'Neill |  AUS | 56.58 (5 h5) | 56.68 (7) | – | |||
| 16 | 98 | Andrea Nugent |  CAN | 56.82 (7 h5) | 56.91 (8) | – | |||
| 17 | 257 | Karen Pickering |  GBR | 57.17 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 18 | 583 | Martina Moravcová |  TCH | 57.19 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 19 | 570 | Eva Nyberg |  SWE | 57.36 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 20 | 525 | Marianne Kriel |  RSA | 57.50 (1 h3) | – | – | |||
| 21 | 151 | Claudia Franco |  ESP | 57.57 (2 h3) | – | – | |||
| 22 | 397 | Ayako Nakano | JPN | 57.71 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 573 | Ellenor Svensson | SWE | 58.03 (8 h6) | – | – | |||
| 24 | 206 | Minna Salmela |  FIN | 58.04 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 25 | 91 | Allison Higson | CAN | 58.47 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 26 | 158 | Natalia Pulido | ESP | 58.54 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 27 | 133 | Mette Nørskov Nielsen | DEN | 58.67 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 28 | 40 | Karen Van Wirdum | AUS | 58.75 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 29 | 461 | Toni Jeffs |  NZL | 58.80 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 30 | 140 | Rania El-Wani |  EGY | 58.82 (1 h2) | – | – | |||
| =31 | 262 | Alison Sheppard | GBR | 58.83 (=6 h3) | – | – | |||
| =31 | 518 | Diana Ureche | ROU | 58.83 (=6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 33 | 538 | Joscelin Yeo |  SGP | 58.93 (1 h1) | – | – | |||
| 34 | 479 | Akiko Thomson |  PHI | 59.02 (2 h2) | – | – | |||
| 35 | 440 | Monica Dahl |  NAM | 59.05 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 36 | 374 | Ilaria Sciorelli |  ITA | 59.11 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 37 | 315 | Robyn Lamsam |  HKG | 59.26 (2 h1) | – | – | |||
| 38 | 205 | Marja Päivinen | FIN | 59.46 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 39 | 353 | Shelley Cramer |  ISV | 59.99 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 40 | 347 | Helga Sigurðardóttir |  ISL | 1:00.29 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 41 | 494 | Ana Alegria |  POR | 1:00.35 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 42 | 452 | Joshua Ikhaghomi |  NGR | 1:00.72 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 43 | 590 | Ratiporn Wong |  THA | 1:00.85 (8 h2) | – | – | |||
| 44 | 436 | Corinne Leclair |  MRI | 1:00.95 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 45 | 197 | Sharon Pickering |  FIJ | 1:01.42 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 46 | 323 | Ana Fortín |  HON | 1:01.50 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 47 | 61 | Paola Peñarrieta |  BOL | 1:04.08 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 48 | 5 | Elsa Freire |  ANG | 1:05.45 (8 h1) | – | – |
| Date | 26 July 1992 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Joscelin Yeo | SGP | 58.93 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Robyn Lamsam | HKG | 59.26 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Joshua Ikhaghomi | NGR | 1:00.72 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Corinne Leclair | MRI | 1:00.95 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Sharon Pickering | FIJ | 1:01.42 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Ana Fortín | HON | 1:01.50 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Paola Peñarrieta | BOL | 1:04.08 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Elsa Freire | ANG | 1:05.45 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Rania El-Wani | EGY | 58.82 | ||
| 2 | 7 | Akiko Thomson | PHI | 59.02 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Monica Dahl | NAM | 59.05 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Marja Päivinen | FIN | 59.46 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Shelley Cramer | ISV | 59.99 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Helga Sigurðardóttir | ISL | 1:00.29 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Ana Alegria | POR | 1:00.35 | ||
| 8 | 3 | Ratiporn Wong | THA | 1:00.85 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Marianne Kriel | RSA | 57.50 | ||
| 2 | 1 | Claudia Franco | ESP | 57.57 | ||
| 3 | 8 | Minna Salmela | FIN | 58.04 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Natalia Pulido | ESP | 58.54 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Mette Nørskov Nielsen | DEN | 58.67 | ||
| =6 | 4 | Alison Sheppard | GBR | 58.83 | ||
| =6 | 7 | Diana Ureche | ROU | 58.83 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Ilaria Sciorelli | ITA | 59.11 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Zhuang Yong | CHN | 55.78 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Karin Brienesse | NED | 55.98 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Mildred Muis | NED | 56.67 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Karen Pickering | GBR | 57.17 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Eva Nyberg | SWE | 57.36 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Ayako Nakano | JPN | 57.71 | ||
| 7 | 8 | Allison Higson | CAN | 58.47 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Karen Van Wirdum | AUS | 58.75 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Nicole Haislett | USA | 55.67 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Simone Osygus | GER | 55.98 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Suzu Chiba | JPN | 56.26 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Luminița Dobrescu | ROU | 56.45 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Susie O'Neill | AUS | 56.58 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Yevgeniya Yermakova | EUN | 56.67 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Andrea Nugent | CAN | 56.82 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Toni Jeffs | NZL | 58.80 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Jenny Thompson | USA | 54.69 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Franziska van Almsick | GER | 55.40 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Catherine Plewinski | FRA | 55.44 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Le Jingyi | CHN | 55.87 | ||
| 5 | 8 | Yelena Shubina | EUN | 56.31 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Gitta Jensen | DEN | 56.47 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Martina Moravcová | TCH | 57.19 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Ellenor Svensson | SWE | 58.03 |
| Date | 26 July 1992 — 18:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Suzu Chiba | JPN | 55.97 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Luminița Dobrescu | ROU | 56.17 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Yelena Shubina | EUN | 56.19 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Gitta Jensen | DEN | 56.59 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Mildred Muis | NED | 56.64 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Yevgeniya Yermakova | EUN | 56.66 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Susie O'Neill | AUS | 56.68 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Andrea Nugent | CAN | 56.91 |
| Date | 26 July 1992 — 18:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Zhuang Yong | CHN | 54.64 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Jenny Thompson | USA | 54.84 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Franziska van Almsick | GER | 54.94 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Nicole Haislett | USA | 55.19 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Catherine Plewinski | FRA | 55.72 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Le Jingyi | CHN | 55.89 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Simone Osygus | GER | 55.93 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Karin Brienesse | NED | 56.59 |
