# Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre backstroke

The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 25 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Betsy Mitchell (USA) | 2:08.60 | Orlando, United States | 27 June 1986 |
| Olympic record | Rica Reinisch (GDR) | 2:11.77 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 27 July 1980 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 25 September | Heat 4 | Krisztina Egerszegi | Hungary | 2:11.01 | OR |
| 25 September | Heat 5 | Cornelia Sirch | East Germany | 2:10.46 | OR |
| 25 September | Final A | Krisztina Egerszegi | Hungary | 2:09.29 | OR |

## Results
### Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q).
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Cornelia Sirch | East Germany | 2:10.46 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 4 | Krisztina Egerszegi | Hungary | 2:11.01 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Kathrin Zimmermann | East Germany | 2:12.81 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Beth Barr | United States | 2:13.91 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | Andrea Hayes | United States | 2:14.77 | Q |
| 6 | 5 | Nicole Livingstone | Australia | 2:14.81 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | Jolanda de Rover | Netherlands | 2:16.58 | Q |
| 8 | 4 | Svenja Schlicht | West Germany | 2:16.81 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | Karen Lord | Australia | 2:16.94 | q |
| 10 | 4 | Katherine Read | Great Britain | 2:17.22 | q |
| 11 | 3 | Anca Pătrășcoiu | Romania | 2:17.25 | q |
| 12 | 4 | Lorenza Vigarani | Italy | 2:17.35 | q |
| 13 | 5 | Sharon Musson | New Zealand | 2:17.47 | q |
| 14 | 3 | Johanna Larsson | Sweden | 2:18.01 | q |
| 15 | 2 | Lin Li | China | 2:18.11 | q |
| 16 | 5 | Satoko Morishita | Japan | 2:18.74 | q |
| 17 | 5 | Michelle Smith | Ireland | 2:19.50 | |
| 18 | 2 | Aileen Convery | Ireland | 2:19.91 | |
| 19 | 3 | Lori Melien | Canada | 2:20.45 | |
| 20 | 5 | Tomoko Onogi | Japan | 2:21.46 | |
| 21 | 3 | Sylvia Hume | New Zealand | 2:21.55 | |
| 22 | 4 | Helen Slatter | Great Britain | 2:21.66 | |
| 23 | 4 | Wang Bolin | China | 2:21.70 | |
| 24 | 2 | Rita Jean Garay | Puerto Rico | 2:23.73 | |
| 25 | 3 | Christine Magnier | France | 2:24.15 | |
| 26 | 2 | Hong Ji-hee | South Korea | 2:24.58 | |
| 27 | 2 | Eva Gysling | Switzerland | 2:24.61 | |
| 28 | 3 | Katja Ziliox | West Germany | 2:26.25 | |
| 29 | 1 | Ana Joselina Fortin | Honduras | 2:32.13 | |
| 30 | 1 | Tricia Duncan | Virgin Islands | 2:33.97 | |
| 31 | 2 | Wang Chi | Chinese Taipei | 2:36.60 | |
| 32 | 1 | Sharon Pickering | Fiji | 2:36.99 | |
| | 2 | Akiko Thomson | Philippines | DNS | |
| | 3 | Ruth Hochstatter | Austria | DNS | |

### Finals
#### Final B

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 9 | 3 | Anca Pătrășcoiu | Romania | 2:15.75 |
| 10 | 2 | Sharon Musson | New Zealand | 2:16.06 |
| 11 | 1 | Lin Li | China | 2:16.68 |
| 12 | 5 | Katherine Read | Great Britain | 2:18.20 |
| 13 | 6 | Lorenza Vigarani | Italy | 2:18.69 |
| 14 | 4 | Karen Lord | Australia | 2:18.78 |
| 14 | 8 | Satoko Morishita | Japan | 2:18.78 |
| | 7 | Johanna Larsson | Sweden | DSQ |

#### Final A

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 5 | Krisztina Egerszegi | Hungary | 2:09.29 | OR |
| | 3 | Kathrin Zimmermann | East Germany | 2:10.61 | |
| | 4 | Cornelia Sirch | East Germany | 2:11.45 | |
| 4 | 6 | Beth Barr | United States | 2:12.39 | |
| 5 | 7 | Nicole Livingstone | Australia | 2:13.43 | |
| 6 | 2 | Andrea Hayes | United States | 2:15.02 | |
| 7 | 1 | Jolanda de Rover | Netherlands | 2:15.17 | |
| 8 | 8 | Svenja Schlicht | West Germany | 2:15.94 | |