# Swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke

The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 25 to 27 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-third consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1924. An unusual occurrence happened where the Olympic record for this event was broken three times in a single day and five times through the course of the entire competition.

## Summary

Australia's world record holder Kaylee McKeown broke the Olympic record to win her first individual Olympic title in 57.47, just 0.02 seconds off her world record. Third at the turn, McKeown used a blistering back half to overtake the field and become Australia's first Olympic champion in this event. While Canada's defending Bronze medallist Kylie Masse led at the halfway mark, she could not withstand McKeown's late charge, touching for silver in 57.72 - only 0.02 seconds off her national record. U.S.' previous world record holder Regan Smith was unable to replicate her time from the heats and semi-finals, settling for bronze in 58.05. Though Smith's teammate Rhyan White (58.43) was second at the turn, she would fade over the final 50 m to take fourth place. Australia's Emily Seebohm (58.45), the 2012 silver medallist, was out-touched by 0.02 seconds to finish fifth.
Meanwhile, Great Britain's Kathleen Dawson could not repeat her stunning 58.01 swim from the European Championships months earlier, placing sixth. Dutch record holder Kira Toussaint also missed her national record from the Eindhoven Qualification Meet to take sixth. Israel's Anastasia Gorbenko came eight in 59.90, missing her personal best time from the semi-finals by 6 tenths of a second.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Kaylee McKeown (AUS) | 57.45 | Adelaide, Australia | 13 June 2021 |
| Olympic record | Emily Seebohm (AUS) | 58.23 | London, United Kingdom | 29 July 2012 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
| July 25 | Heat 4 | Kylie Masse | Canada | 58.17 | OR |
| July 25 | Heat 5 | Regan Smith | United States | 57.96 | OR |
| July 25 | Heat 6 | Kaylee McKeown | Australia | 57.88 | OR |
| July 26 | Semifinal 1 | Regan Smith | United States | 57.86 | OR |
| July 27 | Final | Kaylee McKeown | Australia | 57.47 | OR |

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event was 1:00.25. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) could automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time was 1:02.06. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time was eligible for selection, allocated by world ranking until the maximum quota for all swimming events is reached. NOCs without a female swimmer qualified in any event could also use their universality place.

## Competition format

The competition consisted of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advanced to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advanced to the final.

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Date | Time | Round |
| 25 July 2021 | 19:00 | Heats |
| 26 July 2021 | 11:53 | Semifinals |
| 27 July 2021 | 10:51 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The swimmers with the top 16 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | 4 | Kaylee McKeown | Australia | 57.88 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 5 | 4 | Regan Smith | United States | 57.96 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | 4 | Kylie Masse | Canada | 58.17 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | 5 | Kathleen Dawson | Great Britain | 58.69 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | 3 | Emily Seebohm | Australia | 58.86 | Q |
| 6 | 5 | 5 | Rhyan White | United States | 59.02 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 3 | Kira Toussaint | Netherlands | 59.21 | Q |
| 8 | 4 | 3 | Margherita Panziera | Italy | 59.74 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 1 | Peng Xuwei | China | 59.78 | Q |
| 10 | 5 | 6 | Maria Kameneva | ROC | 59.88 | Q |
| 11 | 4 | 5 | Taylor Ruck | Canada | 59.89 | Q |
| 12 | 4 | 7 | Anastasia Gorbenko | Israel | 59.90 | Q |
| 13 | 4 | 6 | Anastasia Fesikova | ROC | 59.92 | Q |
| 14 | 6 | 2 | Cassie Wild | Great Britain | 59.99 | Q |
| 15 | 5 | 7 | Maaike de Waard | Netherlands | 1:00.03 | Q |
| 16 | 4 | 1 | Anna Konishi | Japan | 1:00.04 | Q |
| 17 | 3 | 2 | Mimosa Jallow | Finland | 1:00.06 | NR |
| 18 | 5 | 8 | Katalin Burián | Hungary | 1:00.07 | |
| 18 | 6 | 8 | Ingeborg Løyning | Norway | 1:00.07 | |
| 20 | 4 | 8 | Lee Eun-ji | South Korea | 1:00.14 | |
| 21 | 5 | 2 | Michelle Coleman | Sweden | 1:00.54 | |
| 22 | 6 | 7 | Chen Jie | China | 1:00.63 | |
| 23 | 3 | 5 | Béryl Gastaldello | France | 1:00.69 | |
| 24 | 6 | 1 | Laura Riedemann | Germany | 1:00.81 | |
| 25 | 3 | 3 | Danielle Hill | Ireland | 1:00.86 | |
| 26 | 3 | 6 | Stephanie Au | Hong Kong | 1:01.07 | |
| 27 | 4 | 2 | Simona Kubová | Czech Republic | 1:01.35 | |
| 28 | 2 | 5 | Tatiana Salcuțan | Moldova | 1:01.59 | |
| 29 | 3 | 8 | Lena Grabowski | Austria | 1:01.80 | |
| 30 | 3 | 1 | Daryna Zevina | Ukraine | 1:01.97 | |
| 31 | 2 | 7 | McKenna DeBever | Peru | 1:02.09 | NR |
| 32 | 3 | 7 | Isabella Arcila | Colombia | 1:02.28 | |
| 33 | 2 | 4 | Ali Galyer | New Zealand | 1:02.65 | |
| 34 | 1 | 5 | Donata Katai | Zimbabwe | 1:02.73 | |
| 35 | 2 | 6 | Krystal Lara | Dominican Republic | 1:03.07 | |
| 36 | 2 | 3 | Celina Márquez | El Salvador | 1:03.75 | |
| 37 | 2 | 1 | Danielle Titus | Barbados | 1:04.53 | |
| 38 | 2 | 2 | Felicity Passon | Seychelles | 1:04.66 | |
| 39 | 1 | 4 | Maana Patel | India | 1:05.20 | |
| 40 | 2 | 8 | Diana Nazarova | Kazakhstan | 1:06.99 | |
| 41 | 1 | 3 | Kimberly Ince | Grenada | 1:10.24 | |
| — | 3 | 4 | Louise Hansson | Sweden | DNS | |
| — | 6 | 6 | Anastasiya Shkurdai | Belarus | DNS | |

### Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Regan Smith | United States | 57.86 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 2 | 5 | Kylie Masse | Canada | 58.09 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 4 | Kaylee McKeown | Australia | 58.11 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | Rhyan White | United States | 58.46 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | Kathleen Dawson | Great Britain | 58.56 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 3 | Emily Seebohm | Australia | 58.59 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 6 | Kira Toussaint | Netherlands | 59.09 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 7 | Anastasia Gorbenko | Israel | 59.30 | Q, NR |
| 9 | 2 | 7 | Taylor Ruck | Canada | 59.45 | |
| 10 | 1 | 2 | Maria Kameneva | ROC | 59.49 | |
| 11 | 1 | 6 | Margherita Panziera | Italy | 59.75 | |
| 12 | 2 | 2 | Peng Xuwei | China | 59.98 | |
| 13 | 1 | 8 | Anna Konishi | Japan | 1:00.07 | |
| 14 | 1 | 1 | Cassie Wild | Great Britain | 1:00.20 | |
| 14 | 2 | 1 | Anastasia Fesikova | ROC | 1:00.20 | |
| 16 | 2 | 8 | Maaike de Waard | Netherlands | 1:00.49 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 3 | Kaylee McKeown | Australia | 57.47 | OR |
| | 5 | Kylie Masse | Canada | 57.72 | |
| | 4 | Regan Smith | United States | 58.05 | |
| 4 | 6 | Rhyan White | United States | 58.43 | |
| 5 | 7 | Emily Seebohm | Australia | 58.45 | |
| 6 | 2 | Kathleen Dawson | Great Britain | 58.70 | |
| 7 | 1 | Kira Toussaint | Netherlands | 59.11 | |
| 8 | 8 | Anastasia Gorbenko | Israel | 59.53 | |