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

The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held from 28 to 30 July 2021 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It was the event's twenty-fifth consecutive appearance, having been held at every edition since 1912.

## Summary

Australia's Emma McKeon became only the second woman to break the 52 second threshold in the event, setting a new Olympic and Oceanian record of 51.96. With the victory, McKeon won her first individual Olympic title and Australia's first in the event since Jodie Henry in 2004.
Though first at the 50, Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey was overtaken by McKeon down the stretch but still won her second silver medal at these Games with an Asian record of 52.27. Australia's Cate Campbell, the resounding favourite for gold in 2016, had a comeback performance to take the bronze medal in 52.52. By joining teammate McKeon on the podium, the pair's 1-3 finish marked the first time two Australians placed on the podium in this event since the country's medal sweep in Melbourne 1956.
One of two defending champions Penny Oleksiak of Canada finished narrowly behind Campbell in a Canadian record of 52.57. Sweden's world-record holder and 2016 bronze medallist Sarah Sjöström was last at the 50 but managed to touch in 52.68 for fifth. Femke Heemskerk (52.79) clocked a new Dutch record to come sixth while Great Britain's Anna Hopkin (52.83) and the U.S.'s Abbey Weitzeil (53.23) rounded out the finalists.
The medals for the competition were presented by Sweden's Gunilla Lindberg, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Uruguay's Julio Maglione, former FINA President.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Sarah Sjöström (SWE) | 51.71 | Budapest, Hungary | 23 July 2017 |
| Olympic record | Simone Manuel (USA) Penny Oleksiak (CAN) | 52.70 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 11 August 2016 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Record |
| July 25 | Final* | Sarah Sjöström | Sweden | 52.62 | OR |
| July 28 | Heat 6 | Emma McKeon | Australia | 52.13 | OR |
| July 30 | Final | Emma McKeon | Australia | 51.96 | OR |
* Split from the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay

## Qualification

The Olympic Qualifying Time for the event is 54.38 seconds. Up to two swimmers per National Olympic Committee (NOC) can automatically qualify by swimming that time at an approved qualification event. The Olympic Selection Time is 56.01 seconds. Up to one swimmer per NOC meeting that time is 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 can also use their universality place.

## Competition format

The competition consists of three rounds: heats, semifinals, and a final. The swimmers with the best 16 times in the heats advance to the semifinals. The swimmers with the best 8 times in the semifinals advance to the final. Swim-offs are used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
| Date | Time | Round |
| 28 July 2021 | 19:00 | Heats |
| 29 July 2021 | 10:53 | Semifinals |
| 30 July 2021 | 10:59 | 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 | Emma McKeon | Australia | 52.13 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 6 | 5 | Siobhán Haughey | Hong Kong | 52.70 | Q, AS |
| 3 | 6 | 6 | Anna Hopkin | Great Britain | 52.75 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 7 | 4 | Cate Campbell | Australia | 52.80 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | 4 | Sarah Sjöström | Sweden | 52.91 | Q |
| 6 | 7 | 5 | Penny Oleksiak | Canada | 52.95 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 2 | Pernille Blume | Denmark | 52.96 | Q |
| 8 | 7 | 6 | Yang Junxuan | China | 53.02 | Q, WD |
| 9 | 5 | 5 | Femke Heemskerk | Netherlands | 53.10 | Q |
| 10 | 7 | 1 | Kayla Sanchez | Canada | 53.12 | Q, WD |
| 11 | 5 | 3 | Abbey Weitzeil | United States | 53.21 | Q |
| 12 | 7 | 3 | Michelle Coleman | Sweden | 53.53 | Q |
| 13 | 5 | 1 | Signe Bro | Denmark | 53.54 | Q |
| 14 | 7 | 2 | Freya Anderson | Great Britain | 53.61 | Q |
| 15 | 5 | 6 | Charlotte Bonnet | France | 53.67 | Q |
| 16 | 6 | 2 | Marie Wattel | France | 53.71 | QSO |
| 16 | 6 | 3 | Ranomi Kromowidjojo | Netherlands | 53.71 | QSO, WD |
| 18 | 6 | 7 | Erika Brown | United States | 53.87 | QSO |
| 18 | 7 | 8 | Wu Qingfeng | China | 53.87 | QSO |
| 20 | 5 | 7 | Maria Kameneva | ROC | 53.92 | |
| 21 | 6 | 1 | Barbora Seemanová | Czech Republic | 53.98 | |
| 22 | 6 | 8 | Andrea Murez | Israel | 54.06 | NR |
| 23 | 4 | 8 | Fanny Teijonsalo | Finland | 54.69 | |
| 24 | 5 | 8 | Janja Šegel | Slovenia | 54.73 | |
| 25 | 4 | 5 | Erin Gallagher | South Africa | 54.75 | |
| 26 | 4 | 7 | Maria Ugolkova | Switzerland | 54.86 | |
| 27 | 4 | 4 | Lidón Muñoz | Spain | 54.97 | |
| 28 | 4 | 3 | Anastasiya Shkurdai | Belarus | 55.17 | |
| 29 | 3 | 4 | Kalia Antoniou | Cyprus | 55.38 | |
| 30 | 4 | 6 | Larissa Oliveira | Brazil | 55.53 | |
| 31 | 3 | 6 | Anicka Delgado | Ecuador | 55.56 | NR |
| 32 | 4 | 2 | Julie Meynen | Luxembourg | 55.69 | |
| 33 | 3 | 5 | Farida Osman | Egypt | 55.74 | |
| 34 | 3 | 7 | Snæfríður Jórunnardóttir | Iceland | 56.15 | |
| 35 | 3 | 1 | Bianca Costea | Romania | 56.35 | |
| 36 | 4 | 1 | Quah Ting Wen | Singapore | 56.36 | |
| 37 | 3 | 3 | Ieva Maļuka | Latvia | 56.39 | |
| 38 | 3 | 2 | Miriam Sheehan | Puerto Rico | 56.64 | |
| 39 | 3 | 8 | Amel Melih | Algeria | 56.65 | |
| 40 | 2 | 4 | Mia Blaževska Eminova | North Macedonia | 57.19 | |
| 41 | 2 | 3 | Jillian Crooks | Cayman Islands | 57.32 | NR |
| 42 | 2 | 5 | Jenjira Srisa-Ard | Thailand | 57.42 | |
| 43 | 2 | 7 | Maria Schutzmeier | Nicaragua | 57.94 | NR |
| 44 | 2 | 1 | Colleen Furgeson | Marshall Islands | 58.71 | |
| 45 | 2 | 2 | Varsenik Manucharyan | Armenia | 59.18 | |
| 46 | 2 | 6 | Jeanne Boutbien | Senegal | 59.27 | |
| 47 | 2 | 8 | Catarina Sousa | Angola | 59.35 | |
| 48 | 1 | 3 | Abiola Ogunbanwo | Nigeria | 59.74 | NR |
| 49 | 1 | 4 | Andela Antunović | Montenegro | 1:00.01 | |
| 50 | 1 | 5 | Gaurika Singh | Nepal | 1:00.11 | |
| 51 | 1 | 6 | Mineri Gomez | Guam | 1:04.00 | |
| | 7 | 7 | Federica Pellegrini | Italy | DNS | |

#### Swim-off

| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Erika Brown | United States | 53.51 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Wu Qingfeng | China | 54.47 | Q |

### Semifinals

The swimmers with the best 8 times, regardless of heat, advanced to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | Emma McKeon | Australia | 52.32 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | Siobhán Haughey | Hong Kong | 52.40 | Q, AS |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Cate Campbell | Australia | 52.71 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 3 | Sarah Sjöström | Sweden | 52.82 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | 3 | Penny Oleksiak | Canada | 52.86 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | 6 | Femke Heemskerk | Netherlands | 52.93 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | Abbey Weitzeil | United States | 52.99 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | 5 | Anna Hopkin | Great Britain | 53.11 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 1 | Marie Wattel | France | 53.12 | |
| 10 | 2 | 6 | Pernille Blume | Denmark | 53.26 | |
| 11 | 1 | 7 | Freya Anderson | Great Britain | 53.53 | |
| 12 | 2 | 7 | Signe Bro | Denmark | 53.55 | |
| 13 | 2 | 8 | Erika Brown | United States | 53.58 | |
| 14 | 1 | 2 | Michelle Coleman | Sweden | 53.73 | |
| 15 | 2 | 1 | Charlotte Bonnet | France | 54.10 | |
| 16 | 1 | 8 | Wu Qingfeng | China | 54.86 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Emma McKeon | Australia | 51.96 | OR, OC |
| | 5 | Siobhán Haughey | Hong Kong | 52.27 | AS |
| | 3 | Cate Campbell | Australia | 52.52 | |
| 4 | 2 | Penny Oleksiak | Canada | 52.59 | NR |
| 5 | 6 | Sarah Sjöström | Sweden | 52.68 | |
| 6 | 7 | Femke Heemskerk | Netherlands | 52.79 | |
| 7 | 8 | Anna Hopkin | Great Britain | 52.83 | |
| 8 | 1 | Abbey Weitzeil | United States | 53.23 | |