# Swimming at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle

The Women's 100 Metre Freestyle event at the 1992 Summer Olympics took place on 26 July at the Piscines Bernat Picornell in Barcelona, Spain.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Jenny Thompson (USA) | 54.48 | Indianapolis, United States | 1 March 1992 |
| Olympic record | Barbara Krause (GDR) | 54.79 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 21 July 1980 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 26 July | Heat 6 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 54.69 | OR |
| 26 July | Final A | Zhuang Yong | China | 54.64 | OR |

## Results
### Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q).
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | 4 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 54.69 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 6 | 5 | Franziska van Almsick | Germany | 55.40 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | 6 | Catherine Plewinski | France | 55.44 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | 4 | Nicole Haislett | United States | 55.67 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | 4 | Zhuang Yong | China | 55.78 | Q |
| 6 | 6 | 2 | Le Jingyi | China | 55.87 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | 5 | Karin Brienesse | Netherlands | 55.98 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 3 | Simone Osygus | Germany | 55.98 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 6 | Suzu Chiba | Japan | 56.26 | q, NR |
| 10 | 6 | 8 | Yelena Shubina | Unified Team | 56.31 | q |
| 11 | 5 | 7 | Luminița Dobrescu | Romania | 56.45 | q |
| 12 | 6 | 3 | Gitta Jensen | Denmark | 56.47 | q |
| 13 | 5 | 5 | Susie O'Neill | Australia | 56.58 | q |
| 14 | 4 | 6 | Mildred Muis | Netherlands | 56.67 | q |
| 14 | 5 | 1 | Yevgeniya Yermakova | Unified Team | 56.67 | q |
| 16 | 5 | 2 | Andrea Nugent | Canada | 56.82 | q |
| 17 | 4 | 3 | Karen Pickering | Great Britain | 57.17 | |
| 18 | 6 | 7 | Martina Moravcová | Czechoslovakia | 57.19 | |
| 19 | 4 | 1 | Eva Nyberg | Sweden | 57.36 | |
| 20 | 3 | 5 | Marianne Kriel | South Africa | 57.50 | |
| 21 | 3 | 1 | Claudia Franco | Spain | 57.57 | |
| 22 | 4 | 7 | Ayako Nakano | Japan | 57.71 | |
| 23 | 6 | 1 | Ellenor Svensson | Sweden | 58.03 | |
| 24 | 3 | 8 | Minna Salmela | Finland | 58.04 | NR |
| 25 | 4 | 8 | Allison Higson | Canada | 58.47 | |
| 26 | 3 | 2 | Natalia Pulido | Spain | 58.54 | |
| 27 | 3 | 3 | Mette Nielsen | Denmark | 58.67 | |
| 28 | 4 | 2 | Karen van Wirdum | Australia | 58.75 | |
| 29 | 5 | 8 | Toni Jeffs | New Zealand | 58.80 | |
| 30 | 2 | 5 | Rania Elwani | Egypt | 58.82 | |
| 31 | 3 | 4 | Alison Sheppard | Great Britain | 58.83 | |
| 31 | 3 | 7 | Diana Ureche | Romania | 58.83 | |
| 33 | 1 | 5 | Joscelin Yeo | Singapore | 58.93 | |
| 34 | 2 | 7 | Akiko Thomson | Philippines | 59.02 | |
| 35 | 2 | 4 | Monica Dahl | Namibia | 59.05 | |
| 36 | 3 | 6 | Ilaria Sciorelli | Italy | 59.11 | |
| 37 | 1 | 4 | Robyn Lamsam | Hong Kong | 59.26 | |
| 38 | 2 | 8 | Marja Pärssinen | Finland | 59.46 | |
| 39 | 2 | 7 | Shelley Cramer | Virgin Islands | 59.99 | NR |
| 40 | 2 | 2 | Helga Sigurðardóttir | Iceland | 1:00.29 | |
| 41 | 2 | 1 | Ana Alegria | Portugal | 1:00.35 | |
| 42 | 1 | 2 | Joshua Ikhaghomi | Nigeria | 1:00.72 | |
| 43 | 2 | 3 | Ratiporn Wong | Thailand | 1:00.85 | |
| 44 | 1 | 6 | Corinne Leclair | Mauritius | 1:00.95 | |
| 45 | 1 | 7 | Sharon Pickering | Fiji | 1:01.42 | |
| 46 | 1 | 3 | Ana Joselina Fortin | Honduras | 1:01.50 | |
| 47 | 1 | 1 | Paola Peñarrieta | Bolivia | 1:04.08 | |
| 48 | 1 | 8 | Elsa Freire | Angola | 1:05.45 | |

### Finals
#### Final B

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 9 | 4 | Suzu Chiba | Japan | 55.97 | NR |
| 10 | 3 | Luminița Dobrescu | Romania | 56.17 | |
| 11 | 5 | Yelena Shubina | Unified Team | 56.19 | |
| 12 | 6 | Gitta Jensen | Denmark | 56.59 | |
| 13 | 7 | Mildred Muis | Netherlands | 56.64 | |
| 14 | 1 | Yevgeniya Yermakova | Unified Team | 56.66 | |
| 15 | 2 | Susie O'Neill | Australia | 56.68 | |
| 16 | 8 | Andrea Nugent | Canada | 56.91 | |

#### Final A

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 2 | Zhuang Yong | China | 54.64 | OR |
| | 4 | Jenny Thompson | United States | 54.84 | |
| | 5 | Franziska van Almsick | Germany | 54.94 | |
| 4 | 6 | Nicole Haislett | United States | 55.19 | |
| 5 | 3 | Catherine Plewinski | France | 55.72 | |
| 6 | 7 | Le Jingyi | China | 55.89 | |
| 7 | 1 | Simone Osygus | Germany | 55.93 | |
| 8 | 8 | Karin Brienesse | Netherlands | 56.59 | |