# Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 50 metre freestyle

The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 15–17 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
Germany's Britta Steffen blasted a new Olympic record to strike a sprint freestyle double. She posted a time of 24.06, the second-fastest ever in the event, to erase Inge de Bruijn's 2000 record, and to hold off U.S. swimmer Dara Torres in a close race by a hundredth of a second (0.01). Returning from an eight-year absence, Torres became the first woman in Olympic history to swim past the age of 40. She established both a personal best and an American record of 24.07 to earn a silver medal and eleventh overall in her fifth Olympics since 1984. Meanwhile, Australian teenager Cate Campbell picked up a bronze in 24.17, edging out her teammate Lisbeth Trickett (24.25) by 0.08 of a second.
Netherlands' Marleen Veldhuis finished fifth with a time of 24.26, and was followed in the sixth spot by American Kara Lynn Joyce in 24.63. Veldhuis' teammate Hinkelien Schreuder (24.65) and Belarus' Aliaksandra Herasimenia (24.77) rounded out the finale.
Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Sweden's Therese Alshammar, four-time Olympian and silver medalist in Sydney eight years earlier, and Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppälä, fourth-place finalist in the 100 m freestyle.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Lisbeth Trickett (AUS) | 23.97 | Sydney, Australia | 29 March 2008 | |
| Olympic record | Inge de Bruijn (NED) | 24.13 | Sydney, Australia | 22 September 2000 | - |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| August 17 | Final | Britta Steffen | Germany | 24.06 | OR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 10 | 4 | Cate Campbell | Australia | 24.20 | Q |
| 2 | 11 | 4 | Marleen Veldhuis | Netherlands | 24.38 | Q |
| 3 | 10 | 5 | Dara Torres | United States | 24.58 | Q |
| 4 | 12 | 4 | Lisbeth Trickett | Australia | 24.67 | Q |
| 5 | 11 | 6 | Jeanette Ottesen | Denmark | 24.83 | Q |
| 6 | 12 | 5 | Britta Steffen | Germany | 24.90 | Q |
| 7 | 12 | 2 | Zhu Yingwen | China | 24.91 | Q |
| 8 | 10 | 3 | Francesca Halsall | Great Britain | 24.93 | Q |
| 9 | 11 | 5 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 24.94 | Q |
| 10 | 12 | 6 | Malia Metella | France | 24.95 | Q |
| 11 | 11 | 2 | Arlene Semeco | Venezuela | 24.98 | Q, NR |
| 12 | 11 | 3 | Hinkelien Schreuder | Netherlands | 25.00 | Q |
| 12 | 11 | 8 | Li Zhesi | China | 25.00 | Q |
| 14 | 12 | 3 | Kara Lynn Joyce | United States | 25.01 | Q |
| 15 | 12 | 1 | Hanna-Maria Seppälä | Finland | 25.06 | Q, NR |
| 16 | 10 | 6 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia | Belarus | 25.07 | Q |
| 17 | 12 | 7 | Agata Ewa Korc | Poland | 25.14 | NR |
| 18 | 11 | 1 | Céline Couderc | France | 25.22 | |
| 19 | 8 | 7 | Anna Gostomelsky | Israel | 25.23 | NR |
| 20 | 12 | 8 | Sviatlana Khakhlova | Belarus | 25.27 | |
| 21 | 9 | 5 | Triin Aljand | Estonia | 25.29 | |
| 22 | 10 | 2 | Anna-Karin Kammerling | Sweden | 25.34 | |
| 22 | 10 | 7 | Flavia Cazziolato | Brazil | 25.34 | |
| 24 | 8 | 2 | Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace | Bahamas | 25.40 | |
| 25 | 10 | 1 | Petra Dallmann | Germany | 25.43 | |
| 26 | 11 | 7 | Lize-Mari Retief | South Africa | 25.44 | |
| 27 | 9 | 4 | Martina Moravcová | Slovakia | 25.47 | |
| 28 | 9 | 7 | Anastasia Aksenova | Russia | 25.51 | |
| 29 | 8 | 5 | Sandra Kazíková | Czech Republic | 25.54 | |
| 30 | 9 | 6 | Victoria Poon | Canada | 25.58 | |
| 31 | 9 | 8 | Chang Hee-jin | South Korea | 25.59 | |
| 32 | 9 | 2 | Oksana Serikova | Ukraine | 25.65 | |
| 33 | 9 | 1 | Martha Matsa | Greece | 25.68 | |
| 34 | 10 | 8 | Cristina Chiuso | Italy | 25.74 | |
| 35 | 9 | 3 | Vanessa García | Puerto Rico | 25.81 | |
| 36 | 8 | 3 | Ragnheidur Ragnarsdottir | Iceland | 25.82 | |
| 37 | 8 | 1 | Natasha Moodie | Jamaica | 25.95 | |
| 38 | 7 | 1 | Carolina Colorado Henao | Colombia | 26.11 | |
| 39 | 6 | 6 | Rugilė Mileišytė | Lithuania | 26.19 | |
| 39 | 7 | 2 | Sharntelle McLean | Trinidad and Tobago | 26.19 | |
| 41 | 7 | 5 | Eva Dobar | Hungary | 26.33 | |
| 42 | 6 | 2 | Anna-Liza Mopio-Jane | Papua New Guinea | 26.47 | |
| 43 | 7 | 3 | Nina Sovinek | Slovenia | 26.49 | |
| 44 | 6 | 3 | Yamile Bahamonde | Ecuador | 26.54 | |
| 44 | 7 | 6 | Yu Ning Elaine Chan | Hong Kong | 26.54 | |
| 46 | 7 | 8 | Marina Mulyayeva | Kazakhstan | 26.57 | |
| 47 | 6 | 5 | Christel Simms | Philippines | 26.64 | |
| 48 | 8 | 8 | Leung Chii Lin | Malaysia | 26.75 | |
| 49 | 7 | 4 | Monika Babok | Croatia | 26.84 | |
| 50 | 6 | 4 | Veronica Vdovicenco | Moldova | 26.92 | |
| 51 | 5 | 4 | Sharon Paola Fajardo Sierra | Honduras | 27.19 | |
| 52 | 6 | 7 | Ngozi Monu | Nigeria | 27.39 | |
| 53 | 6 | 1 | Ellen Lendra Hight | Zambia | 27.42 | |
| 54 | 5 | 5 | Chinyere Pigot | Suriname | 27.66 | |
| 55 | 5 | 7 | Dalia Tórrez Zamora | Nicaragua | 27.81 | |
| 56 | 5 | 3 | Razan Taha | Jordan | 27.82 | |
| 57 | 6 | 8 | Marianela Quesada | Costa Rica | 28.11 | |
| 58 | 4 | 4 | Ximene Gomes | Mozambique | 28.15 | |
| 58 | 5 | 2 | Rovena Marku | Albania | 28.15 | NR |
| 60 | 5 | 6 | Tojohanitra Andriamanjatoarimanana | Madagascar | 28.54 | |
| 61 | 4 | 8 | Senele Dlamini | Swaziland | 28.70 | |
| 62 | 4 | 1 | Virginia Farmer | American Samoa | 28.82 | |
| 63 | 5 | 1 | Diane Etiennette | Mauritius | 28.83 | |
| 64 | 4 | 3 | Katerine Moreno | Bolivia | 29.05 | |
| 65 | 5 | 8 | Ana Crysna da Silva Romero | Angola | 29.06 | |
| 66 | 3 | 5 | Olivia Aya Nakitanda | Uganda | 29.38 | |
| 67 | 4 | 2 | Dashtserengiin Saintsetseg | Mongolia | 29.63 | |
| 68 | 7 | 7 | Mariya Bugakova | Uzbekistan | 29.73 | |
| 69 | 4 | 5 | Kiran Khan | Pakistan | 29.84 | |
| 70 | 3 | 4 | Samantha Paxinos | Botswana | 29.91 | |
| 71 | 3 | 8 | Amber Yobech | Palau | 30.00 | |
| 72 | 4 | 6 | Aminath Rouya Hussain | Maldives | 30.21 | |
| 73 | 4 | 7 | Doli Akhter | Bangladesh | 30.23 | |
| 74 | 1 | 5 | Sameera Al Bitar | Bahrain | 30.32 | |
| 75 | 3 | 6 | Julianne Kirchner | Marshall Islands | 30.42 | |
| 76 | 3 | 7 | Debra Daniel | Federated States of Micronesia | 30.61 | |
| 77 | 3 | 2 | Magdalena Moshi | Tanzania | 31.37 | |
| 78 | 3 | 1 | Hemthon Vitiny | Cambodia | 31.41 | |
| 79 | 2 | 7 | Zakiya Nassar | Palestine | 31.97 | |
| 80 | 3 | 3 | Katerina Izmaylova | Tajikistan | 32.09 | |
| 81 | 2 | 5 | Karishma Karki | Nepal | 32.35 | |
| 82 | 2 | 4 | Zahra Pinto | Malawi | 32.53 | |
| 83 | 2 | 6 | Antoinette Guedia Mouafo | Cameroon | 33.59 | |
| 84 | 2 | 3 | Vilayphone Vongphachanh | Laos | 34.79 | |
| 85 | 2 | 2 | Elisabeth Nikiema | Burkina Faso | 34.98 | NR |
| 86 | 2 | 8 | Elsie Uwamahoro | Burundi | 36.86 | |
| 87 | 1 | 6 | Gloria Koussihouede | Benin | 37.09 | |
| 88 | 1 | 3 | Pamela Girimbabazi | Rwanda | 39.78 | |
| 89 | 1 | 4 | Djene Barry | Guinea | 39.80 | |
| 90 | 2 | 1 | Mariama Souley Bana | Niger | 40.83 | |
| | 8 | 4 | Miroslava Najdanovski | Serbia | DNS | |
| | 8 | 6 | Bayan Jumah | Syria | DNS | |

### Semifinals
#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Britta Steffen | Germany | 24.43 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Marleen Veldhuis | Netherlands | 24.46 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Lisbeth Trickett | Australia | 24.47 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Hinkelien Schreuder | Netherlands | 24.52 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Kara Lynn Joyce | United States | 24.63 | Q |
| 6 | 8 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia | Belarus | 24.72 | Q |
| 7 | 6 | Francesca Halsall | Great Britain | 24.80 | |
| 8 | 2 | Malia Metella | France | 24.89 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Dara Torres | United States | 24.27 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Cate Campbell | Australia | 24.42 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Zhu Yingwen | China | 24.76 | |
| 4 | 3 | Jeanette Ottesen | Denmark | 24.86 | |
| 5 | 1 | Li Zhesi | China | 24.90 | |
| 6 | 2 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 24.96 | |
| 7 | 7 | Arlene Semeco | Venezuela | 25.05 | |
| 8 | 8 | Hanna-Maria Seppälä | Finland | 25.19 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 3 | Britta Steffen | Germany | 24.06 | OR |
| | 4 | Dara Torres | United States | 24.07 | AM |
| | 5 | Cate Campbell | Australia | 24.17 | |
| 4 | 2 | Lisbeth Trickett | Australia | 24.25 | |
| 5 | 6 | Marleen Veldhuis | Netherlands | 24.26 | |
| 6 | 1 | Kara Lynn Joyce | United States | 24.63 | |
| 7 | 7 | Hinkelien Schreuder | Netherlands | 24.65 | |
| 8 | 8 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia | Belarus | 24.77 | |