# Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre individual medley

The final of the women's 200 metre individual medley event at the 1984 Summer Olympics was held in the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on August 3, 1984.
The event was reintroduced to the Olympic program after a 12-year absence.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Ute Geweniger (GDR) | 2:11.73 | Magdeburg, East Germany | 4 July 1981 |
| Olympic record | Shane Gould (AUS) | 2:23.07 | Munich, West Germany | 28 August 1972 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
| 3 August | Heat 4 | Tracy Caulkins | United States | 2:14.47 | OR |
| 3 August | Final A | Tracy Caulkins | United States | 2:12.64 | 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 | 4 | 4 | Tracy Caulkins | United States | 2:14.47 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | Nancy Hogshead | United States | 2:16.29 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | 5 | Michelle Pearson | Australia | 2:17.46 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 5 | Christiane Pielke | West Germany | 2:19.17 | Q, NR |
| 5 | 4 | 3 | Kathrine Bomstad | Norway | 2:19.88 | Q, NR |
| 6 | 4 | 5 | Petra Zindler | West Germany | 2:20.05 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | 3 | Manuela Dalla Valle | Italy | 2:20.50 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | 4 | Lisa Curry-Kenny | Australia | 2:20.57 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | 4 | Michelle MacPherson | Canada | 2:20.68 | q |
| 10 | 2 | 5 | Alison Dozzo | Canada | 2:20.85 | q |
| 11 | 3 | 6 | Maarit Vähäsaari-Sihvonen | Finland | 2:21.05 | q |
| 12 | 2 | 6 | Anette Philipsson | Sweden | 2:21.70 | q |
| 13 | 4 | 8 | Sabine Pauwels | Belgium | 2:22.86 | q, WD |
| 14 | 4 | 6 | Maria Kardum | Sweden | 2:22.87 | q, WD |
| 15 | 4 | 7 | Hideka Koshimizu | Japan | 2:23.38 | q |
| 16 | 2 | 3 | Zara Long | Great Britain | 2:23.89 | q |
| 17 | 1 | 3 | Laurence Bensimon | France | 2:24.34 | q |
| 18 | 1 | 6 | Gaynor Stanley | Great Britain | 2:24.94 | q |
| 19 | 1 | 2 | Gail Jonson | New Zealand | 2:25.00 | |
| 20 | 2 | 2 | Brigitte Wanderer | Austria | 2:26.85 | |
| 21 | 2 | 7 | Yan Hong | China | 2:27.95 | |
| 22 | 3 | 1 | Helen Chow | Malaysia | 2:29.25 | |
| 23 | 1 | 7 | Faten Ghattas | Tunisia | 2:29.77 | |
| 24 | 3 | 7 | Karin Brandes | Peru | 2:29.87 | |
| 25 | 2 | 1 | Lotta Flink | Hong Kong | 2:31.70 | |
| 26 | 1 | 1 | Sharon Pickering | Fiji | 2:34.77 | |
| 27 | 4 | 1 | Blanca Morales | Guatemala | 2:38.16 | |
| | 3 | 2 | Silvia Persi | Italy | DNS | |
| | 3 | 8 | Rosa María Silva | Uruguay | DNS | |
| | 4 | 2 | Beda Leirvaag | Norway | DNS | |

### Finals
#### Final B

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 9 | 3 | Maarit Vähäsaari-Sihvonen | Finland | 2:19.27 | NR |
| 10 | 4 | Michelle MacPherson | Canada | 2:19.34 | |
| 11 | 5 | Alison Dozzo | Canada | 2:19.70 | |
| 12 | 6 | Anette Philipsson | Sweden | 2:21.54 | |
| 13 | 8 | Gaynor Stanley | Great Britain | 2:21.71 | |
| 14 | 7 | Zara Long | Great Britain | 2:22.25 | |
| 15 | 2 | Hideka Koshimizu | Japan | 2:22.81 | |
| 16 | 1 | Laurence Bensimon | France | 2:27.13 | |

#### Final A

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Tracy Caulkins | United States | 2:12.64 | OR |
| | 5 | Nancy Hogshead | United States | 2:15.17 | |
| | 3 | Michelle Pearson | Australia | 2:15.92 | OC |
| 4 | 8 | Lisa Curry-Kenny | Australia | 2:16.75 | |
| 5 | 6 | Christiane Pielke | West Germany | 2:17.82 | NR |
| 6 | 1 | Manuela Dalla Valle | Italy | 2:19.69 | |
| 7 | 7 | Petra Zindler | West Germany | 2:19.86 | |
| 8 | 2 | Kathrine Bomstad | Norway | 2:20.48 | |