# Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 50 metre freestyle

The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on 26 July at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, United States.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Le Jingyi (CHN) | 24.51 | Rome, Italy | 11 September 1994 |
| Olympic record | Yang Wenyi (CHN) | 24.79 | Barcelona, Spain | 31 July 1992 |

## 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 | 7 | 4 | Le Jingyi | China | 25.10 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | Amy Van Dyken | United States | 25.12 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | 5 | Sandra Völker | Germany | 25.45 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | 4 | Angel Martino | United States | 25.47 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | Shan Ying | China | 25.71 | Q |
| 6 | 7 | 5 | Natalya Meshcheryakova | Russia | 25.73 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 6 | Leah Martindale | Barbados | 25.76 | Q |
| 8 | 6 | 3 | Linda Olofsson | Sweden | 25.84 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 3 | Karen van Wirdum | Australia | 25.88 | q |
| 10 | 7 | 3 | Sumika Minamoto | Japan | 25.89 | q |
| 11 | 6 | 6 | Marianne Muis | Netherlands | 25.93 | q |
| 12 | 5 | 7 | Yevgeniya Yermakova | Kazakhstan | 25.97 | q, NR |
| 13 | 6 | 2 | Simone Osygus | Germany | 26.00 | q |
| 13 | 7 | 6 | Angela Postma | Netherlands | 26.00 | q |
| 15 | 4 | 4 | Laura Petrutytė | Lithuania | 26.13 | q, =NR |
| 16 | 7 | 7 | Claudia Franco | Spain | 26.17 | q |
| 17 | 4 | 2 | Vibeke Johansen | Norway | 26.22 | |
| 18 | 7 | 1 | Rania Elwani | Egypt | 26.26 | NR |
| 19 | 7 | 8 | Siobhan Cropper | Trinidad and Tobago | 26.29 | NR |
| 20 | 4 | 6 | Judith Draxler | Austria | 26.34 | |
| 20 | 5 | 2 | Sarah Ryan | Australia | 26.34 | |
| 22 | 4 | 5 | Blanca Cerón | Spain | 26.39 | |
| 22 | 6 | 1 | Sue Rolph | Great Britain | 26.39 | |
| 24 | 5 | 1 | Marianne Kriel | South Africa | 26.42 | |
| 25 | 4 | 7 | Metka Sparavec | Slovenia | 26.43 | |
| 26 | 4 | 3 | Martine Dessureault | Canada | 26.44 | |
| 27 | 6 | 7 | Luminița Dobrescu | Romania | 26.47 | |
| 28 | 4 | 8 | Mette Nielsen | Denmark | 26.50 | |
| 29 | 4 | 1 | Casey Legler | France | 26.52 | |
| 29 | 7 | 2 | Laura Nicholls | Canada | 26.52 | |
| 31 | 5 | 8 | Dita Želvienė | Lithuania | 26.55 | |
| 32 | 3 | 8 | Dominique Diezi | Switzerland | 26.57 | NR |
| 33 | 3 | 2 | Eileen Coparropa | Panama | 26.67 | |
| 34 | 3 | 4 | Minna Salmela | Finland | 26.72 | |
| 35 | 2 | 4 | Alison Fitch | New Zealand | 26.74 | |
| 36 | 3 | 1 | Monica Dahl | Namibia | 26.76 | |
| 37 | 3 | 6 | Elín Sigurðardóttir | Iceland | 26.90 | |
| 38 | 6 | 8 | Lin Chien-ju | Chinese Taipei | 27.00 | |
| 39 | 3 | 5 | Valeria Álvarez | Argentina | 27.12 | |
| 40 | 1 | 5 | Alena Popchanka | Belarus | 27.18 | NR |
| 41 | 2 | 1 | Seo So-yung | South Korea | 27.30 | NR |
| 42 | 2 | 2 | Gyöngyvér Lakos | Hungary | 27.34 | |
| 43 | 2 | 5 | Teresa Moodie | Zimbabwe | 27.38 | |
| 44 | 3 | 3 | Joscelin Yeo | Singapore | 27.51 | |
| 45 | 2 | 8 | Duška Radan | FR Yugoslavia | 27.62 | NR |
| 46 | 2 | 3 | Gabrijela Ujčić | Croatia | 27.63 | |
| 47 | 2 | 7 | Agnese Ozoliņa | Latvia | 27.65 | |
| 48 | 1 | 3 | Sangeeta Puri | India | 28.02 | |
| 49 | 1 | 2 | Verónica Prono | Paraguay | 28.40 | |
| 50 | 1 | 4 | Gail Rizzo | Malta | 28.43 | |
| 51 | 2 | 6 | Akiko Thomson | Philippines | 28.51 | |
| 52 | 1 | 6 | Võ Trần Trường An | Vietnam | 29.02 | |
| 53 | 1 | 7 | Ingrid Louis | Mauritius | 29.56 | |
| 54 | 1 | 1 | Monika Bakale | Republic of the Congo | 34.43 | |
| 55 | 1 | 8 | Nishma Gurung | Nepal | 41.45 | |
| | 3 | 7 | Antonia Machaira | Greece | DNS | |

### Finals
#### Final B

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 9 | 3 | Marianne Muis | Netherlands | 25.74 |
| 10 | 2 | Angela Postma | Netherlands | 25.82 |
| 11 | 8 | Claudia Franco | Spain | 26.04 |
| 12 | 5 | Sumika Minamoto | Japan | 26.05 |
| 13 | 6 | Yevgeniya Yermakova | Kazakhstan | 26.06 |
| 14 | 7 | Simone Osygus | Germany | 26.16 |
| 15 | 4 | Karen van Wirdum | Australia | 26.17 |
| 16 | 1 | Laura Petrutytė | Lithuania | 26.36 |

#### Final A

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 5 | Amy Van Dyken | United States | 24.87 | AM |
| | 4 | Le Jingyi | China | 24.90 | |
| | 3 | Sandra Völker | Germany | 25.14 | |
| 4 | 6 | Angel Martino | United States | 25.31 | |
| 5 | 1 | Leah Martindale | Barbados | 25.49 | NR |
| 6 | 8 | Linda Olofsson | Sweden | 25.63 | |
| 7 | 2 | Shan Ying | China | 25.70 | |
| 7 | 7 | Natalya Meshcheryakova | Russia | 25.70 | |