# Swimming at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event, included in the swimming competition at the 1980 Summer Olympics, took place on July 23, at the Swimming Pool at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex in Moscow, Soviet Union. In this event, swimmers covered four lengths of the 50-metre (160 ft) Olympic-sized pool employing the breaststroke. It was the thirteenth appearance of the event, which first appeared at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. A total of 25 competitors from 18 nations participated in the event.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were:
| World record | Lina Kačiušytė (URS) | 2:28.36 s | Potsdam, East Germany | 6 April 1979 |
| Olympic record | Marina Kosheveya (URS) | 2:33.35 s | Montreal, Canada | 21 July 1976 |
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | OR | WR |
| 23 July | Heat 3 | Svetlana Varganova | Soviet Union | 2:29.77 | OR | |
| 23 July | Final | Lina Kačiušytė | Soviet Union | 2:29.54 | OR | |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Svetlana Varganova | Soviet Union | 2:29.77 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 3 | Irena Fleissnerová | Czechoslovakia | 2:32.79 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 4 | Lina Kačiušytė | Soviet Union | 2:33.04 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Yuliya Bogdanova | Soviet Union | 2:33.45 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Susanne Nielsson | Denmark | 2:34.42 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Silvia Rinka | East Germany | 2:34.88 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Bettina Löbel | East Germany | 2:35.31 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | Ute Geweniger | East Germany | 2:35.42 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | Eva-Marie Håkansson | Sweden | 2:35.64 | NR |
| 10 | 4 | Ann-Sofi Roos | Sweden | 2:35.99 | |
| 11 | 2 | Debbie Rudd | Great Britain | 2:36.32 | |
| 12 | 1 | Margaret Kelly | Great Britain | 2:37.67 | |
| 13 | 4 | Tanya Dangalakova | Bulgaria | 2:39.11 | |
| 14 | 4 | Lisa Curry | Australia | 2:39.42 | |
| 15 | 4 | Brigitte Prass | Romania | 2:39.90 | NR |
| 16 | 3 | Odile Bihan | France | 2:40.55 | |
| 17 | 4 | Sabrina Seminatore | Italy | 2:41.77 | |
| 18 | 2 | Elke Holtz | Mexico | 2:42.59 | NR |
| 19 | 1 | Brigitte Bosmans | Belgium | 2:42.87 | |
| 20 | 3 | Catherine Bohan | Ireland | 2:43.30 | |
| 21 | 1 | Annick de Susini | France | 2:44.03 | |
| 22 | 2 | Gabriella Kindl | Hungary | 2:44.08 | |
| 23 | 3 | Lynne Tasker | Zimbabwe | 2:48.86 | NR |
| 24 | 2 | Hoàng Thị Hoà | Vietnam | 2:55.94 | |
| 25 | 1 | Nicole Rajoharison | Madagascar | 3:12.40 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Lina Kačiušytė | Soviet Union | 2:29.54 | OR |
| | Svetlana Varganova | Soviet Union | 2:29.61 | |
| | Yuliya Bogdanova | Soviet Union | 2:32.39 | |
| 4 | Susanne Nielsson | Denmark | 2:32.75 | NR |
| 5 | Irena Fleissnerová | Czechoslovakia | 2:33.23 | |
| 6 | Ute Geweniger | East Germany | 2:34.34 | |
| 7 | Bettina Löbel | East Germany | 2:34.51 | |
| 8 | Silvia Rinka | East Germany | 2:35.38 | |

## Sources

* "Official Report of the Organising Committee of the Games of the XXII Olympiad" (PDF). Volume Three. Fizkultura i Sport. 1981. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
* Albert Schoenfeld, ed. (September 1980). "Results from the 1980 Olympic Games (Moscow)" (PDF). Swimming World & Junior Swimmer. Albert Schoenfeld. p. 73. ISSN 0039-7431. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
* "Swimming at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games: Women's 200 metres Breaststroke". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2012.