# Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke

The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between 22 and 23 October. This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Karen Muir (RSA) | 1:06.4 | Paris, France | 6 April 1968 |
| Olympic record | Cathy Ferguson (USA) | 1:07.7 | Tokyo, Japan | 14 October 1964 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 23 October 1968 | Final | Kaye Hall | United States | 1:06.2 | WR |

## Results
### Heats

Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Yukiko Goushi | Japan | 1:10.2 | Q |
| 2 | Glenda Stirling | New Zealand | 1:10.2 | Q |
| 3 | Kiki Caron | France | 1:10.5 | Q |
| 4 | Bep Weeteling | Netherlands | 1:12.5 | |
| 5 | Jacqueline Brown | Great Britain | 1:13.0 | |
| 6 | Lidia Ramírez | Mexico | 1:14.5 | |
| 7 | Hedy García | Philippines | DNS | |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Zdenka Gašparač | Yugoslavia | 1:09.9 | Q |
| 2 | Jane Swagerty | United States | 1:10.2 | Q |
| 3 | Andrea Gyarmati | Hungary | 1:11.3 | Q |
| 4 | Yvette Hafner | Austria | 1:11.8 | |
| 5 | Adriana Comolli | Argentina | 1:13.8 | |
| 6 | Doris Meister | West Germany | 1:14.1 | |
| 7 | Rosa Hasbún | El Salvador | 1:20.5 | |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Elaine Tanner | Canada | 1:07.6 | Q |
| 2 | Lynne Watson | Australia | 1:09.4 | Q |
| 3 | María Corominas | Spain | 1:10.7 | Q |
| 4 | Ulla Patrikka | Finland | 1:11.6 | Q |
| 5 | Angelika Kraus | West Germany | 1:12.6 | |
| 6 | Felicia Ospitaletche | Uruguay | 1:17.7 | |
| 7 | Nguyễn Thị Mỹ Lien | Vietnam | 1:19.2 | |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Kendis Moore | United States | 1:10.5 | Q |
| 2 | Tatyana Savelyeva | Soviet Union | 1:11.7 | |
| 3 | Anca Andreiu | Romania | 1:11.8 | |
| 4 | Dianna Rickard | Australia | 1:12.4 | |
| 5 | Anne Walton | Canada | 1:13.0 | |
| 6 | María Procopio | Argentina | 1:15.9 | |
| 7 | Shen Bao-ni | Taiwan | 1:21.5 | |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Sylvie Canet | France | 1:10.4 | Q |
| 2 | Tina Lek'veishvili | Soviet Union | 1:11.3 | Q |
| 3 | Bénédicte Duprez | France | 1:11.6 | Q |
| 4 | Patricia Sentous | Argentina | 1:13.5 | |
| 5 | Pru Chapman | New Zealand | 1:15.2 | |
| 6 | Carmen Ferracuti | El Salvador | 1:17.8 | |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Kaye Hall | United States | 1:09.8 | Q |
| 2 | Cobie Buter | Netherlands | 1:10.0 | Q |
| 3 | Mária Balla-Lantos | Hungary | 1:11.9 | |
| 4 | Coby Sikkens | Netherlands | 1:11.9 | |
| 5 | Wendy Burrell | Great Britain | 1:12.0 | |
| 6 | Francine Dauven | Belgium | 1:15.3 | |
| 7 | Judit Bárányi | Hungary | 1:16.0 | |

### Semifinals

Semifinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Lynne Watson | Australia | 1:09.0 | Q |
| 2 | Kendis Moore | United States | 1:09.6 | Q |
| 3 | Glenda Stirling | New Zealand | 1:10.1 | Q |
| 4 | Yukiko Goushi | Japan | 1:10.2 | |
| 5 | Bénédicte Duprez | France | 1:10.6 | |
| 6 | Zdenka Gašparač | Yugoslavia | 1:10.8 | |
| 7 | María Corominas | Spain | 1:11.0 | |
| 8 | Tina Lek'veishvili | Soviet Union | 1:11.0 | |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Elaine Tanner | Canada | 1:07.4 | Q |
| 2 | Kaye Hall | United States | 1:08.2 | Q |
| 3 | Jane Swagerty | United States | 1:08.6 | Q |
| 4 | Sylvie Canet | France | 1:09.0 | Q |
| 5 | Andrea Gyarmati | Hungary | 1:09.9 | Q |
| 6 | Cobie Buter | Netherlands | 1:10.7 | |
| 7 | Kiki Caron | France | 1:10.8 | |
| 8 | Ulla Patrikka | Finland | 1:12.1 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| | Kaye Hall | United States | 1:06.2 | WR |
| | Elaine Tanner | Canada | 1:06.7 | |
| | Jane Swagerty | United States | 1:08.1 | |
| 4 | Kendis Moore | United States | 1:08.3 | |
| 5 | Andrea Gyarmati | Hungary | 1:09.1 | |
| 6 | Lynne Watson | Australia | 1:09.1 | |
| 7 | Sylvie Canet | France | 1:09.3 | |
| 8 | Glenda Stirling | New Zealand | 1:10.6 | |
Key: WR = World record