# Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre butterfly

The women's 200 metre butterfly 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 | Mary T. Meagher (USA) | 2:05.96 | Brown Deer, United States | 13 August 1981 |
| Olympic record | Mary T. Meagher (USA) | 2:06.90 | Los Angeles, United States | 4 August 1984 |

## 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 | 5 | 4 | Susie O'Neill | Australia | 2:09.46 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | 3 | Michelle Smith | Ireland | 2:10.03 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | Petria Thomas | Australia | 2:10.64 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | Qu Yun | China | 2:11.35 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | 6 | Jessica Deglau | Canada | 2:12.48 | Q |
| 6 | 4 | 5 | Mika Haruna | Japan | 2:12.59 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | 5 | Trina Jackson | United States | 2:12.69 | Q |
| 8 | 5 | 5 | Liu Limin | China | 2:13.12 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 2 | Andrea Schwartz | Canada | 2:13.33 | q |
| 10 | 5 | 7 | Bárbara Franco | Spain | 2:13.34 | q |
| 11 | 4 | 2 | Cécile Jeanson | France | 2:13.58 | q |
| 12 | 3 | 2 | Sophia Skou | Denmark | 2:13.59 | q |
| 13 | 4 | 7 | María Peláez | Spain | 2:13.85 | q |
| 14 | 4 | 6 | Anna Uryniuk | Poland | 2:13.90 | q |
| 15 | 5 | 6 | Annette Salmeen | United States | 2:14.69 | q |
| 16 | 4 | 4 | Hitomi Kashima | Japan | 2:16.04 | q |
| 17 | 3 | 7 | Ilaria Tocchini | Italy | 2:16.10 | |
| 18 | 4 | 1 | Hsieh Shu-tzu | Chinese Taipei | 2:16.27 | |
| 19 | 4 | 8 | Sabine Herbst | Germany | 2:16.66 | |
| 20 | 2 | 6 | Nataliya Zolotukhina | Ukraine | 2:16.68 | NR |
| 21 | 5 | 1 | Loredana Zisu | Romania | 2:17.56 | |
| 22 | 3 | 1 | Ana Francisco | Portugal | 2:17.61 | |
| 23 | 2 | 5 | Nataša Meškovska | Macedonia | 2:17.90 | |
| 23 | 3 | 8 | Edit Klocker | Hungary | 2:17.90 | |
| 25 | 5 | 8 | Praphalsai Minpraphal | Thailand | 2:18.19 | |
| 26 | 2 | 8 | Nida Zuhal | Turkey | 2:18.46 | NR |
| 27 | 2 | 4 | Marcela Kubalčíková | Czech Republic | 2:19.38 | |
| 28 | 2 | 2 | María del Pilar Pereyra | Argentina | 2:19.57 | |
| 29 | 2 | 3 | Marina Karystinou | Greece | 2:20.57 | |
| 30 | 2 | 1 | Mandy Loots | South Africa | 2:20.73 | |
| 31 | 2 | 7 | Tinka Dančević | Croatia | 2:20.74 | |
| 32 | 1 | 4 | Park Woo-hee | South Korea | 2:22.99 | |
| 33 | 1 | 5 | Melissa Mata | Costa Rica | 2:23.89 | |
| 34 | 1 | 3 | Sonia Álvarez | Puerto Rico | 2:25.24 | |
| | 4 | 3 | Mette Jacobsen | Denmark | DNS | |

### Finals
#### Final B

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 9 | 6 | Sophia Skou | Denmark | 2:12.41 |
| 10 | 3 | Cécile Jeanson | France | 2:12.99 |
| 11 | 2 | María Peláez | Spain | 2:13.05 |
| 12 | 1 | Annette Salmeen | United States | 2:13.64 |
| 12 | 7 | Anna Uryniuk | Poland | 2:13.64 |
| 14 | 8 | Hitomi Kashima | Japan | 2:13.97 |
| 15 | 4 | Andrea Schwartz | Canada | 2:14.07 |
| 16 | 5 | Bárbara Franco | Spain | 2:14.16 |

#### Final A

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Susie O'Neill | Australia | 2:07.76 | |
| | 3 | Petria Thomas | Australia | 2:09.82 | |
| | 5 | Michelle Smith | Ireland | 2:09.91 | NR |
| 4 | 6 | Qu Yun | China | 2:10.26 | |
| 5 | 8 | Liu Limin | China | 2:10.70 | |
| 6 | 2 | Jessica Deglau | Canada | 2:11.40 | |
| 7 | 7 | Mika Haruna | Japan | 2:11.93 | |
| 8 | 1 | Trina Jackson | United States | 2:11.96 | |