Senele Dlamini was 16 years old at the time of these Olympics, and was making her Olympic debut. She finished the first round of the women's 50 meter freestyle in 28.70 seconds, which was 61st place out of 90 competitors. Similarly to the men's race, only the top 16 could advance to the semifinals, and Dlamini was eliminated from the competition. The gold medal was eventually won in the finals in 24.06 seconds by Britta Steffen of Germany, the silver medal was earned by Dara Torres of the United States, and the bronze medal was taken by Cate Campbell of Australia.