The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

took place on 1–2 August 2012 at the

London Aquatics Centre The London Aquatics Centre is an indoor facility with two swimming pools and a diving pool in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London. The centre, designed by architect Zaha Hadid as one of the main venues of the 2012 Summer Olympic ...

London, United Kingdom London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

. Dutch swimmer

Ranomi Kromowidjojo Ranomi Kromowidjojo (; born 20 August 1990) is a retired Dutch swimmer of mixed Dutch- Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in sprint freestyle events. She is a triple Olympic champion, winning the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m free ...

swam to a new Olympic record to become the country's third gold medalist in the event, along with Rie Mastenbroek in 1936 and

Inge de Bruijn Inge de Bruijn (; born 24 August 1973) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer. She is a four-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder. Personal De Bruijn was born in Barendrecht, Netherlands. Inge is the sister of Olympic water p ...

in 2000. In fourth place at the halfway turn, she pulled ahead of a tightly-packed field to touch the wall first and improve her own record in 53.00. Belarus' Aliaksandra Herasimenia was in the lead on the first length under a world-record pace, but faded down the stretch to win the silver medal in 53.38. China's

Tang Yi Tang Yi (; born 8 January 1993) is a Chinese competitive swimmer. Specializing in the freestyle, she swam for China at the 2008 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 100 metre freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was born in Sha ...

swam a fast final lap for the bronze medal in 53.44. Australia's

Melanie Schlanger Melanie Renée Schlanger, OAM (born 31 August 1986), also known by her married name Melanie Wright, is an Australian freestyle swimmer. Melanie first represented Australia at the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and her career spanned ...

finished fourth in 53.47, while American teenage sensation

Missy Franklin Melissa Franklin Johnson (born May 10, 1995) is an American former competition swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She formerly held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke (long course). As a member of the U.S. national swim team ...

finished in fifth place in 53.64. Great Britain's home favorite

Francesca Halsall Francesca Jean Halsall (born 12 April 1990) is a retired English competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain at the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and England at the Commonwealth Games. She competed ...

(53.66), Denmark's

Jeanette Ottesen Jeanette Ottesen (born 30 December 1987) is a Danish competitive swimmer who participated at the 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. In total she has won 50 international medals. Records She currently holds the Danish record in the ...

(53.75), who shared the title with Herasimenia at the 2011 World Championships, and U.S. swimmer

Jessica Hardy Jessica Adele Hardy Meichtry (born March 12, 1987) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle events. Hardy earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle and a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley r ...

(54.02) finished in sixth thru eighth place. Before the breakthrough finale, Kromowidjojo swam a top-seeded time of 53.05 to slice 0.07 seconds off the previous Olympic record set by Germany's defending champion Britta Steffen, who later missed the final roster with a twelfth-place finish (54.18) in the semifinals. Only 48 of the 50 swimmers registered in the event competed. Sweden's five-time Olympian

Therese Alshammar Malin Therese Alshammar (born 26 August 1977) is a Swedish swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. She is a specialist in short distances races in freestyle and butterfly. Sh ...

suffered a pinched nerve in her neck, and skipped most of her events. Australia's

Cate Campbell Cate Natalie Campbell, (born 20 May 1992) is a Malawian-born Australian competitive swimmer, and a current multiple world record holder, who won two bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a gold a ...

scratched her first individual race because of a

glandular fever In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were: The following records were established during the competition:

Results

Heats

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

External links

NBC Olympics Coverage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Women's 100 metre freestyle Women's 00100 metre freestyle 2012 in women's swimming Women's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics