| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Women

Date	20 – 21 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul
Participants	43 from 27 countries

The gold medal favorite was East German Silke Hörner who was the 1986 World Champion, the 1987 European Champion, and had set two world records in the event. But in May, at the Canadian trials, Allison Higson broke Hörner’s world record with 2:27.27. She was somewhat of an unknown factor as she had never beaten the East Germans head on, and was only 16th in the world in 1987. In the prelims Hörner confirmed her fitness, leading in 2:27.63, within ½-second of Higson’s world mark, while Higson qualified fourth.

In the final, the pace through 100 metres was set by Bulgarian Tanya Dangalakova, who was recovering from having a baby in June 1987, and having surgery related to it in October 1987. But then Hörner took over, winning in a world record 2:26.71, well ahead of China’s Huang Xiaomin. Dangalakova could not hang on, placing fourth, also behind her teammate Antoaneta Frenkeva, but she would recover and win the 100 breast in a few days, upsetting Hörner. Higson was never a factor in this race, placing seventh.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Silke Hörner	GDR	2:27.63 (1 h6)	–	2:26.71 (1)	Gold
2	Huang Xiaomin	CHN	2:30.03 (3 h5)	–	2:27.49 (2)	Silver
3	Antoaneta Frenkeva	BUL	2:29.57 (1 h4)	–	2:28.34 (3)	Bronze
4	Tanya Dangalakova	BUL	2:29.91 (2 h5)	–	2:28.43 (4)
5	Yuliya Bogachova	URS	2:28.94 (1 h5)	–	2:28.54 (5)
6	Ingrid Lempereur	BEL	2:30.07 (2 h4)	–	2:29.42 (6)
7	Allison Higson	CAN	2:29.67 (2 h6)	–	2:29.60 (7)
8	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	2:30.60 (3 h4)	–	2:29.86 (8)
9	Susanne Börnike	GDR	2:30.71 (3 h6)	2:28.55 (1)	–
10	Svetlana Kuzmina	URS	2:30.93 (4 h4)	2:30.03 (2)	–
11	Linda Moes	NED	2:31.98 (4 h5)	2:30.83 (3)	–
12	Annalisa Nisiro	ITA	2:32.77 (5 h4)	2:31.19 (4)	–
13	Susan Rapp	USA	2:34.21 (5 h6)	2:32.90 (5)	–
14	Tracey McFarlane	USA	2:32.11 (4 h6)	2:33.46 (6)	–
15	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	2:34.36 (5 h5)	2:33.55 (7)	–
16	Brigitte Becue	BEL	2:33.13 (1 h3)	2:34.10 (8)	–
17	Britta Dahm	FRG	2:35.06 (6 h4)	–	–
18	Silvia Parera	ESP	2:35.57 (2 h3)	–	–
19	Yoshie Nishioka	JPN	2:35.81 (6 h6)	–	–
20	Suki Brownsdon	GBR	2:36.14 (7 h4)	–	–
21	Kornelia Stawicka	POL	2:36.86 (6 h5)	–	–
22	Virginie Bojaryn	FRA	2:37.38 (7 h6)	–	–
23	Hiroko Nagasaki	JPN	2:37.44 (7 h5)	–	–
24	Karen Horning	PER	2:37.84 (1 h2)	–	–
25	Pia Sørensen	DEN	2:38.49 (8 h5)	–	–
26	Pascaline Louvrier	FRA	2:38.75 (8 h4)	–	–
27	Ragnheiður Runólfsdóttir	ISL	2:39.10 (3 h3)	–	–
28	Dorota Chylak	POL	2:39.38 (4 h3)	–	–
29	Park Seong-Won	KOR	2:39.40 (2 h2)	–	–
30	Lara Hooiveld	AUS	2:39.97 (5 h3)	–	–
31	Nancy Arendt	LUX	2:40.78 (3 h2)	–	–
32	Anamarija Petričević	YUG	2:40.80 (6 h3)	–	–
33	Helen Frank	GBR	2:41.12 (4 h2)	–	–
34	Heike Esser	FRG	2:41.34 (8 h6)	–	–
35	Seto Car-Wai	TPE	2:42.31 (1 h1)	–	–
36	Patricia Brülhart	SUI	2:42.82 (5 h2)	–	–
37	Montserrat Hidalgo	CRC	2:44.72 (2 h1)	–	–
38	Sigrid Niehaus	CRC	2:45.35 (6 h2)	–	–
39	Alicia María Boscatto	ARG	2:45.80 (7 h3)	–	–
40	Chen Huiling	CHN	2:45.87 (8 h3)	–	–
41	Kim Chen	TPE	2:50.84 (7 h2)	–	–
42	Dipika Chanmugam	SRI	2:51.60 (3 h1)	–	–
DQ	Valentina Aracil	ARG	– (DQ h2)	–	–

Round One (20 September 1988 — 9:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	3	Seto Car-Wai	TPE	36.53 (1) 40.92 (1)	1:17.45 (1) 42.07 (1)	1:59.52 (1) 42.79 (1)	2:42.31
2	4	Montserrat Hidalgo	CRC	37.33 (2) 41.76 (2)	1:19.09 (2) 42.40 (2)	2:01.49 (2) 43.23 (2)	2:44.72
3	5	Dipika Chanmugam	SRI	38.37 (3) 43.04 (3)	1:21.41 (3) 44.83 (3)	2:06.24 (3) 45.36 (3)	2:51.60

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	5	Karen Horning	PER	36.86 (6) 39.87 (1)	1:16.73 (2) 39.98 (2)	1:56.71 (2) 41.13 (1)	2:37.84
2	4	Park Seong-Won	KOR	36.23 (1) 40.39 (2)	1:16.62 (1) 39.95 (1)	1:56.57 (1) 42.83 (4)	2:39.40
3	6	Nancy Arendt	LUX	36.68 (3) 40.75 (4)	1:17.43 (4) 41.49 (3)	1:58.92 (4) 41.86 (3)	2:40.78
4	3	Helen Frank	GBR	36.74 (4) 41.10 (6)	1:17.84 (6) 41.51 (4)	1:59.35 (5) 41.77 (2)	2:41.12
5	7	Patricia Brülhart	SUI	36.58 (2) 40.48 (3)	1:17.06 (3) 41.75 (5)	1:58.81 (3) 44.01 (5)	2:42.82
6	1	Sigrid Niehaus	CRC	36.79 (5) 41.03 (5)	1:17.82 (5) 43.13 (6)	2:00.95 (6) 44.40 (6)	2:45.35
7	8	Kim Chen	TPE	38.59 (7) 43.02 (7)	1:21.61 (7) 44.11 (7)	2:05.72 (7) 45.12 (7)	2:50.84
DQ	2	Valentina Aracil	ARG	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	5	Brigitte Becue	BEL	35.09 (2) 39.47 (1)	1:14.56 (1) 39.77 (2)	1:54.33 (1) 38.80 (1)	2:33.13	q
2	7	Silvia Parera	ESP	35.81 (6) 39.48 (2)	1:15.29 (3) 39.69 (1)	1:54.98 (2) 40.59 (2)	2:35.57
3	1	Ragnheiður Runólfsdóttir	ISL	35.28 (5) 40.40 (4)	1:15.68 (5) 41.72 (5)	1:57.40 (4) 41.70 (3)	2:39.10
4	4	Dorota Chylak	POL	35.25 (4) 39.88 (3)	1:15.13 (2) 41.66 (3)	1:56.79 (3) 42.59 (6)	2:39.38
5	3	Lara Hooiveld	AUS	34.72 (1) 40.77 (6)	1:15.49 (4) 42.26 (6)	1:57.75 (5) 42.22 (5)	2:39.97
6	2	Anamarija Petričević	YUG	36.57 (7) 40.45 (5)	1:17.02 (7) 41.69 (4)	1:58.71 (6) 42.09 (4)	2:40.80
7	8	Alicia María Boscatto	ARG	37.26 (8) 41.37 (8)	1:18.63 (8) 43.21 (7)	2:01.84 (8) 43.96 (7)	2:45.80
8	6	Chen Huiling	CHN	35.13 (3) 41.18 (7)	1:16.31 (6) 44.01 (8)	2:00.32 (7) 45.55 (8)	2:45.87

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Antoaneta Frenkeva	BUL	33.18 (1) 37.02 (1)	1:10.20 (1) 38.66 (2)	1:48.86 (1) 40.71 (6)	2:29.57	Q
2	3	Ingrid Lempereur	BEL	34.89 (4) 38.57 (3)	1:13.46 (3) 38.71 (3)	1:52.17 (4) 37.90 (1)	2:30.07	Q
3	6	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	35.38 (7) 38.63 (4)	1:14.01 (6) 37.60 (1)	1:51.61 (2) 38.99 (2)	2:30.60	Q
4	5	Svetlana Kuzmina	URS	34.15 (2) 38.18 (2)	1:12.33 (2) 39.41 (5)	1:51.74 (3) 39.19 (3)	2:30.93	q
5	2	Annalisa Nisiro	ITA	34.84 (3) 39.15 (6)	1:13.99 (5) 39.26 (4)	1:53.25 (5) 39.52 (4)	2:32.77	q
6	1	Britta Dahm	FRG	35.09 (5) 38.87 (5)	1:13.96 (4) 40.14 (6)	1:54.10 (6) 40.96 (7)	2:35.06
7	7	Suki Brownsdon	GBR	35.20 (6) 40.04 (8)	1:15.24 (8) 40.29 (7)	1:55.53 (7) 40.61 (5)	2:36.14
8	8	Pascaline Louvrier	FRA	35.62 (8) 39.59 (7)	1:15.21 (7) 40.63 (8)	1:55.84 (8) 42.91 (8)	2:38.75

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	3	Yuliya Bogachova	URS	34.85 (5) 38.19 (2)	1:13.04 (4) 38.01 (1)	1:51.05 (3) 37.89 (1)	2:28.94	QOR
2	5	Tanya Dangalakova	BUL	33.73 (2) 38.48 (4)	1:12.21 (2) 38.68 (2)	1:50.89 (2) 39.02 (2)	2:29.91	Q
3	4	Huang Xiaomin	CHN	33.65 (1) 37.83 (1)	1:11.48 (1) 39.00 (3)	1:50.48 (1) 39.55 (4)	2:30.03	Q
4	2	Linda Moes	NED	34.58 (4) 38.61 (5)	1:13.19 (5) 39.41 (4)	1:52.60 (4) 39.38 (3)	2:31.98	q
5	7	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	34.53 (3) 38.46 (3)	1:12.99 (3) 40.55 (6)	1:53.54 (5) 40.82 (6)	2:34.36	q
6	1	Kornelia Stawicka	POL	37.21 (8) 39.81 (8)	1:17.02 (8) 39.90 (5)	1:56.92 (8) 39.94 (5)	2:36.86
7	6	Hiroko Nagasaki	JPN	35.44 (6) 39.50 (7)	1:14.94 (7) 40.82 (8)	1:55.76 (7) 41.68 (7)	2:37.44
8	8	Pia Sørensen	DEN	35.51 (7) 39.39 (6)	1:14.90 (6) 40.80 (7)	1:55.70 (6) 42.79 (8)	2:38.49

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	5	Silke Hörner	GDR	33.10 (1) 37.36 (1)	1:10.46 (1) 37.91 (1)	1:48.37 (1) 39.26 (2)	2:27.63	QOR
2	4	Allison Higson	CAN	33.53 (2) 37.82 (3)	1:11.35 (2) 38.75 (2)	1:50.10 (2) 39.57 (5)	2:29.67	Q
3	3	Susanne Börnike	GDR	34.87 (5) 37.68 (2)	1:12.55 (3) 38.99 (3)	1:51.54 (3) 39.17 (1)	2:30.71	q
4	6	Tracey McFarlane	USA	34.44 (3) 38.89 (5)	1:13.33 (5) 39.30 (4)	1:52.63 (4) 39.48 (3)	2:32.11	q
5	2	Susan Rapp	USA	34.86 (4) 38.38 (4)	1:13.24 (4) 39.65 (5)	1:52.89 (5) 41.32 (6)	2:34.21	q
6	8	Yoshie Nishioka	JPN	36.13 (7) 39.43 (7)	1:15.56 (7) 40.71 (6)	1:56.27 (7) 39.54 (4)	2:35.81
7	1	Virginie Bojaryn	FRA	35.29 (6) 39.20 (6)	1:14.49 (6) 40.93 (7)	1:55.42 (6) 41.96 (7)	2:37.38
8	7	Heike Esser	FRG	36.37 (8) 39.82 (8)	1:16.19 (8) 41.73 (8)	1:57.92 (8) 43.42 (8)	2:41.34

B Final (21 September 1988 — 12:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Susanne Börnike	GDR	33.98 (1) 37.28 (1)	1:11.26 (1) 38.51 (3)	1:49.77 (1) 38.78 (4)	2:28.55
2	5	Svetlana Kuzmina	URS	35.35 (5) 38.50 (3)	1:13.85 (5) 38.08 (1)	1:51.93 (3) 38.10 (1)	2:30.03
3	3	Linda Moes	NED	35.00 (3) 38.00 (2)	1:13.00 (2) 38.60 (4)	1:51.60 (2) 39.23 (5)	2:30.83
4	2	Annalisa Nisiro	ITA	35.58 (7) 38.63 (5)	1:14.21 (6) 38.39 (2)	1:52.60 (4) 38.59 (3)	2:31.19
5	1	Susan Rapp	USA	35.12 (4) 38.61 (4)	1:13.73 (4) 39.21 (5)	1:52.94 (5) 39.96 (7)	2:32.90
6	6	Tracey McFarlane	USA	34.62 (2) 38.75 (6)	1:13.37 (3) 39.68 (8)	1:53.05 (6) 40.41 (8)	2:33.46
7	8	Guylaine Cloutier	CAN	35.39 (6) 39.08 (7)	1:14.47 (7) 39.51 (7)	1:53.98 (7) 39.57 (6)	2:33.55
8	7	Brigitte Becue	BEL	36.59 (8) 40.06 (8)	1:16.65 (8) 39.24 (6)	1:55.89 (8) 38.21 (2)	2:34.10

Final (21 September 1988 — 12:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Silke Hörner	GDR	32.88 (3) 37.36 (4)	1:10.24 (3) 37.14 (1)	1:47.38 (1) 39.33 (5)	2:26.71	WR
2	7	Huang Xiaomin	CHN	34.00 (5) 37.41 (5)	1:11.41 (5) 37.81 (3)	1:49.22 (5) 38.27 (2)	2:27.49
3	3	Antoaneta Frenkeva	BUL	33.16 (4) 37.16 (2)	1:10.32 (4) 38.51 (6)	1:48.83 (4) 39.51 (6)	2:28.34
4	2	Tanya Dangalakova	BUL	32.26 (1) 36.96 (1)	1:09.22 (1) 38.26 (5)	1:47.48 (2) 40.95 (7)	2:28.43
5	5	Yuliya Bogachova	URS	34.44 (6) 38.00 (7)	1:12.44 (6) 37.54 (2)	1:49.98 (6) 38.56 (3)	2:28.54
6	1	Ingrid Lempereur	BEL	34.79 (7) 38.60 (8)	1:13.39 (8) 38.63 (7)	1:52.02 (8) 37.40 (1)	2:29.42
7	6	Allison Higson	CAN	32.71 (2) 37.20 (3)	1:09.91 (2) 38.65 (8)	1:48.56 (3) 41.04 (8)	2:29.60
8	8	Manuela Dalla Valle	ITA	35.07 (8) 37.83 (6)	1:12.90 (7) 37.89 (4)	1:50.79 (7) 39.07 (4)	2:29.86