100 metres Backstroke, Women
| Date | 19 – 20 July 1924 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscine des Tourelles, Saint-Mandé |
| Participants | 10 from 5 countries |
The inaugural Olympic women’s backstroke event had a clear favourite; Sybil Bauer arrived in Paris as world record holder and claimed an unbeaten record in backstroke competition. At the Olympics she dominated the field and finished four seconds ahead of the silver medallist, in comparison 3.8 seconds covered the other four swimmers in the final. Sybil Bauer’s career was brief but sensational; a highlight being a race in 1922 she bettered the men’s world record for the 440 yards backstroke by four clear seconds. She set 23 official world records in her career but did not live to defend her Olympic championship. In January 1927 she died just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. Shortly prior to her premature death, she had become engaged to a New York sportswriter, Ed Sullivan, who later hosted a very popular television variety show
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sybil Bauer |  USA | 1:24.0 (1 h1) | 1:23.2 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Phyllis Harding |  GBR | 1:29.6 (2 h1) | 1:27.4 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Aileen Riggin | USA | 1:29.6 (1 h2) | 1:28.2 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Florence Chambers | USA | 1:32.0 (3 h1) | 1:30.8 (4) | |||
| 5 | Jarmila Müllerová |  TCH | 1:37.0 (2 h2) | 1:31.2 (5) | |||
| 3 h2 r1/2 | Helen Boyle | GBR | 1:43.0 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/2 | Ellen King | GBR | 1:38.2 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r1/2 | Alice Stoffel |  FRA | 1:44.0 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/2 | Lucienne Rouet | FRA | 1:43.8 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/2 | Renée Brasseur |  LUX | 1:51.4 (5 h2) | – | |||
| Rigmor Olsen |  DEN | – (DNS h1) | – |
Semi-Finals (19 July 1924 — 15:00)
Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Sybil Bauer | USA | 1:24.0 | |||
| 2 | – | Phyllis Harding | GBR | 1:29.6 | |||
| 3 | – | Florence Chambers | USA | 1:32.0 | |||
| 4 | – | Ellen King | GBR | 1:38.2 | |||
| 5 | – | Lucienne Rouet | FRA | 1:43.8 | |||
| – | Rigmor Olsen | DEN | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Aileen Riggin | USA | 1:29.6 | |||
| 2 | – | Jarmila Müllerová | TCH | 1:37.0 | |||
| 3 | – | Helen Boyle | GBR | 1:43.0 | |||
| 4 | – | Alice Stoffel | FRA | 1:44.0 | |||
| 5 | – | Renée Brasseur | LUX | 1:51.4 |
Final (20 July 1924 — 15:00)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Sybil Bauer | USA | 1:23.2 | |||
| 2 | – | Phyllis Harding | GBR | 1:27.4 | |||
| 3 | – | Aileen Riggin | USA | 1:28.2 | |||
| 4 | – | Florence Chambers | USA | 1:30.8 | |||
| 5 | – | Jarmila Müllerová | TCH | 1:31.2 |