| Date | 10 – 11 August 1928 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Zwemstadion, Amsterdam |
| Participants | 24 from 11 countries |
The American women’s freestyle team arrived in the Netherlands with the expectation of matching their efforts of Antwerp and Paris and sweeping the medal positions. Eleanor Garatti assumed the mantle of favorite when she broke the Olympic record in the semi-final, but the final belonged to another American.
Albina Osipowich had only finished third in the national trials, but in Amsterdam she held off the challenge of Garatti and touched .4 of a second in front of her rival to take the victory. Osipowich’s career was brief and meteoric. After the Olympics, she went to college, and swimming was relegated to nothing more than a hobby. Two British swimmers, Joyce Cooper and Jean McDowall, fought for the bronze medal and, although some observes thought she was beaten to the touch by her teammate, the judges voted 3-2 in Cooper’s favor.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albina Osipowich |  USA | 1:12.4 (1 h4) | 1:12.2 (1 h1) | 1:11.0 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Eleanor Garatti | USA | 1:14.8 (1 h3) | 1:11.4 (1 h2) | 1:11.4 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Joyce Cooper |  GBR | 1:16.8 (2 h6) | 1:14.0 (3 h1) | 1:13.6 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Jean McDowall | GBR | 1:14.0 (1 h1) | 1:15.6 (2 h2) | 1:13.8 (4) | |||
| 5 | Susan Laird | USA | 1:14.2 (2 h1) | 1:13.8 (2 h1) | 1:14.6 (5) | |||
| 6 | Lotte Lehmann |  GER | 1:15.6 (1 h6) | 1:15.8 (3 h2) | 1:15.2 (6) | |||
| 4 h1 r2/3 | Vera Tanner | GBR | 1:26.4 (2 h3) | – (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r2/3 | Kathleen Russell |  RSA | 1:15.4 (1 h5) | – (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | Ena Stockley |  NZL | 1:16.4 (2 h2) | – (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | Rie Vierdag |  NED | 1:14.4 (3 h1) | – (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | Agnete Olsen |  DEN | 1:15.8 (1 h2) | – (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/3 | Kay Miller | NZL | 1:17.2 (2 h4) | – (6 h2) | – | |||
| AC h1 r2/3 | Sarolta Stieber |  HUN | 1:22.2 (2 h5) | – (DNF h1) | – | DNF | ||
| 3 h2 r1/3 | Zus Engelenberg | RSA | 1:22.6 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 3 h4 r1/3 | Margit Sipos | HUN | 1:18.8 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 3 h5 r1/3 | Marguerite Dockrell |  IRL | 1:31.6 (3 h5) | – | – | |||
| 3 h6 r1/3 | Bonnie Mealing |  AUS | 1:20.6 (3 h6) | – | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/3 | Reni Erkens | GER | 1:15.0 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r1/3 | Edna Davey | AUS | – (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 4 h6 r1/3 | Gerda Bredgaard | DEN | – (4 h6) | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/3 | Rhoda Rennie | RSA | – (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/3 | Marguerite Ledoux |  FRA | – (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h6 r1/3 | Andreé Dupire | FRA | – (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/3 | Claire Horrent | FRA | – (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| Dora Schönemann | GER | – (DNS h3) | – | – | ||||
| Fritzi Löwy |  AUT | – (DNS h3) | – | – | ||||
| Zus Braun | NED | – (DNS h3) | – | – | ||||
| Hedevig Gjørling | DEN | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Idy Kohn | AUT | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Halina Iżycka |  POL | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| Willy den Turk | NED | – (DNS h5) | – | – |
| Date | 10 August 1928 — 17:05 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top two in each heat and the next fastest advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Jean McDowall | GBR | 1:14.0 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Susan Laird | USA | 1:14.2 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Rie Vierdag | NED | 1:14.4 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Reni Erkens | GER | 1:15.0 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Rhoda Rennie | RSA | – | ||
| 6 | 2 | Claire Horrent | FRA | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Agnete Olsen | DEN | 1:15.8 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Ena Stockley | NZL | 1:16.4 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Zus Engelenberg | RSA | 1:22.6 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Edna Davey | AUS | – | ||
| 5 | 5 | Marguerite Ledoux | FRA | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Eleanor Garatti | USA | 1:14.8 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Vera Tanner | GBR | 1:26.4 | ||
| 1 | Dora Schönemann | GER | – | |||
| 3 | Fritzi Löwy | AUT | – | |||
| 5 | Zus Braun | NED | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Albina Osipowich | USA | 1:12.4 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Kay Miller | NZL | 1:17.2 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Margit Sipos | HUN | 1:18.8 | ||
| 2 | Hedevig Gjørling | DEN | – | |||
| 5 | Idy Kohn | AUT | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Kathleen Russell | RSA | 1:15.4 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Sarolta Stieber | HUN | 1:22.2 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Marguerite Dockrell | IRL | 1:31.6 | ||
| 3 | Halina Iżycka | POL | – | |||
| 5 | Willy den Turk | NED | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Lotte Lehmann | GER | 1:15.6 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Joyce Cooper | GBR | 1:16.8 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Bonnie Mealing | AUS | 1:20.6 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Gerda Bredgaard | DEN | – | ||
| 5 | 4 | Andreé Dupire | FRA | – |
| Date | 11 August 1928 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top three in each heat advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albina Osipowich | USA | 1:12.2 | ||
| 2 | Susan Laird | USA | 1:13.8 | ||
| 3 | Joyce Cooper | GBR | 1:14.0 | ||
| 4 | Vera Tanner | GBR | – | ||
| 5 | Ena Stockley | NZL | – | ||
| 6 | Agnete Olsen | DEN | – | ||
| Sarolta Stieber | HUN | – |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eleanor Garatti | USA | 1:11.4 | ||
| 2 | Jean McDowall | GBR | 1:15.6 | ||
| 3 | Lotte Lehmann | GER | 1:15.8 | ||
| 4 | Kathleen Russell | RSA | – | ||
| 5 | Rie Vierdag | NED | – | ||
| 6 | Kay Miller | NZL | – |
| Date | 11 August 1928 — 17:05 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albina Osipowich | USA | 1:11.0 | ||
| 2 | Eleanor Garatti | USA | 1:11.4 | ||
| 3 | Joyce Cooper | GBR | 1:13.6 | ||
| 4 | Jean McDowall | GBR | 1:13.8 | ||
| 5 | Susan Laird | USA | 1:14.6 | ||
| 6 | Lotte Lehmann | GER | 1:15.2 |
