| | Event type

800 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	22 – 24 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	26 from 16 countries

The 800 metre freestyle was a new event for women on the Olympic Program. At the US Olympic Trials Debbie Meyer had set world records in the 200, 400, and 800 metre freestyles. Better in the distances she had already set five world records in this event, five in the 400, and three in the non-Olympic 1,500 free. Having already won gold in Mexico City in the 200 and 400 free, the only question was not if she would win, but by how much? By 400 metres she led by 4½ body lengths, followed by Australian 14-year-old Karen Moras, her teammate Pam Kruse, and Mexican favorite María Teresa Ramírez. Meyer finished in 9:24.0 to win her third individual freestyle gold medal by 11+ seconds, with Kruse taking silver. Ramírez won bronze as Swimming World noted, “The natatorium went loco as Ramírez touched out Moras by a tenth.” Through 2008, Debbie Meyer remains the only Olympic swimmer to have won three individual freestyle gold medals at the same Olympic Games.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Debbie Meyer	USA	9:42.8 (1 h1)	9:24.0 (1)	Gold
2	Pam Kruse	USA	9:49.8 (1 h3)	9:35.7 (2)	Silver
3	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	9:46.4 (1 h5)	9:38.5 (3)	Bronze
4	Karen Moras	AUS	9:38.3 (1 h2)	9:38.6 (4)
5	Patty Caretto	USA	9:46.4 (2 h5)	9:51.3 (5)
6	Angela Coughlan	CAN	10:00.2 (2 h1)	9:56.4 (6)
7	Denise Langford	AUS	9:59.3 (2 h2)	9:56.7 (7)
8	Laura Vaca	MEX	10:01.8 (3 h2)	10:02.5 (8)
9	Christine Deakes	AUS	10:06.7 (1 h4)	–
10	Elisabeth Morris	SWE	10:07.5 (2 h3)	–
11	Sigrid Goral	GDR	10:09.3 (3 h1)	–
12	Sue Williams	GBR	10:17.6 (3 h3)	–
13	Sabine Rantzsch	GDR	10:18.4 (4 h3)	–
14	Marie-José Kersaudy	FRA	10:19.8 (2 h4)	–
15	Novella Calligaris	ITA	10:21.0 (3 h4)	–
16	Dominique Mollier	FRA	10:21.4 (3 h5)	–
17	Marjatta Hara	FIN	10:23.3 (4 h5)	–
18	Kristina Moir	PUR	10:24.5 (4 h1)	–
19	Tui Shipston	NZL	10:28.0 (4 h2)	–
20	Norma Amezcua	MEX	10:31.6 (5 h2)	–
21	Helen Elliott	PHI	10:32.9 (5 h1)	–
22	Olga de Ángulo	COL	10:40.5 (5 h5)	–
23	Patricia Olano	COL	10:44.1 (4 h4)	–
24	Mónica E. Figueroa	URU	10:57.7 (6 h2)	–
25	Silvana Asturias	GUA	11:12.5 (5 h4)	–
26	Lylián Castillo	URU	11:19.1 (5 h3)	–
DNS	Anna Ocsai Galsi	HUN	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	Ingrid Gustavsson	SWE	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	Lorna Blake	PUR	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Vera Kock	SWE	– (DNS h3)	–
DNS	Sally Davison	GBR	– (DNS h4)	–
DNS	Sheila Clayton	GBR	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	Ana Marcial	PUR	– (DNS h5)	–

Round One (22 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	400 m	500 m	600 m	700 m	Time
1	3	Debbie Meyer	USA	1:08.2 (1) 1:13.4 (1)	2:21.6 (1) 1:13.6 (1)	3:35.2 (1) 1:14.1 (1)	4:49.3 (1) 1:14.0 (1)	6:03.3 (1) 1:13.6 (1)	7:16.9 (1) 1:13.9 (1)	8:30.8 (1) 1:12.0 (1)	9:42.8	QOR
2	6	Angela Coughlan	CAN	1:11.2 (2) 1:15.4 (2)	2:26.6 (2) 1:15.0 (2)	3:41.6 (2) 1:15.1 (2)	4:56.7 (2) 1:15.9 (2)	6:12.6 (2) 1:16.2 (2)	7:28.8 (2) 1:16.6 (2)	8:45.4 (2) 1:14.8 (2)	10:00.2	Q
3	5	Sigrid Goral	GDR	1:11.6 (3) 1:15.5 (3)	2:27.1 (3) 1:15.7 (3)	3:42.8 (3) 1:16.3 (3)	4:59.1 (3) 1:17.9 (3)	6:17.0 (3) 1:18.5 (3)	7:35.5 (3) 1:18.2 (3)	8:53.7 (3) 1:15.6 (3)	10:09.3
4	4	Kristina Moir	PUR	1:12.4 (4) 1:17.0 (4)	2:29.4 (4) 1:18.5 (4)	3:47.9 (4) 1:18.9 (4)	5:06.8 (4) 1:20.3 (4)	6:27.1 (4) 1:20.5 (=4)	7:47.6 (4) 1:19.9 (4)	9:07.5 (4) 1:17.0 (4)	10:24.5
5	2	Helen Elliott	PHI	1:14.0 (5) 1:19.0 (5)	2:33.0 (5) 1:19.0 (5)	3:52.0 (5) 1:19.8 (5)	5:11.8 (5) 1:20.7 (5)	6:32.5 (5) 1:20.5 (=4)	7:53.0 (5) 1:21.1 (5)	9:14.1 (5) 1:18.8 (5)	10:32.9
DNS	–	Anna Ocsai Galsi	HUN	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Ingrid Gustavsson	SWE	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	400 m	500 m	600 m	700 m	Time
1	6	Karen Moras	AUS	1:09.7 (1) 1:12.3 (1)	2:22.0 (1) 1:13.1 (1)	3:35.1 (1) 1:12.7 (1)	4:47.8 (1) 1:13.0 (1)	6:00.8 (1) 1:13.0 (1)	7:13.8 (1) 1:13.3 (1)	8:27.1 (1) 1:11.2 (1)	9:38.3	QOR
2	5	Denise Langford	AUS	1:10.5 (3) 1:14.2 (2)	2:24.7 (3) 1:15.0 (2)	3:39.7 (2) 1:15.8 (2)	4:55.5 (2) 1:15.4 (2)	6:10.9 (2) 1:16.7 (2)	7:27.6 (2) 1:17.0 (2)	8:44.6 (2) 1:14.7 (2)	9:59.3	Q
3	3	Laura Vaca	MEX	1:09.9 (2) 1:14.7 (3)	2:24.6 (2) 1:15.4 (3)	3:40.0 (3) 1:16.0 (3)	4:56.0 (3) 1:16.3 (3)	6:12.3 (3) 1:17.1 (3)	7:29.4 (3) 1:17.1 (3)	8:46.5 (3) 1:15.3 (3)	10:01.8	Q
4	7	Tui Shipston	NZL	1:10.9 (4) 1:15.1 (4)	2:26.0 (4) 1:16.9 (4)	3:42.9 (4) 1:19.5 (4)	5:02.4 (4) 1:21.0 (4)	6:23.4 (4) 1:22.2 (5)	7:45.6 (4) 1:22.0 (5)	9:07.6 (4) 1:20.4 (6)	10:28.0
5	2	Norma Amezcua	MEX	1:11.6 (5) 1:17.5 (5)	2:29.1 (5) 1:19.3 (5)	3:48.4 (5) 1:20.3 (5)	5:08.7 (5) 1:21.4 (5)	6:30.1 (5) 1:21.3 (4)	7:51.4 (5) 1:21.2 (4)	9:12.6 (5) 1:19.0 (4)	10:31.6
6	4	Mónica E. Figueroa	URU	1:17.4 (6) 1:22.2 (6)	2:39.6 (6) 1:23.8 (6)	4:03.4 (6) 1:23.3 (6)	5:26.7 (6) 1:23.8 (6)	6:50.5 (6) 1:23.7 (6)	8:14.2 (6) 1:23.5 (6)	9:37.7 (6) 1:20.0 (5)	10:57.7
DNS	–	Lorna Blake	PUR	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	400 m	500 m	600 m	700 m	Time
1	5	Pam Kruse	USA	1:10.9 (1) 1:15.3 (1)	2:26.2 (1) 1:15.4 (1)	3:41.6 (1) 1:15.6 (1)	4:57.2 (1) 1:13.8 (1)	6:11.0 (1) 1:12.9 (1)	7:23.9 (1) 1:13.7 (1)	8:37.6 (1) 1:12.2 (1)	9:49.8	Q
2	4	Elisabeth Morris	SWE	1:12.4 (2) 1:16.1 (2)	2:28.5 (2) 1:16.4 (2)	3:44.9 (2) 1:17.2 (2)	5:02.1 (2) 1:17.0 (2)	6:19.1 (2) 1:16.9 (2)	7:36.0 (2) 1:16.5 (2)	8:52.5 (2) 1:15.0 (3)	10:07.5
3	3	Sue Williams	GBR	1:13.0 (3) 1:17.9 (4)	2:30.9 (4) 1:18.0 (4)	3:48.9 (4) 1:17.7 (4)	5:06.6 (4) 1:18.8 (4)	6:25.4 (4) 1:19.1 (4)	7:44.5 (4) 1:18.8 (3)	9:03.3 (4) 1:14.3 (2)	10:17.6
4	2	Sabine Rantzsch	GDR	1:13.2 (4) 1:17.4 (3)	2:30.6 (3) 1:17.7 (3)	3:48.3 (3) 1:17.5 (3)	5:05.8 (3) 1:17.9 (3)	6:23.7 (3) 1:18.5 (3)	7:42.2 (3) 1:19.0 (4)	9:01.2 (3) 1:17.2 (4)	10:18.4
5	6	Lylián Castillo	URU	1:16.4 (5) 1:25.3 (5)	2:41.7 (5) 1:26.9 (5)	4:08.6 (5) 1:26.5 (5)	5:35.1 (5) 1:27.1 (5)	7:02.2 (5) 1:25.7 (5)	8:27.9 (5) 1:26.0 (5)	9:53.9 (5) 1:25.2 (5)	11:19.1
DNS	–	Vera Kock	SWE	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	400 m	500 m	600 m	700 m	Time
1	2	Christine Deakes	AUS	1:10.6 (1) 1:14.7 (5)	2:25.3 (5) 1:14.1 (1)	3:39.4 (1) 1:15.2 (1)	4:54.6 (1) 1:16.8 (1)	6:11.4 (1) 1:18.5 (1)	7:29.9 (1) 1:18.6 (=1)	8:48.5 (1) 1:18.2 (3)	10:06.7
2	3	Marie-José Kersaudy	FRA	1:12.1 (2) 1:15.5 (1)	2:27.6 (1) 1:15.6 (2)	3:43.2 (2) 1:18.8 (2)	5:02.0 (2) 1:19.0 (2)	6:21.0 (2) 1:20.7 (3)	7:41.7 (2) 1:20.8 (3)	9:02.5 (2) 1:17.3 (2)	10:19.8
3	6	Novella Calligaris	ITA	1:12.4 (3) 1:16.3 (2)	2:28.7 (2) 1:18.7 (3)	3:47.4 (3) 1:20.3 (3)	5:07.7 (3) 1:19.4 (3)	6:27.1 (3) 1:19.8 (2)	7:46.9 (3) 1:18.6 (=1)	9:05.5 (3) 1:15.5 (1)	10:21.0
4	5	Patricia Olano	COL	1:13.5 (4) 1:18.8 (3)	2:32.3 (3) 1:20.3 (4)	3:52.6 (4) 1:20.8 (4)	5:13.4 (4) 1:23.1 (4)	6:36.5 (4) 1:22.8 (4)	7:59.3 (4) 1:24.4 (4)	9:23.7 (4) 1:20.4 (4)	10:44.1
5	4	Silvana Asturias	GUA	1:17.6 (5) 1:22.3 (4)	2:39.9 (4) 1:23.1 (5)	4:03.0 (5) 1:24.5 (5)	5:27.5 (5) 1:25.4 (5)	6:52.9 (5) 1:27.0 (5)	8:19.9 (5) 1:27.5 (5)	9:47.4 (5) 1:25.1 (5)	11:12.5
DNS	–	Sally Davison	GBR	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	400 m	500 m	600 m	700 m	Time
1	4	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	1:09.8 (2) 1:12.5 (1)	2:22.3 (2) 1:13.5 (1)	3:35.8 (=1) 1:13.4 (1)	4:49.2 (1) 1:14.8 (2)	6:04.0 (1) 1:15.5 (2)	7:19.5 (2) 1:15.0 (2)	8:34.5 (2) 1:11.9 (1)	9:46.4	Q
2	2	Patty Caretto	USA	1:09.1 (1) 1:12.9 (2)	2:22.0 (1) 1:13.8 (2)	3:35.8 (=1) 1:14.1 (2)	4:49.9 (2) 1:14.2 (1)	6:04.1 (2) 1:14.9 (1)	7:19.0 (1) 1:14.9 (1)	8:33.9 (1) 1:12.5 (3)	9:46.4	Q
3	5	Dominique Mollier	FRA	1:12.5 (4) 1:17.5 (4)	2:30.0 (4) 1:18.9 (4)	3:48.9 (4) 1:20.1 (4)	5:09.0 (4) 1:20.1 (3)	6:29.1 (4) 1:20.3 (3)	7:49.4 (4) 1:19.9 (3)	9:09.3 (4) 1:12.1 (2)	10:21.4
4	6	Marjatta Hara	FIN	1:11.3 (3) 1:16.3 (3)	2:27.6 (3) 1:17.5 (3)	3:45.1 (3) 1:19.4 (3)	5:04.5 (3) 1:20.2 (4)	6:24.7 (3) 1:20.4 (4)	7:45.1 (3) 1:20.7 (4)	9:05.8 (3) 1:17.5 (4)	10:23.3
5	3	Olga de Ángulo	COL	1:15.7 (5) 1:21.1 (5)	2:36.8 (5) 1:19.8 (5)	3:56.6 (5) 1:21.0 (5)	5:17.6 (5) 1:21.3 (5)	6:38.9 (5) 1:21.0 (5)	7:59.9 (5) 1:22.2 (5)	9:22.1 (5) 1:18.4 (5)	10:40.5
DNS	–	Sheila Clayton	GBR	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–
DNS	–	Ana Marcial	PUR	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Final (24 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	400 m	500 m	600 m	700 m	Time
1	5	Debbie Meyer	USA	1:05.8 (1) 1:10.1 (1)	2:15.9 (1) 1:11.1 (1)	3:27.0 (1) 1:11.6 (1)	4:38.6 (1) 1:11.5 (2)	5:50.1 (1) 1:12.2 (1)	7:02.3 (1) 1:12.3 (1)	8:14.6 (1) 1:09.4 (1)	9:24.0	OR
2	2	Pam Kruse	USA	1:08.5 (6) 1:11.6 (3)	2:20.1 (5) 1:12.5 (2)	3:32.6 (4) 1:12.5 (2)	4:45.1 (2) 1:12.5 (3)	5:57.6 (2) 1:12.7 (2)	7:10.3 (2) 1:13.6 (2)	8:23.9 (2) 1:11.8 (4)	9:35.7
3	3	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	1:07.4 (3) 1:11.9 (4)	2:19.3 (3) 1:12.9 (3)	3:32.2 (3) 1:13.6 (3)	4:45.8 (3) 1:13.5 (4)	5:59.3 (4) 1:13.9 (3)	7:13.2 (4) 1:14.0 (3)	8:27.2 (4) 1:11.3 (2)	9:38.5
4	4	Karen Moras	AUS	1:07.0 (2) 1:11.5 (2)	2:18.5 (2) 1:13.0 (4)	3:31.5 (2) 1:18.4 (8)	4:49.9 (5) 1:09.0 (1)	5:58.9 (3) 1:14.1 (4)	7:13.0 (3) 1:14.1 (4)	8:27.1 (3) 1:11.5 (3)	9:38.6
5	6	Patty Caretto	USA	1:07.7 (4) 1:12.3 (5)	2:20.0 (4) 1:13.4 (5)	3:33.4 (5) 1:14.6 (4)	4:48.0 (4) 1:15.1 (5)	6:03.1 (5) 1:16.4 (5)	7:19.5 (5) 1:16.4 (6)	8:35.9 (5) 1:15.4 (6)	9:51.3
6	1	Angela Coughlan	CAN	1:08.0 (5) 1:12.6 (6)	2:20.6 (6) 1:14.3 (6)	3:34.9 (6) 1:16.2 (=6)	4:51.1 (6) 1:16.6 (8)	6:07.7 (6) 1:16.5 (=6)	7:24.2 (6) 1:16.6 (7)	8:40.8 (6) 1:15.6 (7)	9:56.4
7	7	Denise Langford	AUS	1:09.1 (7) 1:13.4 (7)	2:22.5 (7) 1:14.5 (7)	3:37.0 (7) 1:15.5 (5)	4:52.5 (7) 1:15.8 (6)	6:08.3 (7) 1:16.5 (=6)	7:24.8 (7) 1:16.2 (5)	8:41.0 (7) 1:15.7 (8)	9:56.7
8	8	Laura Vaca	MEX	1:10.1 (8) 1:15.1 (8)	2:25.2 (8) 1:16.0 (8)	3:41.2 (8) 1:16.2 (=6)	4:57.4 (8) 1:16.4 (7)	6:13.8 (8) 1:16.6 (8)	7:30.4 (8) 1:16.8 (8)	8:47.2 (8) 1:15.3 (5)	10:02.5