| Date | 24 July 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva |
| Participants | 22 from 14 countries |
This was one of the few events at which an American swimmer might have been favored. At the 1978 World Championships, Sippy Woodhead won gold over East German Barbara Krause, Woodhead breaking the world record in 1:58.53. In 1979 Woodhead lowered that mark twice, leaving it at 1:58.23 from a Tokyo meet in September. In her absence Krause was favored, already having won the 100 freestyle in Moscow. But the leader of the race for three laps was her teammate Ines Diers, and it took a 28.47 final 50 for Krause to pull out the gold medal, Diers slowing to finish second 1.31 seconds behind. Bronze went to their teammate Carmela Schmidt, as the GDR women swept the medals, one of six times in Moscow they accomplished that. At the US Nationals on 1 August, Sippy Woodhead won in 1:59.44, over a second slower than Krause’s gold-medal winning time.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | Barbara Krause |  GDR | 2:01.18 (1 h4) | 1:58.33 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | – | Ines Diers | GDR | 2:00.27 (1 h2) | 1:59.64 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 81 | Carmela Schmidt | GDR | 2:02.32 (1 h3) | 2:01.44 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 160 | Olga Klevakina |  URS | 2:02.36 (2 h4) | 2:02.29 (4) | |||
| 5 | 90 | Reggie de Jong |  NED | 2:02.66 (1 h1) | 2:02.76 (5) | |||
| 6 | 48 | June Croft |  GBR | 2:03.95 (2 h3) | 2:03.15 (6) | |||
| 7 | – | Nataliya Strunnikova | URS | 2:03.36 (2 h1) | 2:03.74 (7) | |||
| 8 | – | Irina Aksyonova | URS | 2:03.63 (3 h1) | 2:04.00 (8) | |||
| 9 | 93 | Annelies Maas | NED | 2:04.07 (2 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | – | Rosemary Brown |  AUS | 2:04.59 (3 h3) | – | |||
| 11 | 39 | Guylaine Berger |  FRA | 2:04.60 (3 h4) | – | |||
| 12 | 18 | Pascale Verbauwen |  BEL | 2:05.34 (4 h4) | – | |||
| 13 | 20 | Sonya Dangalakova |  BUL | 2:05.67 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 14 | 36 | Natalia Mas |  ESP | 2:05.73 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 15 | 138 | Tina Gustafsson |  SWE | 2:05.84 (5 h4) | – | |||
| 16 | 9 | Karen Van de Graaf | AUS | 2:06.06 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 17 | 88 | Sofia Dara |  GRE | 2:07.56 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 18 | 61 | Jackie Willmott | GBR | 2:08.04 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 19 | 24 | Dobrinka Mincheva | BUL | 2:09.09 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 20 | 131 | Irinel Pănulescu |  ROU | 2:09.94 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 21 | – | Celeste García |  PER | 2:13.05 (6 h4) | – | |||
| 22 | 111 | Soad Fezzani |  LBA | 2:30.14 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 118 | Isabel Reuss |  MEX | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 26 | María París |  CRC | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| 137 | Agneta Eriksson | SWE | – (DNS h2) | – | ||||
| – | Michelle Ford | AUS | – (DNS h4) | – |
| Date | 24 July 1980 — 11:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ines Diers | GDR | 2:00.27 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Barbara Krause | GDR | 2:01.18 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Carmela Schmidt | GDR | 2:02.32 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Olga Klevakina | URS | 2:02.36 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Reggie de Jong | NED | 2:02.66 | ||
| 6 | 4 | Nataliya Strunnikova | URS | 2:03.36 | ||
| 7 | 5 | Irina Aksyonova | URS | 2:03.63 | ||
| 8 | 6 | June Croft | GBR | 2:03.95 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Annelies Maas | NED | 2:04.07 | ||
| 10 | 3 | Rosemary Brown | AUS | 2:04.59 | ||
| 11 | 2 | Guylaine Berger | FRA | 2:04.60 | ||
| 12 | 7 | Pascale Verbauwen | BEL | 2:05.34 | ||
| 13 | 2 | Sonya Dangalakova | BUL | 2:05.67 | ||
| 14 | 6 | Natalia Mas | ESP | 2:05.73 | ||
| 15 | 3 | Tina Gustafsson | SWE | 2:05.84 | ||
| 16 | 3 | Karen Van de Graaf | AUS | 2:06.06 | ||
| 17 | 7 | Sofia Dara | GRE | 2:07.56 | ||
| 18 | 5 | Jackie Willmott | GBR | 2:08.04 | ||
| 19 | 2 | Dobrinka Mincheva | BUL | 2:09.09 | ||
| 20 | 7 | Irinel Pănulescu | ROU | 2:09.94 | ||
| 21 | 1 | Celeste García | PER | 2:13.05 | ||
| 22 | 1 | Soad Fezzani | LBA | 2:30.14 | ||
| 2 | Isabel Reuss | MEX | – | |||
| 7 | María París | CRC | – | |||
| 6 | Agneta Eriksson | SWE | – | |||
| 6 | Michelle Ford | AUS | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Reggie de Jong | NED | 2:02.66 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Nataliya Strunnikova | URS | 2:03.36 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Irina Aksyonova | URS | 2:03.63 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Natalia Mas | ESP | 2:05.73 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Sofia Dara | GRE | 2:07.56 | ||
| 2 | Isabel Reuss | MEX | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Ines Diers | GDR | 2:00.27 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Annelies Maas | NED | 2:04.07 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Karen Van de Graaf | AUS | 2:06.06 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Dobrinka Mincheva | BUL | 2:09.09 | ||
| 7 | María París | CRC | – | |||
| 6 | Agneta Eriksson | SWE | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Carmela Schmidt | GDR | 2:02.32 | ||
| 2 | 6 | June Croft | GBR | 2:03.95 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Rosemary Brown | AUS | 2:04.59 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Sonya Dangalakova | BUL | 2:05.67 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Jackie Willmott | GBR | 2:08.04 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Irinel Pănulescu | ROU | 2:09.94 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Soad Fezzani | LBA | 2:30.14 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Barbara Krause | GDR | 2:01.18 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Olga Klevakina | URS | 2:02.36 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Guylaine Berger | FRA | 2:04.60 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Pascale Verbauwen | BEL | 2:05.34 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Tina Gustafsson | SWE | 2:05.84 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Celeste García | PER | 2:13.05 | ||
| 6 | Michelle Ford | AUS | – |
| Date | 24 July 1980 — 20:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Barbara Krause | GDR | 1:58.33 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Ines Diers | GDR | 1:59.64 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Carmela Schmidt | GDR | 2:01.44 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Olga Klevakina | URS | 2:02.29 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Reggie de Jong | NED | 2:02.76 | ||
| 6 | 8 | June Croft | GBR | 2:03.15 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Nataliya Strunnikova | URS | 2:03.74 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Irina Aksyonova | URS | 2:04.00 |
