| Date | 27 July 1980 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Plavatelny basseyn, Sportivny kompleks Olimpiysky, Moskva |
| Participants | 21 from 13 countries |
American Linda Jezek would have been the favorite if the USA was in Moscow. She had won the 100 and 200 backstrokes at the 1978 World Championships, with her winning mark in this event a still-standing world record of 2:11.93 as the Games started. Four days before Rica Reinisch had won gold in the 100 backstroke, and was highly considered, but her personal best as recently as June 1980 was only 2:15.59, far from the top international level. But she led throughout in Moscow, leading the East German women to a medal sweep, and finishing in 2:11.77 to better Jezek’s world record. Bronze medalist Birgit Treiber had won silver in this event at the 1976 Olympics, and had been silver medalist behind Jezek in both backstrokes at the 1978 Worlds.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 78 | Rica Reinisch |  GDR | 2:13.00 (1 h2) | 2:11.77 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 75 | Cornelia Polit | GDR | 2:14.81 (1 h3) | 2:13.75 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Birgit Treiber | GDR | 2:15.53 (2 h3) | 2:14.14 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 128 | Carmen Bunaciu |  ROU | 2:15.88 (2 h2) | 2:15.20 (4) | |||
| 5 | 16 | Yolande Van Der Straeten |  BEL | 2:16.62 (2 h1) | 2:15.58 (5) | |||
| 6 | 17 | Carine Verbauwen | BEL | 2:16.96 (4 h1) | 2:16.66 (6) | |||
| 7 | 5 | Lisa Forrest |  AUS | 2:15.40 (1 h1) | 2:16.75 (7) | |||
| 8 | – | Larisa Gorchakova |  URS | 2:16.68 (3 h1) | 2:17.72 (8) | |||
| 9 | 91 | Jolanda de Rover |  NED | 2:17.12 (3 h3) | – | |||
| 10 | – | Georgina Parkes | AUS | 2:17.78 (3 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | 52 | Helen Jameson |  GBR | 2:17.84 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 12 | 44 | Jane Admans | GBR | 2:19.20 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 13 | 89 | Monique Bosga | NED | 2:19.21 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 14 | 119 | Teresa Rivera |  MEX | 2:21.51 (4 h3) | – | |||
| 15 | 162 | Yelena Kruglova | URS | 2:22.41 (5 h3) | – | |||
| 16 | 104 | Manuela Carosi |  ITA | 2:22.46 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 17 | 43 | Michèle Ricaud |  FRA | 2:22.86 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 18 | 125 | Agnieszka Czopek |  POL | 2:23.06 (6 h3) | – | |||
| 19 | 96 | Ágnes Fodor |  HUN | 2:23.56 (7 h3) | – | |||
| 20 | 123 | Magdalena Białas | POL | 2:26.85 (8 h3) | – | |||
| 21 | 174 | Nguyễn Thị Hồng Bích |  VIE | 2:52.90 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 26 | María París |  CRC | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 98 | Andrea Kalman | HUN | – (DNS h1) | – | ||||
| 146 | Annika Uvehall |  SWE | – (DNS h1) | – |
| Date | 27 July 1980 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Rica Reinisch | GDR | 2:13.00 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Cornelia Polit | GDR | 2:14.81 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Lisa Forrest | AUS | 2:15.40 | ||
| 4 | 4 | Birgit Treiber | GDR | 2:15.53 | ||
| 5 | 4 | Carmen Bunaciu | ROU | 2:15.88 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Yolande Van Der Straeten | BEL | 2:16.62 | ||
| 7 | 5 | Larisa Gorchakova | URS | 2:16.68 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Carine Verbauwen | BEL | 2:16.96 | ||
| 9 | 3 | Jolanda de Rover | NED | 2:17.12 | ||
| 10 | 6 | Georgina Parkes | AUS | 2:17.78 | ||
| 11 | 1 | Helen Jameson | GBR | 2:17.84 | ||
| 12 | 3 | Jane Admans | GBR | 2:19.20 | ||
| 13 | 3 | Monique Bosga | NED | 2:19.21 | ||
| 14 | 8 | Teresa Rivera | MEX | 2:21.51 | ||
| 15 | 2 | Yelena Kruglova | URS | 2:22.41 | ||
| 16 | 1 | Manuela Carosi | ITA | 2:22.46 | ||
| 17 | 7 | Michèle Ricaud | FRA | 2:22.86 | ||
| 18 | 1 | Agnieszka Czopek | POL | 2:23.06 | ||
| 19 | 6 | Ágnes Fodor | HUN | 2:23.56 | ||
| 20 | 7 | Magdalena Białas | POL | 2:26.85 | ||
| 21 | 8 | Nguyễn Thị Hồng Bích | VIE | 2:52.90 | ||
| 8 | María París | CRC | – | |||
| 7 | Andrea Kalman | HUN | – | |||
| 2 | Annika Uvehall | SWE | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lisa Forrest | AUS | 2:15.40 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Yolande Van Der Straeten | BEL | 2:16.62 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Larisa Gorchakova | URS | 2:16.68 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Carine Verbauwen | BEL | 2:16.96 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Jane Admans | GBR | 2:19.20 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Manuela Carosi | ITA | 2:22.46 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Michèle Ricaud | FRA | 2:22.86 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Nguyễn Thị Hồng Bích | VIE | 2:52.90 | ||
| 8 | María París | CRC | – | |||
| 7 | Andrea Kalman | HUN | – | |||
| 2 | Annika Uvehall | SWE | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Rica Reinisch | GDR | 2:13.00 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Carmen Bunaciu | ROU | 2:15.88 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Georgina Parkes | AUS | 2:17.78 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Helen Jameson | GBR | 2:17.84 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Monique Bosga | NED | 2:19.21 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Cornelia Polit | GDR | 2:14.81 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Birgit Treiber | GDR | 2:15.53 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Jolanda de Rover | NED | 2:17.12 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Teresa Rivera | MEX | 2:21.51 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Yelena Kruglova | URS | 2:22.41 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Agnieszka Czopek | POL | 2:23.06 | ||
| 7 | 6 | Ágnes Fodor | HUN | 2:23.56 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Magdalena Białas | POL | 2:26.85 |
| Date | 27 July 1980 — 18:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Rica Reinisch | GDR | 2:11.77 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Cornelia Polit | GDR | 2:13.75 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Birgit Treiber | GDR | 2:14.14 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Carmen Bunaciu | ROU | 2:15.20 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Yolande Van Der Straeten | BEL | 2:15.58 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Carine Verbauwen | BEL | 2:16.66 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Lisa Forrest | AUS | 2:16.75 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Larisa Gorchakova | URS | 2:17.72 |
