| Date | 29 July 1984 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympic Swim Stadium, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 45 from 30 countries |
This was the first final of the 1984 Olympic swimming program and it was greatly affected by the results of the men’s 400 individual medley at the 1972 Olympics. In that event, Sweden’s Gunnar Larsson and American Tim McKee seemingly tied in 4:31.98, but the electronic timer broke that tie, giving the Swede the gold by a margin of 2/1000ths of a second. It was decided after that race, that this was too close, as the margin could be affected by irregularities in the paint on a lane, so all swimming races since 1972 that were tied to the 1/100th would be considered ties.
The early leader in the final of this race was Dutchwoman Annemarie Verstappen, who was ahead at the turn. In the final 50 metres the Americans Carrie Steinseifer and Nancy Hogshead passed her and came to the wall together, literally together. They both finished in 55.92, although the scoreboard initially showed Steinseifer as the winner, but that was quickly changed to a tie for first between Steinseifer and Hogshead.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | B Final | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 247 | Nancy Hogshead |  USA | 55.85 (1 h6) | – | 55.92 (=1) | Gold | ||
| =1 | 260 | Carrie Steinseifer | USA | 56.46 (1 h3) | – | 55.92 (=1) | Gold | ||
| 3 | 147 | Annemarie Verstappen |  NED | 56.11 (1 h2) | – | 56.08 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 142 | Conny van Bentum | NED | 56.94 (2 h4) | – | 56.43 (4) | |||
| 5 | 17 | Michelle Pearson |  AUS | 56.75 (1 h4) | – | 56.83 (5) | |||
| 6 | 111 | June Croft |  GBR | 57.12 (1 h5) | – | 56.90 (6) | |||
| 7 | – | Susanne Schuster |  FRG | 56.85 (2 h3) | – | 57.11 (7) | |||
| 8 | 19 | Angela Russell | AUS | 57.30 (2 h6) | – | 58.09 (8) | |||
| 9 | 106 | Iris Zscherpe | FRG | 57.31 (1 h1) | 57.19 (1) | – | |||
| 10 | 165 | Silvia Persi |  ITA | 57.62 (2 h2) | 57.24 (2) | – | |||
| 11 | 113 | Nikki Fibbens | GBR | 57.80 (2 h5) | 57.36 (3) | – | |||
| 12 | 59 | Pam Rai |  CAN | 57.41 (3 h4) | 57.56 (4) | – | |||
| 13 | 87 | Sophie Kamoun |  FRA | 57.49 (2 h1) | 57.81 (5) | – | |||
| 14 | 48 | Jane Kerr | CAN | 58.46 (3 h2) | 57.85 (6) | – | |||
| 15 | 223 | Agneta Eriksson |  SWE | 58.43 (3 h6) | 58.08 (7) | – | |||
| 16 | 229 | Maria Kardum | SWE | 58.22 (3 h5) | 58.12 (8) | – | |||
| 17 | 184 | Kaori Yanase |  JPN | 58.47 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 18 | 81 | Maarit Sihvonen |  FIN | 58.51 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 19 | 215 | Marie-Thérèse Armentero |  SUI | 58.73 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 20 | 193 | Patricia Kohlmann |  MEX | 58.76 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 21 | 178 | Chikako Nakamori | JPN | 59.00 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 22 | – | Ding Jilian |  CHN | 59.11 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 128 | Sofia Dara |  GRE | 59.25 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 24 | 159 | Grazia Colombo | ITA | 59.43 (4 h6) | – | – | |||
| 25 | 196 | Teresa Rivera | MEX | 59.61 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 26 | 69 | Yan Hong | CHN | 1:00.45 (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| 27 | 4 | Virginia Sachero |  ARG | 1:00.53 (6 h6) | – | – | |||
| 28 | 202 | Carmel Clark |  NZL | 1:00.63 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 29 | 155 | Shelley Cramer |  ISV | 1:00.65 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 30 | 186 | Kim Jin-Suk |  KOR | 1:00.91 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 31 | 209 | Sandra Crousse |  PER | 1:01.02 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 32 | 134 | Kathy Wong |  HKG | 1:01.03 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 33 | 151 | Carol-Ann Heavey |  IRL | 1:01.34 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 34 | 133 | Fenella Ng | HKG | 1:01.82 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 35 | 240 | Faten Ghattas |  TUN | 1:02.00 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 36 | 210 | Christine Jacob |  PHI | 1:02.43 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 37 | 129 | Blanca Morales |  GUA | 1:02.48 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 38 | 187 | Helen Chow |  MAS | 1:02.53 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 39 | 203 | Anna Doig | NZL | 1:02.72 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 40 | 72 | Sherwite Hafez |  EGY | 1:02.78 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 41 | 130 | Karin Slowing | GUA | 1:03.46 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 42 | 71 | Nevine Hafez | EGY | 1:04.06 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 43 | 80 | Sharon Pickering |  FIJ | 1:04.25 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 44 | 214 | Daniela Galassi |  SMR | 1:06.19 (8 h6) | – | – | |||
| 45 | 150 | María Lardizábal |  HON | 1:07.80 (8 h4) | – | – |
| Date | 29 July 1984 — 8:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Iris Zscherpe | FRG | 57.31 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Sophie Kamoun | FRA | 57.49 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Kaori Yanase | JPN | 58.47 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Teresa Rivera | MEX | 59.61 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Faten Ghattas | TUN | 1:02.00 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Anna Doig | NZL | 1:02.72 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Sharon Pickering | FIJ | 1:04.25 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Annemarie Verstappen | NED | 56.11 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Silvia Persi | ITA | 57.62 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Jane Kerr | CAN | 58.46 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Sofia Dara | GRE | 59.25 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Carmel Clark | NZL | 1:00.63 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Kathy Wong | HKG | 1:01.03 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Blanca Morales | GUA | 1:02.48 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Carrie Steinseifer | USA | 56.46 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Susanne Schuster | FRG | 56.85 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Maarit Sihvonen | FIN | 58.51 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Marie-Thérèse Armentero | SUI | 58.73 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Ding Jilian | CHN | 59.11 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Fenella Ng | HKG | 1:01.82 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Nevine Hafez | EGY | 1:04.06 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Michelle Pearson | AUS | 56.75 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Conny van Bentum | NED | 56.94 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Pam Rai | CAN | 57.41 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Patricia Kohlmann | MEX | 58.76 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Kim Jin-Suk | KOR | 1:00.91 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Sandra Crousse | PER | 1:01.02 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Sherwite Hafez | EGY | 1:02.78 | ||
| 8 | 8 | María Lardizábal | HON | 1:07.80 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | June Croft | GBR | 57.12 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Nikki Fibbens | GBR | 57.80 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Maria Kardum | SWE | 58.22 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Chikako Nakamori | JPN | 59.00 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Shelley Cramer | ISV | 1:00.65 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Carol-Ann Heavey | IRL | 1:01.34 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Christine Jacob | PHI | 1:02.43 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Karin Slowing | GUA | 1:03.46 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Nancy Hogshead | USA | 55.85 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Angela Russell | AUS | 57.30 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Agneta Eriksson | SWE | 58.43 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Grazia Colombo | ITA | 59.43 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Yan Hong | CHN | 1:00.45 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Virginia Sachero | ARG | 1:00.53 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Helen Chow | MAS | 1:02.53 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Daniela Galassi | SMR | 1:06.19 |
| Date | 29 July 1984 — 16:20 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Iris Zscherpe | FRG | 57.19 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Silvia Persi | ITA | 57.24 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Nikki Fibbens | GBR | 57.36 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Pam Rai | CAN | 57.56 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Sophie Kamoun | FRA | 57.81 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Jane Kerr | CAN | 57.85 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Agneta Eriksson | SWE | 58.08 | ||
| 8 | 7 | Maria Kardum | SWE | 58.12 |
| Date | 29 July 1984 — 16:15 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 3 | Carrie Steinseifer | USA | 55.92 | ||
| =1 | 4 | Nancy Hogshead | USA | 55.92 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Annemarie Verstappen | NED | 56.08 | ||
| 4 | 7 | Conny van Bentum | NED | 56.43 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Michelle Pearson | AUS | 56.83 | ||
| 6 | 1 | June Croft | GBR | 56.90 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Susanne Schuster | FRG | 57.11 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Angela Russell | AUS | 58.09 |
