| Date | 22 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Su-yeong-jang, Ol-lim-pik Gong-won, Seoul |
| Participants | 41 from 30 countries |
East German Kristin Otto was trying to win six gold medals in Seoul, and she had already won the 100 freestyle. She was expected to be challenged in the 100 back by Costa Rican Silvia Poll, who led the world lists in 1987, but Otto qualified first with Poll only sixth. In the final Otto was in command for the entire race and was unchallenged in winning her second gold. About an hour later she returned to the pool with the GDR 4 x 100 free relay team and won her third gold, and she would succeed with her goal to win six gold medals in Seoul.
The silver went to surprising Hungarian Krisztina Egerszegi, who would later win gold in the 200 backstroke and then become the world’s best backstroker. Bronze was won by Otto’s teammate Cornelia Sirch, as Poll placed only sixth.
In qualifying Australian Karen Lord and Italian Manuela Carosi both swam 1:04.69 to tie for 16th place and the last spot in the B final. They swam off the tie, again finishing in the same time, 1:05.05. They continued on, enduring another swim-off, this one won by Carosi in 1:04.62, but narrowly over Lord, who finished in 1:04.75. In the B final, Carosi, swimming her fourth 100 backstroke in the same day, was able to place third, for 11th overall in the event.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | B Final | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 177 | Kristin Otto |  GDR | 1:01.45 (1 h6) | – | 1:00.89 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 204 | Krisztina Egerszegi |  HUN | 1:02.09 (2 h5) | – | 1:01.56 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 180 | Cornelia Sirch | GDR | 1:01.63 (1 h5) | – | 1:01.57 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 332 | Betsy Mitchell |  USA | 1:02.85 (1 h4) | – | 1:02.71 (4) | |||
| 5 | 316 | Beth Barr | USA | 1:02.63 (2 h6) | – | 1:02.78 (5) | |||
| 6 | 93 | Sylvia Poll |  CRC | 1:03.21 (3 h5) | – | 1:03.34 (6) | |||
| 7 | 22 | Nicole Livingstone |  AUS | 1:03.26 (3 h6) | – | 1:04.15 (7) | |||
| 8 | 125 | Marion Aizpors |  FRG | 1:03.27 (4 h6) | – | 1:04.19 (8) | |||
| 9 | 274 | Anca Pătrășcoiu |  ROU | 1:03.29 (2 h4) | 1:03.33 (1) | – | |||
| 10 | 141 | Svenja Schlicht | FRG | 1:03.72 (4 h5) | 1:03.68 (2) | – | |||
| 11 | 213 | Manuela Carosi |  ITA | 1:04.69 (4 h4) | 1:05.05 (=1 h7) | – | |||
| 12 | 64 | Lori Melien |  CAN | 1:04.29 (5 h5) | 1:03.87 (4) | – | |||
| 13 | 220 | Lorenza Vigarani | ITA | 1:03.96 (3 h4) | 1:03.88 (5) | – | |||
| 14 | 193 | Jolanda de Rover |  NED | 1:04.39 (6 h5) | 1:04.11 (6) | – | |||
| 15 | 264 | Sharon Musson |  NZL | 1:04.58 (7 h5) | 1:04.17 (7) | – | |||
| 16 | 161 | Kathy Read |  GBR | 1:04.62 (5 h6) | 1:04.27 (8) | – | |||
| 17 | 23 | Karen Lord | AUS | 1:04.69 (6 h6) | 1:05.05 (=1 h7) | – | |||
| 18 | 160 | Sharon Page | GBR | 1:04.75 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 19 | 47 | Bistra Gospodinova |  BUL | 1:04.91 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| =20 | 117 | Laurence Guillou |  FRA | 1:05.07 (=6 h4) | – | – | |||
| =20 | 281 | Eva Gysling |  SUI | 1:05.07 (=6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 22 | 288 | Johanna Larsson |  SWE | 1:05.10 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 81 | Wang Bolin |  CHN | 1:05.15 (1 h3) | – | – | |||
| 24 | 228 | Satoko Morishita |  JPN | 1:05.38 (8 h6) | – | – | |||
| 25 | 263 | Sylvia Hume | NZL | 1:05.81 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 26 | 234 | Tomoko Onogi | JPN | 1:06.14 (2 h3) | – | – | |||
| 27 | 209 | Michelle Smith |  IRL | 1:06.22 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 28 | 266 | Akiko Thomson |  PHI | 1:06.51 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 29 | 208 | Aileen Convery | IRL | 1:06.73 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 30 | 241 | Hong Ji-Hui |  KOR | 1:08.33 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 31 | 270 | Rita Garay |  PUR | 1:08.58 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 32 | 298 | Wang Chi |  TPE | 1:09.56 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 33 | 201 | Ana Fortín |  HON | 1:10.10 (1 h2) | – | – | |||
| 34 | 212 | Tricia Duncan |  ISV | 1:10.37 (2 h2) | – | – | |||
| 35 | 191 | Tsang Wing Sze |  HKG | 1:10.50 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 36 | 112 | Sharon Pickering |  FIJ | 1:12.14 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 37 | 110 | Angela Birch | FIJ | 1:13.48 (1 h1) | – | – | |||
| 38 | 36 | Katerine Moreno |  BOL | 1:14.42 (2 h1) | – | – | |||
| 39 | 3 | Elsa Freire |  ANG | 1:15.56 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 40 | 259 | Carolina Araujo |  MOZ | 1:15.86 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 41 | 2 | Carla Fernandes | ANG | 1:21.58 (6 h2) | – | – |
| Date | 22 September 1988 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Angela Birch | FIJ | 1:13.48 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Katerine Moreno | BOL | 1:14.42 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Carolina Araujo | MOZ | 1:15.86 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Ana Fortín | HON | 1:10.10 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Tricia Duncan | ISV | 1:10.37 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Tsang Wing Sze | HKG | 1:10.50 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Sharon Pickering | FIJ | 1:12.14 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Elsa Freire | ANG | 1:15.56 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Carla Fernandes | ANG | 1:21.58 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Wang Bolin | CHN | 1:05.15 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Tomoko Onogi | JPN | 1:06.14 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Michelle Smith | IRL | 1:06.22 | ||
| 4 | 8 | Akiko Thomson | PHI | 1:06.51 | ||
| 5 | 5 | Aileen Convery | IRL | 1:06.73 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Hong Ji-Hui | KOR | 1:08.33 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Rita Garay | PUR | 1:08.58 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Wang Chi | TPE | 1:09.56 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Betsy Mitchell | USA | 1:02.85 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Anca Pătrășcoiu | ROU | 1:03.29 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Lorenza Vigarani | ITA | 1:03.96 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Manuela Carosi | ITA | 1:04.69 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Bistra Gospodinova | BUL | 1:04.91 | ||
| =6 | 7 | Eva Gysling | SUI | 1:05.07 | ||
| =6 | 8 | Laurence Guillou | FRA | 1:05.07 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Sylvia Hume | NZL | 1:05.81 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Cornelia Sirch | GDR | 1:01.63 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Krisztina Egerszegi | HUN | 1:02.09 | ||
| 3 | 7 | Sylvia Poll | CRC | 1:03.21 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Svenja Schlicht | FRG | 1:03.72 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Lori Melien | CAN | 1:04.29 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Jolanda de Rover | NED | 1:04.39 | ||
| 7 | 6 | Sharon Musson | NZL | 1:04.58 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Sharon Page | GBR | 1:04.75 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kristin Otto | GDR | 1:01.45 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Beth Barr | USA | 1:02.63 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Nicole Livingstone | AUS | 1:03.26 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Marion Aizpors | FRG | 1:03.27 | ||
| 5 | 8 | Kathy Read | GBR | 1:04.62 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Karen Lord | AUS | 1:04.69 | ||
| 7 | 6 | Johanna Larsson | SWE | 1:05.10 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Satoko Morishita | JPN | 1:05.38 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 5 | Manuela Carosi | ITA | 1:05.05 | ||
| =1 | 4 | Karen Lord | AUS | 1:05.05 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Manuela Carosi | ITA | 1:04.62 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Karen Lord | AUS | 1:04.75 |
| Date | 22 September 1988 — 20:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Anca Pătrășcoiu | ROU | 1:03.33 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Svenja Schlicht | FRG | 1:03.68 | ||
| 3 | 8 | Manuela Carosi | ITA | 1:03.80 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Lori Melien | CAN | 1:03.87 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Lorenza Vigarani | ITA | 1:03.88 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Jolanda de Rover | NED | 1:04.11 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Sharon Musson | NZL | 1:04.17 | ||
| 8 | 1 | Kathy Read | GBR | 1:04.27 |
| Date | 22 September 1988 — 20:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kristin Otto | GDR | 1:00.89 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Krisztina Egerszegi | HUN | 1:01.56 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Cornelia Sirch | GDR | 1:01.57 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Betsy Mitchell | USA | 1:02.71 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Beth Barr | USA | 1:02.78 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Sylvia Poll | CRC | 1:03.34 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Nicole Livingstone | AUS | 1:04.15 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Marion Aizpors | FRG | 1:04.19 |
