The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 1–2 August 2012 at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.

Dutch swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo swam to a new Olympic record to become the country's third gold medalist in the event, along with Rie Mastenbroek in 1936 and Inge de Bruijn in 2000. In fourth place at the halfway turn, she pulled ahead of a tightly packed field to touch the wall first and improve her own record in 53.00. Belarus' Aliaksandra Herasimenia was in the lead on the first length under a world-record pace, but faded down the stretch to win the silver medal in 53.38. China's Tang Yi swam a fast final lap for the bronze medal in 53.44.

Australia's Melanie Schlanger finished fourth in 53.47, while American teenage sensation Missy Franklin finished in fifth place in 53.64. Great Britain's home favorite Francesca Halsall (53.66), Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen (53.75), who shared the title with Herasimenia at the 2011 World Championships, and U.S. swimmer Jessica Hardy (54.02) finished in sixth through eighth place.

Before the breakthrough finale, Kromowidjojo swam a top-seeded time of 53.05 to slice 0.07 seconds off the previous Olympic record set by Germany's defending champion Britta Steffen, who later missed the final roster with a twelfth-place finish (54.18) in the semifinals.

Only 48 of the 50 swimmers registered in the event competed. Sweden's five-time Olympian Therese Alshammar suffered a pinched nerve in her neck, and skipped most of her events. Australia's Cate Campbell scratched her first individual race because of a glandular fever, leaving Mel Schlanger as Australia's only swimmer in the heats, who advanced to the final, finishing fourth.

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were:

The following records were established during the competition:

Date Event Name Nationality Time Record August 1 Semifinal 2 Ranomi Kromowidjojo 53.05 August 2 Final Ranomi Kromowidjojo 53.00

Results Heats

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 5 3 Tang Yi 53.28 Q 2 7 6 Melanie Schlanger 53.50 Q 3 5 4 Jeanette Ottesen 53.51 Q 4 7 5 Aliaksandra Herasimenia 53.63 Q, NR 5 7 4 Ranomi Kromowidjojo 53.66 Q 6 6 7 Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace 53.73 Q, NR 7 6 5 Francesca Halsall 54.02 Q 8 5 6 Jessica Hardy 54.09 Q 9 6 1 Julia Wilkinson 54.16 Q10 6 4 Sarah Sjöström 54.26 Q 7 3 Missy Franklin Q 12 7 2 Haruka Ueda 54.35 Q 13 6 2 Amy Smith 54.37 Q 14 6 3 Britta Steffen 54.42 Q15 5 5 Femke Heemskerk 54.43 Q 5 7 Daniela Schreiber Q 17 7 7 Veronika Popova 54.66 18 6 8 Hanna-Maria Seppälä 54.93 19 5 2 Pernille Blume 55.04 20 7 8 Charlotte Bonnet 55.12 21 5 1 Hannah Wilson 55.33 22 4 4 Burcu Dolunay 55.35 23 3 4 Eszter Dara 55.37 24 4 2 Nina Rangelova 55.52 NR 25 3 5 Liliana Ibáñez 55.71 NR 26 4 6 Daynara de Paula 55.94 27 4 3 Katarzyna Wilk 56.13 28 3 3 Nastja Govejšek 56.21 29 3 2 Mylene Ong 56.33 4 7 Rūta Meilutytė 31 4 8 Katarína Filová 56.58 32 5 8 Nery Mantey Niangkouara 56.63 33 4 5 Arlene Semeco 56.90 34 3 6 Jasmine Alkhaldi 57.13 35 3 1 Megan Fonteno 57.45 4 1 Miroslava Najdanovski 37 3 7 Karen Torrez 57.78 NR 38 3 8 Clelia Tini 58.29 39 2 3 Jade Howard 59.35 40 2 5 Bayan Jumah 59.78 41 2 4 Karen Riveros 59.86 42 2 6 Brittany van Lange 1:01.62 43 2 2 Estellah Fils Rabetsara 1:02.39 44 2 7 Reshika Udugampola 1:04.93 45 2 1 Magdalena Moshi 1:05.80 46 1 4 Mareme Faye 1:06.42 47 1 5 Shreya Dhital 1:10.80 48 1 3 Ayouba Ali Sihame 1:14.40 6 6 Cate Campbell 7 1 Therese Alshammar

Semifinals

Semifinal 1 Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 4 Melanie Schlanger 53.38 Q 2 5 Aliaksandra Herasimenia 53.78 Q 3 6 Jessica Hardy 53.86 Q 4 2 Sarah Sjöström 53.93 5 3 Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace 54.12 6 1 Britta Steffen 54.18 7 8 Daniela Schreiber 54.39 8 7 Haruka Ueda 54.59

Semifinal 2 Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 3 Ranomi Kromowidjojo 53.05 Q, 2 7 Missy Franklin 53.59 Q 3 4 Tang Yi 53.60 Q4 5 Jeanette Ottesen 53.77 Q 6 Francesca Halsall Q 6 8 Femke Heemskerk 54.13 7 2 Julia Wilkinson 54.25 8 1 Amy Smith 54.28

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 4 Ranomi Kromowidjojo 53.00 1 Aliaksandra Herasimenia 53.38 NR 6 Tang Yi 53.44 4 5 Melanie Schlanger 53.47 5 3 Missy Franklin 53.64 6 7 Francesca Halsall 53.66 7 2 Jeanette Ottesen 53.75 8 8 Jessica Hardy 54.02

References

External links