| | Event type

50 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	31 July 1992
Status	Olympic
Location	Piscinas Bernat Picornell, Barcelona
Participants	50 from 35 countries

At Seoul China’s Yang Wenyi had been favored after being the first swimmer to better 25 seconds, but she faltered and finished only second. It started a pattern as she placed second at the 1989 Pan Pacs to Jenny Thompson and was only fourth at the 1991 World Championships. She was far from favored in this event in Barcelona. The Olympic final began with a false start by her teammate Zhuang Yong, already the 100 free gold medalist in 1992, and the 1991 World Champion. On the actual start, Yang had the best of it, leading by a shoulder as they started stroking. And she never let up, bettering her world record with 24.79, as Zhuang came on for second.

Bronze went to American Angel Martino in her only individual event. She had been thought to have made the 1988 US Olympic team but was then found to have a positive drug test and did not compete in Seoul. Thompson disappointed, finishing fifth.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	B Final	Final
1	Yang Wenyi	CHN	25.84 (2 h7)	–	24.79 (1)	Gold
2	Zhuang Yong	CHN	25.56 (1 h6)	–	25.08 (2)	Silver
3	Angel Martino	USA	25.63 (1 h5)	–	25.23 (3)	Bronze
4	Catherine Plewinski	FRA	25.78 (2 h5)	–	25.36 (4)
5	Jenny Thompson	USA	25.63 (1 h7)	–	25.37 (5)
6	Nataliya Meshcheryakova	EUN	25.89 (4 h5)	–	25.47 (6)
7	Simone Osygus	GER	25.79 (2 h6)	–	25.74 (7)
8	Inge de Bruijn	NED	25.86 (3 h5)	–	25.84 (8)
9	Lisa Curry-Kenny	AUS	26.07 (3 h6)	25.87 (1)	–
10	Kristin Topham	CAN	26.32 (6 h5)	26.17 (2)	–
=11	Andrea Nugent	CAN	26.29 (4 h7)	26.24 (=3)	–
=11	Marianne Muis	NED	26.43 (5 h7)	26.24 (=3)	–
13	Marianne Kriel	RSA	26.05 (5 h5)	26.47 (5)	–
14	Yevgeniya Yermakova	EUN	26.45 (5 h6)	26.49 (6)	–
15	Linda Olofsson	SWE	26.43 (4 h6)	26.51 (7)	–
16	Franziska van Almsick	GER	25.96 (3 h7)	– (DQ)	–
17	Julie Blaise	FRA	26.48 (6 h6)	–	–
18	Gitta Jensen	DEN	26.54 (6 h7)	–	–
19	Cristina Chiuso	ITA	26.72 (7 h6)	–	–
20	Ayako Nakano	JPN	26.74 (7 h5)	–	–
=21	Claudia Franco	ESP	26.76 (=1 h4)	–	–
=21	Luminița Dobrescu	ROU	26.76 (=1 h4)	–	–
23	Louise Karlsson	SWE	26.77 (8 h5)	–	–
24	Karen Pickering	GBR	26.78 (3 h4)	–	–
=25	Karen Van Wirdum	AUS	26.80 (8 h6)	–	–
=25	Mette Nørskov Nielsen	DEN	26.80 (4 h4)	–	–
=27	Alison Sheppard	GBR	26.90 (=7 h7)	–	–
=27	Toni Jeffs	NZL	26.90 (=7 h7)	–	–
29	Martina Moravcová	TCH	26.92 (5 h4)	–	–
30	Diana Ureche	ROU	26.96 (6 h4)	–	–
31	Minna Salmela	FIN	27.00 (1 h3)	–	–
32	Rania El-Wani	EGY	27.20 (2 h3)	–	–
33	Eva Gysling	SUI	27.21 (3 h3)	–	–
=34	Shina Matsudo	JPN	27.36 (4 h3)	–	–
=34	Joscelin Yeo	SGP	27.36 (1 h2)	–	–
36	Robyn Lamsam	HKG	27.40 (5 h3)	–	–
37	Monica Dahl	NAM	27.45 (6 h3)	–	–
38	Marja Päivinen	FIN	27.49 (2 h2)	–	–
39	Joshua Ikhaghomi	NGR	27.53 (7 h3)	–	–
40	Shelley Cramer	ISV	27.84 (3 h2)	–	–
41	Keren Regal	ISR	27.93 (1 h1)	–	–
42	Helga Sigurðardóttir	ISL	27.94 (7 h4)	–	–
43	Vola Hanta Ratsifa Andrihamanana	MAD	28.22 (2 h1)	–	–
44	Ratiporn Wong	THA	28.42 (4 h2)	–	–
45	Ana Fortín	HON	28.59 (5 h2)	–	–
46	May Ooi	SGP	28.77 (6 h2)	–	–
47	Sharon Pickering	FIJ	28.90 (3 h1)	–	–
48	Paola Peñarrieta	BOL	29.71 (4 h1)	–	–
49	Sara Casadei	SMR	30.05 (5 h1)	–	–
50	Elsa Freire	ANG	30.17 (6 h1)	–	–

Round One (31 July 1992 — 12:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final. Swimmers placing 9th-16th advanced to the B Final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	7	Keren Regal	ISR	– (–) –	27.93
2	2	Vola Hanta Ratsifa Andrihamanana	MAD	– (–) –	28.22
3	5	Sharon Pickering	FIJ	– (–) –	28.90
4	3	Paola Peñarrieta	BOL	– (–) –	29.71
5	6	Sara Casadei	SMR	– (–) –	30.05
6	4	Elsa Freire	ANG	– (–) –	30.17

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Joscelin Yeo	SGP	– (–) –	27.36
2	5	Marja Päivinen	FIN	– (–) –	27.49
3	7	Shelley Cramer	ISV	– (–) –	27.84
4	3	Ratiporn Wong	THA	– (–) –	28.42
5	6	Ana Fortín	HON	– (–) –	28.59
6	2	May Ooi	SGP	– (–) –	28.77

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Minna Salmela	FIN	– (–) –	27.00
2	6	Rania El-Wani	EGY	– (–) –	27.20
3	4	Eva Gysling	SUI	– (–) –	27.21
4	5	Shina Matsudo	JPN	– (–) –	27.36
5	2	Robyn Lamsam	HKG	– (–) –	27.40
6	7	Monica Dahl	NAM	– (–) –	27.45
7	1	Joshua Ikhaghomi	NGR	– (–) –	27.53

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
=1	5	Luminița Dobrescu	ROU	– (–) –	26.76
=1	3	Claudia Franco	ESP	– (–) –	26.76
3	4	Karen Pickering	GBR	– (–) –	26.78
4	6	Mette Nørskov Nielsen	DEN	– (–) –	26.80
5	7	Martina Moravcová	TCH	– (–) –	26.92
6	2	Diana Ureche	ROU	– (–) –	26.96
7	1	Helga Sigurðardóttir	ISL	– (–) –	27.94

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Angel Martino	USA	– (–) –	25.63	Q
2	3	Catherine Plewinski	FRA	– (–) –	25.78	Q
3	5	Inge de Bruijn	NED	– (–) –	25.86	Q
4	2	Nataliya Meshcheryakova	EUN	– (–) –	25.89	Q
5	6	Marianne Kriel	RSA	– (–) –	26.05	q
6	8	Kristin Topham	CAN	– (–) –	26.32	q
7	1	Ayako Nakano	JPN	– (–) –	26.74
8	7	Louise Karlsson	SWE	– (–) –	26.77

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Zhuang Yong	CHN	– (–) –	25.56	Q
2	4	Simone Osygus	GER	– (–) –	25.79	Q
3	3	Lisa Curry-Kenny	AUS	– (–) –	26.07	q
4	2	Linda Olofsson	SWE	– (–) –	26.43	q
5	7	Yevgeniya Yermakova	EUN	– (–) –	26.45	q
6	8	Julie Blaise	FRA	– (–) –	26.48
7	1	Cristina Chiuso	ITA	– (–) –	26.72
8	6	Karen Van Wirdum	AUS	– (–) –	26.80

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Jenny Thompson	USA	– (–) –	25.63	Q
2	5	Yang Wenyi	CHN	– (–) –	25.84	Q
3	3	Franziska van Almsick	GER	– (–) –	25.96	q
4	6	Andrea Nugent	CAN	– (–) –	26.29	q
5	8	Marianne Muis	NED	– (–) –	26.43	q
6	2	Gitta Jensen	DEN	– (–) –	26.54
=7	7	Toni Jeffs	NZL	– (–) –	26.90
=7	1	Alison Sheppard	GBR	– (–) –	26.90

B Final (31 July 1992 — 20:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Lisa Curry-Kenny	AUS	– (–) –	25.87
2	2	Kristin Topham	CAN	– (–) –	26.17
=3	7	Marianne Muis	NED	– (–) –	26.24
=3	6	Andrea Nugent	CAN	– (–) –	26.24
5	5	Marianne Kriel	RSA	– (–) –	26.47
6	8	Yevgeniya Yermakova	EUN	– (–) –	26.49
7	1	Linda Olofsson	SWE	– (–) –	26.51
DQ	4	Franziska van Almsick	GER	– (–) –	–

Final (31 July 1992 — 20:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	7	Yang Wenyi	CHN	– (–) –	24.79	WR
2	4	Zhuang Yong	CHN	– (–) –	25.08
3	3	Angel Martino	USA	– (–) –	25.23
4	6	Catherine Plewinski	FRA	– (–) –	25.36
5	5	Jenny Thompson	USA	– (–) –	25.37
6	8	Nataliya Meshcheryakova	EUN	– (–) –	25.47
7	2	Simone Osygus	GER	– (–) –	25.74
8	1	Inge de Bruijn	NED	– (–) –	25.84