Wikipedia

Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre breaststroke

The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 1968 Summer Olympics took place between 18 and 19 October in the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez.[1][2] This swimming event used the breaststroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool. This was the first appearance for this event in the Olympics for the women swimmers.

Women's 100 metre breaststroke
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
VenueAlberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez
Date18 September (heats & semifinals)
19 September (final)
Competitors33 from 20 nations
Winning time1:15.8 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Đurđica Bjedov  Yugoslavia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Galina Prozumenshchikova  Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Sharon Wichman  United States
1972 →

American Katie Ball was the favorite to win three gold medals at the 1968 Olympics.[3][4] She was the reigning world record holder in all four breaststroke distances and bettered her own world records in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials in August 1968.[5][6] She arrived at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, however, with a case of influenza.[3] She won her only Olympic medal, a gold, as a member of the winning U.S. 4×100-meter medley relay team by swimming the breaststroke leg of the four-person relay.[7] Sharing the gold medal honors were her relay teammates Kaye Hall (backstroke), Ellie Daniel (butterfly) and Susan Pedersen (freestyle).[8] In the 100-meter breaststroke final, Ball led close to the finish but physical exhaustion overwhelmed her,[3] and she finished fifth.[9] She was too ill to swim in the subsequent preliminary heats of the 200-meter breaststroke and was scratched from the event.[3][10]

Results edit

Heats edit

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Country Time Notes
1 Catie Ball   United States 1:18.8 OR
2 Jo-Anne Barnes   Australia 1:19.1
3 Sue Jones   United States 1:19.3
4 Dorothy Harrison   Great Britain 1:19.6
5 Christine Filippovits   Austria 1:19.9
6 Tamara Oynick   Mexico 1:22.7
7 Liana Vicens   Puerto Rico 1:25.2

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Country Time Notes
1 Djurdjica Bjedov   Yugoslavia 1:17.7 OR
2 Alla Grebennikova   Soviet Union 1:19.3
3 Shlomit Nir   Israel 1:20.9
4 Ann O'Connor   Ireland 1:21.1
5 Marjan Janus   Netherlands 1:21.9
6 Tamara Orejuela   Ecuador 1:26.8
7 Celia Jokisch   El Salvador 1:46.6

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Country Time Notes
1 Sharon Wichman   United States 1:18.3
2 Judy Playfair   Australia 1:19.2
3 Yvonne Brage   Sweden 1:20.8
4 Vreni Eberle   West Germany 1:22.6
5 Víctoria Casas   Mexico 1:24.7
6 María Moreño   El Salvador 1:27.2

Heat 4

Rank Athlete Country Time Notes
1 Uta Frommater   West Germany 1:18.5
2 Galina Prozumenschikova   Soviet Union 1:18.6
3 Svetlana Babanina   Soviet Union 1:20.2
4 Jill Slattery   Great Britain 1:20.7
5 Sue McKenzie   Australia 1:20.9
6 Ellen Ingvadóttir   Iceland 1:22.6

Heat 5

Rank Athlete Country Time Notes
1 Ana María Norbis   Uruguay 1:17.4 OR
2 Kiyoe Nakagawa   Japan 1:18.2
3 Diana Harris   Great Britain 1:19.8
4 Yukari Takemoto   Japan 1:20.7
5 Márta Egerváry   Hungary 1:22.6
6 Arlette Wilmes   Luxembourg 1:24.4
7 María Castro   El Salvador 1:36.9

Semifinals edit

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Country Time Notes
1 Sharon Wichman   United States 1:16.8 OR
2 Djurdjica Bjedov   Yugoslavia 1:17.1
3 Galina Prozumenschikova   Soviet Union 1:17.5
4 Joanne Barnes   Australia 1:18.4
5 Alla Grebennikova   Soviet Union 1:18.6
6 Christine Filippovits   Austria 1:18.9
7 Dorothy Harrison   Great Britain 1:19.6
8 Jill Slattery   Great Britain 1:19.8

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Country Time Notes
1 Ana Norbis   Uruguay 1:16.7 OR
2 Catie Ball   United States 1:16.8
3 Uta Frommater   West Germany 1:16.9
4 Kiyoe Nakagawa   Japan 1:17.7
5 Svetlana Babanina   Soviet Union 1:18.3
6 Sue Jones   United States 1:18.6
7 Judy Playfair   Australia 1:19.3
8 Diana Harris   Great Britain 1:19.3

Final edit

Rank Athlete Country Time Notes
  Đurđica Bjedov   Yugoslavia 1:15.8 OR
  Galina Prozumenshchikova   Soviet Union 1:15.9
  Sharon Wichman   United States 1:16.1
4 Uta Frommater   West Germany 1:16.2
5 Catie Ball   United States 1:16.7
6 Kiyoe Nakagawa   Japan 1:17.0
7 Svetlana Babanina   Soviet Union 1:17.2
8 Ana María Norbis   Uruguay 1:17.3

Key: OR = Olympic record

References edit

  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Women's 100 metres Breaststroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  2. ^ "100 meters Breaststroke, Women". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Jamie Secola, "Hall of Fame induction cements Ball-Condon's swimming legacy," Pensacola News-Journal (July 4, 2010). Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  4. ^ Frank Litsky, "U.S. Expected to Win the Most Medals (112) and the Most Gold Medals (43); Major Hopes In Swimming And in Track," The New York Times, p. S17 (October 6, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  5. ^ United Press International, "Catie Ball Clips World Swim Mark," The New York Times, p. 50 (August 27, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  6. ^ Bob Ottum, "The Encore Will be in Mexico," Sports Illustrated (September 16, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  7. ^ databaseOlympics.com, Athletes, Catie Ball Archived January 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  8. ^ Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, United States Swimming at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  9. ^ "U.S. Swimmers Register Sweep in Women's 100-Meter Olympic Free-Style," The New York Times, p. S2 (October 20, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  10. ^ Associated Press, "U.S.–Yugoslavia in Cage Finals," The Evening Independent, p. 2C (October 23, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014.

External links edit

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