Swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle

The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between August 26 and 29.[1] This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

Women's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
VenueStadio Olimpico del Nuoto
DateAugust 26, 1960 (heats &
semifinals)
August 29, 1960 (final)
Competitors32 from 19 nations
Winning time1:01.2
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Dawn Fraser  Australia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Chris von Saltza  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Natalie Steward  Great Britain
← 1956
1964 →

Competition format

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The competition used a three-round (heats, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 7 heats of between 6 and 8 swimmers each. The top 24 swimmers advanced to the semifinals. There were 3 semifinals of 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

Results

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Heats

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Five heats were held; the swimmers with the fastest 16 times advanced to the semifinals. Those that advanced are highlighted. This round took place on August 26.

Rank Heat Lane Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 4 4 Chris von Saltza   United States 1:01.9 Q
2 2 4 Dawn Fraser   Australia 1:02.1 Q
3 5 5 Natalie Steward   Great Britain 1:03.5 Q
4 2 5 Cockie Gastelaars   Netherlands 1:03.9 Q
5 1 4 Ilsa Konrads   Australia 1:04.2 Q
6 5 4 Carolyn Wood   United States 1:04.3 Q
7 1 5 Paola Saini   Italy 1:04.4 Q
7 5 6 Erica Terpstra   Netherlands 1:04.4 Q
9 3 4 Csilla Madarász-Bajnogel-Dobai   Hungary 1:04.5 Q
10 4 3 Ursel Brunner   Germany 1:04.6 Q
11 3 3 Heidi Pechstein   Germany 1:05.1 Q
12 1 6 Katalin Boros   Hungary 1:05.2 Q
13 4 6 Héda Frost   France 1:05.8 Q
14 4 5 Mary Stewart   Canada 1:06.0 Q
15 2 3 Inger Thorngren   Sweden 1:06.1 Q
16 1 3 Karin Larsson   Sweden 1:06.3 Q
17 2 6 Yoshiko Sato   Japan 1:06.4
17 5 3 Marina Shamal   Soviet Union 1:06.4
19 4 2 Ulvi Voog   Soviet Union 1:06.7
20 1 2 Maria Cristina Pacifici   Italy 1:07.1
21 2 7 Nora Novotny   Austria 1:07.4
22 2 1 Ágústa Þorsteinsdóttir   Iceland 1:07.5
22 3 6 Diana Wilkinson   Great Britain 1:07.5
24 3 5 Margaret Iwasaki   Canada 1:07.6
25 4 1 Haydée Coloso   Philippines 1:07.8
26 1 7 Blanca Barrón   Mexico 1:07.9
27 5 2 Marie-Laure Gaillot   France 1:08.0
28 5 7 Maria Luisa Souza   Mexico 1:08.4
29 3 7 Anneliese Rockenbach   Venezuela 1:08.5
30 4 7 Dorothy Sutcliffe   Rhodesia 1:09.0
31 3 2 Hitomi Jinno   Japan 1:09.8
32 3 1 Rita Pulido   Spain 1:10.0

Semifinals

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Two semifinal races were held; the fastest eight swimmers advanced to the Final. The athletes that advanced are highlighted. The semifinals were held August 27.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Chris von Saltza   United States 1:02.5
2 5 Natalie Steward   Great Britain 1:02.9
3 2 Csilla Madarász-Bajnogel-Dobai   Hungary 1:03.0
4 3 Ilsa Konrads   Australia 1:04.7
5 1 Héda Frost   France 1:05.4
6 6 Paola Saini   Italy 1:05.4
7 8 Inger Thorngren   Sweden 1:05.5
8 7 Heidi Pechstein   Germany 1:05.6

Semifinal 2

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Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 4 Dawn Fraser   Australia 1:01.4 OR
2 6 Erica Terpstra   Netherlands 1:03.7
3 5 Cockie Gastelaars   Netherlands 1:03.9
4 3 Carolyn Wood   United States 1:04.2
5 1 Mary Stewart   Canada 1:04.2
6 2 Ursel Brunner   Germany 1:04.5
7 7 Katalin Boros   Hungary 1:06.2
8 8 Karin Larsson   Sweden 1:06.5

Final

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The Final was held on August 29.

Rank Lane Athlete Country Time Notes
  4 Dawn Fraser   Australia 1:01.2 OR
  5 Chris von Saltza   United States 1:02.8
  3 Natalie Steward   Great Britain 1:03.1
4 1 Carolyn Wood   United States 1:03.4
5 6 Csilla Madarász-Bajnogel-Dobai   Hungary 1:03.6
6 2 Erica Terpstra   Netherlands 1:04.3
7 7 Cockie Gastelaars   Netherlands 1:04.7
8 8 Mary Stewart   Canada 1:05.5

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1960 Rome Summer Games: Women's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2016.