| Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Freestyle | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | women |
| 1500 m | men | |
| Backstroke | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| Breaststroke | ||
| 200 m | men | women |
| Freestyle relay | ||
| 4×100 m | women | |
| 4×200 m | men | |
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place between 3 and 5 August, at the Empire Pool. [1] This swimming event used the backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
| Gold | Karen Harup  Denmark |
| Silver | Suzanne Zimmerman  United States |
| Bronze | Judy-Joy Davies  Australia |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karen Margrethe Harup |  Denmark | 1:15.6 | |
| 2 | Judy-Joy Davies |  Australia | 1:16.4 | |
| 3 | Suzanne Zimmerman |  United States | 1:16.8 | |
| 4 | Ilona Novák |  Hungary | 1:17.3 | |
| 5 | Greetje Gaillard |  Netherlands | 1:18.2 | |
| 6 | Helen Yate |  Great Britain | 1:18.3 | |
| 7 | Ria van der Horst | Netherlands | 1:18.7 | |
| 8 | Muriel Mellon | United States | 1:18.7 | |
| 9 | Ngaire Lane |  New Zealand | 1:18.8 | |
| 10 | Monique Berlioux |  France | 1:18.8 | |
| 11 | Barbara Jensen | United States | 1:18.8 | |
| 12 | Dicky van Ekris | Netherlands | 1:19.3 | |
| 13 | Cathie Gibson | Great Britain | 1:19.7 | |
| 14 | Beryl Marshall |  Argentina | 1:20.9 | |
| 15 | Vera Ellery | Great Britain | 1:20.9 | |
| 16 | Ingegerd Fredin |  Sweden | 1:21.2 | |
| 17 | Magda Bruggemann |  Mexico | 1:21.4 | |
| 18 | Bea Ballintijn |  Norway | 1:22.1 | |
| 19 | Edith de Oliveira |  Brazil | 1:22.5 | |
| 20 | Ginette Jany-Sendral | France | 1:22.7 | |
| 21 | Kolbrún Ólafsdóttir |  Iceland | 1:25.6 | |
| 22 | Doris Gontersweiler-Vetterli |  Switzerland | 1:26.2 | |
| 23 | Joyce Court |  Canada | 1:26.8 | |
| 24 | Liliana Gonzalias | Argentina | 1:26.9 |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karen Margrethe Harup | Denmark | 1:15.5 | OR |
| 2 | Suzanne Zimmerman | United States | 1:16.8 | Q |
| 3 | Ilona Novák | Hungary | 1:17.6 | Q |
| 4 | Judy-Joy Davies | Australia | 1:17.8 | Q |
| 5 | Ria van der Horst | Netherlands | 1:18.2 | Q |
| 6 | Muriel Mellon | United States | 1:18.2 | Q |
| 7 | Dicky van Ekris | Netherlands | 1:18.2 | q |
| 8 | Greetje Gaillard | Netherlands | 1:18.4 | q |
| 9 | Cathie Gibson | Great Britain | 1:18.6 | |
| 10 | Helen Yate | Great Britain | 1:18.7 | |
| 11 | Ngaire Lane | New Zealand | 1:19.0 | |
| 12 | Barbara Jensen | United States | 1:19.1 | |
| 13 | Monique Berlioux | France | 1:20.2 | |
| 14 | Beryl Marshall | Argentina | 1:20.7 | |
| 15 | Vera Ellery | Great Britain | 1:20.8 | |
| 16 | Ingegerd Fredin | Sweden | DNS |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Karen Harup | Denmark | 1:14.4 | OR |
 | Suzanne Zimmerman | United States | 1:16.0 | |
 | Judy-Joy Davies | Australia | 1:16.7 | |
| 4 | Ilona Novák | Hungary | 1:18.4 | |
| 5 | Ria van der Horst | Netherlands | 1:18.8 | |
| 6 | Dicky van Ekris | Netherlands | 1:18.9 | |
| 7 | Muriel Mellon | United States | 1:19.0 | |
| 8 | Greetje Gaillard | Netherlands | 1:19.1 |
Key: OR = Olympic record
|
Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912. Swimming has the second-highest number of Olympic medal contested events after athletics.
The 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Munich, West Germany, 29 events in swimming were contested. There was a total of 532 participants from 52 countries competing.
The swimming competitions at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City took place from 17 to 26 October at the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez. Swimming featured a record total of 29 events. There was a total of 468 participants from 51 countries competing. The United States dominated the competition, winning 52 of 87 possible medals. 15-year-old phenom Debbie Meyer from Maryland won three gold medals.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1980 Summer Olympics was held on 22 and 23 July at the Swimming Pool at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 22 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.
The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place between 4 and 6 August, at the Empire Pool. This swimming event used the backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place between 30 July and 2 August at the Empire Pool. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. 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.
The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place between 5 and 7 August at the Empire Pool. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 meters long, this race consisted of eight lengths of the pool.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place between 26 and 28 July at the Swimming Stadium. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. 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.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place on 29–31 July at the Swimming Stadium. This swimming event used the backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place from 29 November to 1 December. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. 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.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place 5 December. This swimming event used backstroke. 23 swimmers from 14 countries competed in this swimming event. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between September 1 and 3. This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1964 Olympic Games took place between October 12 and 13. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. 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.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1964 Olympic Games took place between October 13 and 14. This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between 18 and 19 October. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. 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.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between 22 and 23 October. This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place between August 28 and 29. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. 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.
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place between September 1 and 2. This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
The women's 4×100 metre medley relay event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 3. This swimming event uses medley swimming as a relay. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, each of the four swimmers completed two lengths of the pool, each using a different stroke. The first on each team used the backstroke, the second used the breaststroke, the third used the butterfly stroke, and the final swimmer used freestyle.
