Summer McIntosh of Canada entered the event as the favorite, aiming for her fourth consecutive major title. She had set a new Canadian, Commonwealth, and Americas record of 2:02.26 at the Canadian Trials, the second-fastest time in history and 0.45 seconds shy of Liu Zige’s 2009 world record of 2:01.81. Given that McIntosh swam her best time each of the previous three summers in the major final, she was predicted to be well-positioned for a potential world record challenge.[3]
Each National Federation was permitted to enter a maximum of two qualified athletes in each individual event, but they could do so only if both of them had attained the "A" standard qualification time. For this event, the "A" standard qualification time was 2:09.21 seconds. Federations could enter one athlete into the event if they met the "B" standard qualification time. For this event, the "B" standard qualification time was 2:13.73 seconds. Athletes could also enter the event if they had met an "A" or "B" standard in a different event and their Federation had not entered anyone else. Additional considerations applied to Federations who had few swimmers enter through the standard qualification times. Federations in this category could at least enter two men and two women to the competition, all of whom could enter into up to two events.[5][6]
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