Swimming at the 1976 Summer Games: Previous Summer Games ▪ Next Summer Games
Host City: Montréal, Canada
Venue(s): Olympic Pool, Montréal, Québec
Date Started: July 22, 1976
Date Finished: July 22, 1976
| Gold: | Kornelia Ender |
| Silver: | Shirley Babashoff |
| Bronze: | Enith Brigitha |
Shirley Babashoff had won this event at the 1975 World Championships but in June 1976, the GDR’s Kornelia Ender became the first woman to swim 200 metres in under two minutes, breaking the world record in Berlin in 1:59.78. On the night of the 200 final, Ender won the 100 metre butterfly gold medal, finishing at 1948. She received her gold medal for that event at 2001, and seven minutes later was back on the pool deck for the 200 freestyle final.\n\nEnder had a new plan for the final. At the 1975 World she had taken it out hard and died on the final 100 to allow Babashoff to pass her the title. In Montréal she let Babashoff take the lead through 100 metres, and they were virtually even at 150. Then Ender turned on the jets, finishing the final 50 in 28.88, almost as fast as her opening 50 of 28.63, and beating Babashoff with another world record of 1:59.26. Dutchwoman Enith Brigitha placed third, as she had in the 100 freestyle a few days before. Ender would finish the Montréal Olympics with four gold medals, and one silver, added to the three silvers she had won in Munich, when she was only 13-years-old.
| Rank | Athlete | Age | Team | NOC | Medal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kornelia Ender | 17 | East Germany | GDR | Gold | WR |
| 2 | Shirley Babashoff | 19 | United States | USA | Silver | |
| 3 | Enith Brigitha | 21 | Netherlands | NED | Bronze | |
| 4 | Annelies Maas | 16 | Netherlands | NED | ||
| 5 | Gail Amundrud | 19 | Canada | CAN | ||
| 6 | Jennifer Hooker | 15 | United States | USA | ||
| 7 | Claudia Hempel | 17 | East Germany | GDR | ||
| 8 | Irina Vlasova | 19 | Soviet Union | URS | ||
| 2 h1 r1/2 | Larisa Tsaryova | 17 | Soviet Union | URS | ||
| 2 h2 r1/2 | Debbie Clarke | 15 | Canada | CAN | ||
| 2 h3 r1/2 | Rebecca Perrott | 15 | New Zealand | NZL | ||
| 2 h6 r1/2 | Jill Sterkel | 15 | United States | USA | ||
| 3 h1 r1/2 | Jutta Weber | 22 | West Germany | FRG | ||
| 3 h2 r1/2 | Lyubov Kobzova | 19 | Soviet Union | URS | ||
| 3 h3 r1/2 | Andrea Pollack | 15 | East Germany | GDR | ||
| 3 h4 r1/2 | Anne Richard | 16 | Belgium | BEL | ||
| 3 h5 r1/2 | Anne Jardin | 16 | Canada | CAN | ||
| 3 h6 r1/2 | Ineke Ran | 14 | Netherlands | NED | ||
| 4 h1 r1/2 | Sonya Gray | 16 | Australia | AUS | ||
| 4 h2 r1/2 | Gunilla Lundberg | 19 | Sweden | SWE | ||
| 4 h3 r1/2 | Marion Platten | 17 | West Germany | FRG | ||
| 4 h4 r1/2 | Lesleigh Harvey | 15 | Australia | AUS | ||
| 4 h5 r1/2 | Guylaine Berger | 20 | France | FRA | ||
| 4 h6 r1/2 | Michelle Ford | 14 | Australia | AUS | ||
| 5 h1 r1/2 | Rachaniw Bulakul | 13 | Thailand | THA | ||
| 5 h2 r1/2 | Jane Fayer | 17 | Puerto Rico | PUR | ||
| 5 h3 r1/2 | Regina Nissen | 15 | West Germany | FRG | ||
| 5 h4 r1/2 | Pia Mårtensson | 17 | Sweden | SWE | ||
| 5 h5 r1/2 | Susan Edmondson | 20 | Great Britain | GBR | ||
| 5 h6 r1/2 | Susan Barnard | 15 | Great Britain | GBR | ||
| 6 h1 r1/2 | Vilborg Sverrisdóttir | 19 | Iceland | ISL | ||
| 6 h2 r1/2 | Raphaelynne Lee | 16 | Hong Kong | HKG | ||
| 6 h3 r1/2 | Deirdre Sheehan | 18 | Ireland | IRL | ||
| 6 h4 r1/2 | Ann Bradshaw | 19 | Great Britain | GBR | ||
| 6 h5 r1/2 | Vania Vázquez | 15 | Venezuela | VEN | ||
| 6 h6 r1/2 | María París | 15 | Costa Rica | CRC | ||
| 7 h3 r1/2 | Susana Coppo | 16 | Argentina | ARG | ||
| 7 h4 r1/2 | Georgina Osorio | 17 | Panama | PAN | ||
| 7 h5 r1/2 | Shelley Cramer | 14 | United States Virgin Islands | ISV | ||
| 7 h6 r1/2 | María Pérez | 13 | Venezuela | VEN |