1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 100m Freestyle (Women)
![]() |
|
sport | swim |
competition | 100 meters freestyle |
gender | Women |
place | Swimming and Diving Stadium , Melbourne |
Attendees | 35 swimmers from 16 nations |
Competition phase | November 29 to December 1, 1956 |
Medals |
![]() ![]() ![]() |
The competition over 100m freestyle women at the 1956 Summer Olympics in the Australian city of Melbourne was from November 30 to December 1 in Swimming and Diving Stadium discharged.
Participating Nations
A total of 35 swimmers from 16 nations took part in the competition.
-
Mexico (1)
-
New Zealand (2)
-
Philippines (1)
-
South African Union (3)
-
Sweden (2)
-
Hungary (3)
-
United States (3)
-
United Kingdom (2)
-
Records
Previous records
World record |
Lorraine Crapp ( Australia )
![]() |
1: 02.4 min | Melbourne , Australia | October 25, 1956 |
Olympic record |
Judit Temes ( Hungary )
![]() |
1: 05.5 min | Helsinki , Finland | July 26, 1952 |
New records
The following records were set during the competition:
date | run | Surname | nation | time | OR | WR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nov 29 | Forward 1 | Lorraine Crapp |
![]() |
1: 03.4 min | OR | |
Nov 29 | Forward 5 | Dawn Fraser |
![]() |
1: 02.4 min | OR | |
Dec 1 | final | Dawn Fraser |
![]() |
1: 02.0 min | OR | WR |
Prelims
There were five preliminary runs on November 29th. The 16 fastest swimmers of all heats qualified for the two semi-finals.
Forward 1
The Australian Lorraine Crapp set a new Olympic record: She improved the previous best time (1: 05.5 min) of the Hungarian Judit Temes by 2.1 s to 1: 03.4 min.
rank | Surname | nation | time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lorraine Crapp |
![]() |
1: 03.4 min |
2 | Joan Rosazza |
![]() |
1: 05.5 min |
3 | Helen Stewart |
![]() |
1: 07.1 min |
4th | Jeanette Myburgh |
![]() |
1: 07.1 min |
5 | Anita Hellström |
![]() |
1: 08.5 min |
6th | Irène Sweyd |
![]() |
1: 08.9 min |
7th | Winifred Griffin |
![]() |
1: 10.4 min |
8th | Margaret Northrop |
![]() |
1: 12.8 min |
Forward 2
rank | Surname | nation | time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Nancy Simons |
![]() |
1: 06.5 min |
2 | Katalin Szőke |
![]() |
1: 08.0 min |
3 | Kati Jansen |
![]() |
1: 08.3 min |
4th | Odile Vouaux |
![]() |
1: 08.6 min |
5 | Fearne Ewart |
![]() |
1: 08.8 min |
6th | Setsuko Shimada |
![]() |
1: 11.8 min |
Forward 3
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Val%C3%A9ria_Gyenge_1956.jpg/140px-Val%C3%A9ria_Gyenge_1956.jpg)
rank | Surname | nation | time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Marrion Roe |
![]() |
1: 05.9 min |
2 | Valéria Gyenge |
![]() |
1: 06.6 min |
3 | Birgit Klomp |
![]() |
1: 07.7 min |
4th | Héda Frost |
![]() |
1: 08.8 min |
5 | Blanca Barrón |
![]() |
1: 09.5 min |
6th | Yoshiko Sato |
![]() |
1: 10.3 min |
7th | Gertrude Lozada |
![]() |
1: 13.7 min |
Forward 4
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Faith_Leech.jpg/140px-Faith_Leech.jpg)
rank | Surname | nation | time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Faith Leech |
![]() |
1: 04.9 min |
2 | Zsuzsa Ördög |
![]() |
1: 06.5 min |
3 | Kate Jobson |
![]() |
1: 07.3 min |
4th | Susan Roberts |
![]() |
1: 07.9 min |
5 | Christel Steffin |
![]() |
1: 08.1 min |
6th | Hitomi Jinno |
![]() |
1: 08.8 min |
7th | Gladys Priestley |
![]() |
1: 09.2 min |
Forward 5
The Australian Dawn Fraser improved to by her teammate Lorraine Crapp established in the first lead Olympic record by one second at 1: 02.4 min.
rank | Surname | nation | time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Dawn Fraser |
![]() |
1: 02.4 min |
2 | Natalie Myburgh |
![]() |
1: 05.1 min |
3 | Virginia Grant |
![]() |
1: 05.1 min |
4th | Shelley man |
![]() |
1: 05.4 min |
5 | Frances Hogben |
![]() |
1: 08.5 min |
6th | Ginette Jany-Sendral |
![]() |
1: 09.9 min |
7th | Shoshana Rivner |
![]() |
1: 10.3 min |
Semifinals
Two semi-finals took place on November 30th. The eight fastest swimmers qualified for the final.
Semi-final 1
rank | Surname | nation | time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Dawn Fraser |
![]() |
1: 03.0 min |
2 | Faith Leech |
![]() |
1: 05.2 min |
3 | Joan Rosazza |
![]() |
1: 05.9 min |
4th | Natalie Myburgh |
![]() |
1: 06.0 min |
5 | Valéria Gyenge |
![]() |
1: 06.4 min |
6th | Zsuzsa Ördögh |
![]() |
1: 06.9 min |
7th | Helen Stewart |
![]() |
1: 06.9 min |
8th | Birgit Klomp |
![]() |
1: 07.9 min |
Semi-final 2
rank | Surname | nation | time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lorraine Crapp |
![]() |
1: 03.1 min |
2 | Marrion Roe |
![]() |
1: 05.3 min |
3 | Virginia Grant |
![]() |
1: 05.5 min |
4th | Shelley man |
![]() |
1: 05.5 min |
5 | Nancy Simons |
![]() |
1: 06.1 min |
6th | Kate Jobson |
![]() |
1: 06.1 min |
7th | Susan Roberts |
![]() |
1: 06.6 min |
8th | Jeanette Myburgh |
![]() |
1: 06.7 min |
final
The final took place on December 1st. With a winning time of 1: 02.0 minutes, the Australian Dawn Fraser set a new world record and an Olympic record.
rank | Surname | nation | time |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Dawn Fraser |
![]() |
1: 02.0 min |
![]() |
Lorraine Crapp |
![]() |
1: 02.4 min |
![]() |
Faith Leech |
![]() |
1: 05.1 min |
4th | Joan Rosazza |
![]() |
1: 05.2 min |
5 | Virginia Grant |
![]() |
1: 05.4 min |
6th | Shelley man |
![]() |
1: 05.6 min |
7th | Marrion Roe |
![]() |
1: 05.6 min |
8th | Natalie Myburgh |
![]() |
1: 05.8 min |
Web links
- 1956 Summer Olympics / Swimming - 100 m freestyle in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )