Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 50 metre freestyle

The Women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place between August 15 and 17, at the Beijing National Aquatics Center. This swimming event uses 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 consists entirely of a single length of the pool.

Twelve heats were held, with most containing the maximum number of swimmers (eight). The heat in which a swimmer competes did not formally matter for advancement, as the swimmers with the top sixteen times from the entire field qualified for the semifinals. Two semifinal heats of eight swimmers each were held. The swimmers with the eight fastest times again advanced to the finals; there, they all competed in a single final heat to earn final placements.

The qualifying norms for the 2008 event were 25.43 seconds (A norm) and 26.32 seconds (B norm). NOCs with two or more swimmers meeting the A standard could enter any two such swimmers; otherwise, they could enter a single swimmer meeting the B standard.

Medalists

Heat 2

Heat 5

Heat 8

Heat 11

emifinal 2

Final

[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWW010101.shtml#SWW010101 Results - Women's 50m Freestyle Final]

* Q = Qualified, DSQ = Disqualified
* WR = World Record, OR = Olympic Record
* AF = African Record, AM = Americas Record, AS = Asian Record, ER = European Record, OC = Oceania Record
* CR = Commonwealth Record, NR = National Record

References