The women's 100 metre freestyle

Freestyle swimming

Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...

was a swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 event held as part of the swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the 1924 Summer Olympics

At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, eleven swimming events were contested, six for men and five for women. The competitions were held from Sunday July 13, 1924 to Sunday July 20, 1924.There were 169 participants from 23 countries competing...

 programme. It was the third appearance of the event, which was established in 1912. The competition was held on Saturday July 19, 1924 and on Sunday July 20, 1924.

Sixteen swimmers from seven nations competed.

Medalists

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

World Record	1:12.8	Gertrude Ederle Gertrude Ederle Gertrude Caroline Ederle was an American competitive swimmer. In 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Gertrude Ederle was the daughter of a German immigrant who ran a butcher shop on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan; she was born in New York City. She was known as...	Newark Newark, New Jersey Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...  (USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... )	June 30, 1923
Olympic Record	1:13.6	Ethelda Bleibtrey Ethelda Bleibtrey Ethelda Bleibtrey was a swimmer from the United States notable for winning three gold medals at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp.Bleibtrey started swimming to help recover from polio, which she caught in 1917...	Antwerp (BEL Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... )	August 25, 1920

In the first heat Mariechen Wehselau

Mariechen Wehselau

Mariechen M. Wehselau was an American swimmer who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics....

set a new world record with 1:12.2 minutes.

Heats

The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced.

Heat 1

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:12.2	QQ WR
2		1:22.4	QQ
3		1:23.0

Heat 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:12.8	QQ
2		1:20.8	QQ
3		1:23.4
4		1:27.4
5		1:29.0

Heat 3

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:12.6	QQ
2		1:22.2	QQ
3		1:22.4
4		1:23.2

Heat 4

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:16.0	QQ
2		1:21.0	QQ
3		1:22.0	qq
4		1:25.8

Semifinals

The fastest two in each semi-final and the faster of the two third-placed swimmer advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:15.2	QF
2		1:16.0	QF
3		1:18.6	qf
4		1:21.2
5		1:21.4

Semifinal 2

Place	Swimmer	Time	Qual.
1		1:15.4	QF
2		1:16.6	QF
3		1:22.4
4		1:22.8

Final

Place	Swimmer	Time
1		1:12.4
2		1:12.8
3		1:14.2
4		1:15.4
5		1:20.8