The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 1968 Summer Olympics took place between 18 and 19 October in the Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez. This swimming event used the breaststroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool. This was the first appearance for this event in the Olympics for the women swimmers.

American Katie Ball was the favorite to win three gold medals at the 1968 Olympics.Jamie Secola, " Hall of Fame induction cements Ball-Condon's swimming legacy," Pensacola News-Journal (July 4, 2010). Retrieved November 7, 2014.Frank Litsky, " U.S. Expected to Win the Most Medals (112) and the Most Gold Medals (43); Major Hopes In Swimming And in Track," The New York Times, p. S17 (October 6, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014. She was the reigning world record holder in all four breaststroke distances and bettered her own world records in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials in August 1968.United Press International, " Catie Ball Clips World Swim Mark," The New York Times, p. 50 (August 27, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014.Bob Ottum, " The Encore Will be in Mexico," Sports Illustrated (September 16, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014. She arrived at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, however, with a case of influenza. She won her only Olympic medal, a gold, as a member of the winning U.S. 4×100-meter medley relay team by swimming the breaststroke leg of the four-person relay.databaseOlympics.com, Athletes, Catie Ball . Retrieved November 7, 2014. Sharing the gold medal honors were her relay teammates Kaye Hall (backstroke), Ellie Daniel (butterfly) and Susan Pedersen (freestyle).Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, United States Swimming at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games. Retrieved November 7, 2014. In the 100-meter breaststroke final, Ball led close to the finish but physical exhaustion overwhelmed her, and she finished fifth." U.S. Swimmers Register Sweep in Women's 100-Meter Olympic Free-Style," The New York Times, p. S2 (October 20, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014. She was too ill to swim in the subsequent preliminary heats of the 200-meter breaststroke and was scratched from the event.Associated Press, " U.S.–Yugoslavia in Cage Finals," The Evening Independent, p. 2C (October 23, 1968). Retrieved November 7, 2014.

Results

Heats Heat 1 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Catie Ball 1:18.8 OR 2 Jo-Anne Barnes 1:19.1 3 Sue Jones 1:19.3 4 Dorothy Harrison 1:19.6 5 Christine Filippovits 1:19.9 6 Tamara Oynick 1:22.7 7 Liana Vicens 1:25.2

Heat 2 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Djurdjica Bjedov 1:17.7 OR 2 Alla Grebennikova 1:19.3 3 Shlomit Nir 1:20.9 4 Ann O'Connor 1:21.1 5 Marjan Janus 1:21.9 6 Tamara Orejuela 1:26.8 7 Celia Jokisch 1:46.6

Heat 3 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Sharon Wichman 1:18.3 2 Judy Playfair 1:19.2 3 Yvonne Brage 1:20.8 4 Vreni Eberle 1:22.6 5 Víctoria Casas 1:24.7 6 María Moreño 1:27.2

Heat 4 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Uta Frommater 1:18.5 2 Galina Prozumenschikova 1:18.6 3 Svetlana Babanina 1:20.2 4 Jill Slattery 1:20.7 5 Sue McKenzie 1:20.9 6 Ellen Ingvadóttir 1:22.6

Heat 5 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Ana María Norbis 1:17.4 OR 2 Kiyoe Nakagawa 1:18.2 3 Diana Harris 1:19.8 4 Yukari Takemoto 1:20.7 5 Márta Egerváry 1:22.6 6 Arlette Wilmes 1:24.4 7 María Castro 1:36.9

Semifinals Heat 1 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Sharon Wichman 1:16.8 OR 2 Djurdjica Bjedov 1:17.1 3 Galina Prozumenschikova 1:17.5 4 Joanne Barnes 1:18.4 5 Alla Grebennikova 1:18.6 6 Christine Filippovits 1:18.9 7 Dorothy Harrison 1:19.6 8 Jill Slattery 1:19.8

Heat 2 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Ana Norbis 1:16.7 OR 2 Catie Ball 1:16.8 3 Uta Frommater 1:16.9 4 Kiyoe Nakagawa 1:17.7 5 Svetlana Babanina 1:18.3 6 Sue Jones 1:18.6 7 Judy Playfair 1:19.3 8 Diana Harris 1:19.3

Final

Rank Athlete Country Time Notes Đurđica Bjedov 1:15.8 OR Galina Prozumenshchikova 1:15.9 Sharon Wichman 1:16.1 4 Uta Frommater 1:16.2 5 Catie Ball 1:16.7 6 Kiyoe Nakagawa 1:17.0 7 Svetlana Babanina 1:17.2 8 Ana María Norbis 1:17.3

Key: OR = Olympic record

References

External links 1968 Summer Olympics results: Women's 100 m breaststroke, from http://library.la84.org/; retrieved 2016-04-02.