Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place between 26 and 28 July at the Swimming Stadium. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. 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 consisted of two lengths of the pool.
Medalists
Results
Heats
Heat 1| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher | 1:06.7 | ||
| 2 | Ilona Novák | 1:07.7 | ||
| 3 | Elisabeth Rechlin | 1:08.5 | ||
| 4 | Mette Ove Petersen | 1:09.6 | ||
| 5 | Maria Nardi | 1:13.2 | ||
| 6 | Sadako Yamashita | 1:13.2 | ||
| 7 | Cynthia Eager | 1:16.8 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Hannie Termeulen | 1:07.3 | ||
| 2 | Greta Andersen | 1:08.0 | ||
| 3 | Judy Roberts | 1:08.2 | ||
| 4 | Marianne Lundquist | 1:10.8 | ||
| 5 | Vera Schäferkordt | 1:10.9 | ||
| 6 | Romana Calligaris | 1:11.0 | ||
| 7 | Dolly Nazir | 1:24.6 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Katalin Szőke | 1:07.1 | ||
| 2 | Koosje van Voorn | 1:07.4 | ||
| 3 | Josette Arène | 1:09.1 | ||
| 4 | Jean Botham | 1:10.5 | ||
| 5 | Fumiko Sakaguchi | 1:14.6 | ||
| 6 | Irene Strong | 1:15.1 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Joan Harrison | 1:06.5 | ||
| 2 | Jody Alderson | 1:07.4 | ||
| 3 | Angela Barnwell | 1:07.6 | ||
| 4 | Ingegerd Fredin | 1:08.0 | ||
| 5 | Denise Norton | 1:11.8 | ||
| 6 | Gladys Priestley | 1:13.4 | ||
| 7 | Raili Riuttala | 1:13.5 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Judit Temes | 1:05.5 | ||
| 2 | Ragnhild Hveger | 1:08.6 | ||
| 3 | Maud Berglund | 1:09.8 | ||
| 4 | Lillian Preece | 1:10.0 | ||
| 5 | Ritva Järvinen | 1:11.5 | ||
| 6 | Sybille Verckist | 1:13.7 | ||
| 7 | Shizue Miyabe | 1:16.6 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Marilee Stepan | 1:07.7 | ||
| 2 | Marjorie McQuade | 1:07.9 | ||
| 3 | Ana María Schultz | 1:10.6 | ||
| 4 | Gaby Tanguy | 1:10.6 | ||
| 5 | Kay McNamee | 1:12.9 | ||
| 6 | Susy Vaterlaus | 1:16.8 | ||
| 7 | Ritva Koivula | 1:17.3 |
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Katalin Szőke | 1:06.8 | |||
| Hannie Termeulen | 1:07.0 | |||
| Judit Temes | 1:07.1 | |||
| 4 | Joan Harrison | 1:07.1 | ||
| 5 | Jody Alderson | 1:07.1 | ||
| 6 | Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher | 1:07.3 | ||
| 7 | Marilee Stepan | 1:08.0 | ||
| 8 | Angela Barnwell | 1:08.6 |