Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metre freestyle
The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between 22 and 24 October. 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 sixteen lengths of the pool.
Medalists
Results
Heats
Heat 1| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Debbie Meyer | 9:42.8 | ||
| 2 | Angela Coughlan | 10:00.2 | ||
| 3 | Sigrid Goral | 10:09.3 | ||
| 4 | Kristina Moir | 10:24.5 | ||
| 5 | Helen Elliott | 10:32.9 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Karen Moras | 9:38.3 | ||
| 2 | Denise Langford | 9:59.3 | ||
| 3 | Laura Vaca | 10:01.8 | ||
| 4 | Tui Shipston | 10:28.0 | ||
| 5 | Norma Amezcua | 10:31.6 | ||
| 6 | Emilia Figueroa | 10:57.7 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Pam Kruse | 9:49.8 | ||
| 2 | Elisabeth Ljunggren-Morris | 10:07.5 | ||
| 3 | Susan Williams | 10:17.6 | ||
| 4 | Sabine Rantzsch | 10:18.4 | ||
| 5 | Lylian Castillo | 11:19.1 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Christine Deakes | 10:06.7 | ||
| 2 | Marie-José Kersaudy | 10:19.8 | ||
| 3 | Novella Calligaris | 10:21.0 | ||
| 4 | Patricia Olano | 10:44.1 | ||
| 5 | Silvana Asturias | 11:12.5 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | María Teresa Ramírez | 9:46.4 | ||
| 2 | Patty Caretto | 9:46.4 | ||
| 3 | Dominique Mollier | 10:21.4 | ||
| 4 | Marjatta Hara | 10:23.3 | ||
| 5 | Olga de Angulo | 10:40.5 |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Debbie Meyer | 9:24.0 | OR | ||
| Pam Kruse | 9:35.7 | |||
| Maria Teresa Ramírez | 9:38.5 | |||
| 4 | Karen Moras | 9:38.6 | ||
| 5 | Patty Caretto | 9:51.3 | ||
| 6 | Angela Coughlan | 9:56.4 | ||
| 7 | Denise Langford | 9:56.7 | ||
| 8 | Laura Vaca | 10:02.5 |
Key: OR = Olympic record