Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre breaststroke
The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on 21 July at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, United States.Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
The following records were established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 23 July | Heat 4 | Penny Heyns | | 2:26.63 | |
| 23 July | Final A | Penny Heyns | | 2:25.41 | |
Results
Heats
Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A, while the next eight to final B.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | 4 | | | 2:26.63 | Q, |
| 2 | 5 | 4 | | | 2:28.10 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | 4 | | | 2:28.30 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | 3 | | | 2:29.36 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | 3 | | | 2:29.58 | Q |
| 6 | 6 | 5 | | | 2:29.62 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 6 | | | 2:29.91 | Q |
| 8 | 6 | 6 | | | 2:30.30 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 7 | | | 2:30.64 | q |
| 9 | 6 | 2 | | | 2:30.64 | q |
| 11 | 4 | 3 | | | 2:30.84 | q |
| 12 | 6 | 1 | | | 2:31.12 | q |
| 13 | 5 | 5 | | | 2:31.57 | q |
| 14 | 4 | 7 | | | 2:31.65 | q |
| 15 | 5 | 2 | | | 2:32.14 | q |
| 16 | 4 | 2 | | | 2:32.42 | q, |
| 17 | 4 | 1 | | | 2:32.44 | q |
| 18 | 4 | 8 | | | 2:32.48 | |
| 19 | 4 | 6 | | | 2:32.97 | |
| 20 | 3 | 5 | | | 2:33.34 | |
| 21 | 6 | 7 | | | 2:33.44 | |
| 22 | 5 | 1 | | | 2:33.74 | |
| 23 | 3 | 6 | | | 2:33.80 | |
| 24 | 3 | 4 | | | 2:33.89 | |
| 24 | 4 | 5 | | | 2:33.89 | |
| 26 | 5 | 8 | | | 2:34.76 | |
| 27 | 3 | 1 | | | 2:36.11 | |
| 28 | 3 | 7 | | | 2:36.20 | |
| 29 | 2 | 4 | | | 2:36.26 | |
| 30 | 2 | 6 | | | 2:36.94 | |
| 31 | 3 | 2 | | | 2:37.07 | |
| 32 | 3 | 8 | | | 2:37.85 | |
| 33 | 6 | 8 | | | 2:38.08 | |
| 34 | 2 | 7 | | | 2:39.63 | NR |
| 35 | 1 | 3 | | | 2:42.97 | |
| 36 | 2 | 3 | | | 2:43.94 | |
| 37 | 2 | 2 | | | 2:44.24 | |
| 38 | 2 | 1 | | | 2:45.21 | |
| 39 | 2 | 5 | | | 2:45.87 | |
| 40 | 1 | 5 | | | 2:57.65 | |
| 1 | 4 | | | | |
| 3 | 3 | | | | |
Finals
Final B
Final A
