Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre individual medley
The women's 200 metre individual medley event at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on 24 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.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 | 3 | Marianne Limpert | | 2:15.12 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | 5 | Elli Overton | | 2:15.81 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | 3 | Minouche Smit | | 2:16.30 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | 3 | Lin Li | | 2:16.31 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | 4 | Allison Wagner | | 2:16.32 | Q |
| 6 | 4 | 5 | Joanne Malar | | 2:16.34 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | Michelle Smith | | 2:16.35 | Q |
| 8 | 5 | 1 | Louise Karlsson | | 2:16.37 | Q |
| 9 | 4 | 7 | Martina Moravcová | | 2:16.50 | q, NR |
| 10 | 6 | 4 | Wu Yanyan | | 2:16.55 | q |
| 11 | 3 | 4 | Beatrice Căşlaru | | 2:16.80 | q |
| 12 | 6 | 2 | Emma Johnson | | 2:17.02 | q, |
| 13 | 4 | 4 | Kristine Quance | | 2:17.48 | q |
| 13 | 6 | 1 | Alicja Pęczak | | 2:17.48 | q |
| 15 | 3 | 2 | Silvia Parera | | 2:17.67 | q |
| 16 | 5 | 7 | Sabine Herbst | | 2:18.00 | q |
| 17 | 6 | 6 | Brigitte Becue | | 2:18.28 | q, |
| 18 | 4 | 1 | Britta Vestergaard | | 2:18.35 | q |
| 19 | 3 | 8 | Alenka Kejžar | | 2:18.39 | NR |
| 20 | 6 | 7 | Lenka Maňhalová | | 2:18.43 | |
| 21 | 5 | 6 | Sue Rolph | | 2:18.81 | |
| 22 | 4 | 6 | Gabrielle Rose | | 2:18.99 | |
| 23 | 3 | 6 | Aikaterini Sarakatsani | | 2:19.74 | |
| 24 | 2 | 5 | Elin Austevoll | | 2:19.81 | |
| 25 | 4 | 2 | Anna Wilson | | 2:19.97 | |
| 26 | 5 | 8 | Darya Shmeleva | | 2:20.34 | |
| 27 | 3 | 7 | Julia Russell | | 2:20.40 | |
| 28 | 5 | 2 | Fumie Kurotori | | 2:20.58 | |
| 29 | 4 | 8 | Olena Lapunova | | 2:20.76 | |
| 30 | 3 | 5 | Martina Nemec | | 2:21.10 | |
| 31 | 2 | 3 | Carolyn Adel | | 2:21.54 | NR |
| 32 | 6 | 8 | Joscelin Yeo | | 2:21.76 | |
| 33 | 2 | 4 | Petra Chaves | | 2:22.03 | |
| 34 | 3 | 1 | Praphalsai Minpraphal | | 2:22.34 | |
| 35 | 2 | 7 | Lee Jie-hyun | | 2:22.97 | |
| 36 | 3 | 3 | Nadège Cliton | | 2:25.25 | |
| 37 | 2 | 1 | Sonia Álvarez | | 2:25.57 | |
| 38 | 2 | 2 | Akiko Thomson | | 2:25.87 | |
| 39 | 1 | 4 | Olga Bogatyreva | | 2:26.42 | |
| 40 | 2 | 6 | Beáta Újhelyi | | 2:26.77 | |
| 41 | 2 | 8 | Tsai Shu-min | | 2:28.71 | |
| 42 | 1 | 5 | Meritxell Sabate | | 2:37.38 | |
| 43 | 1 | 3 | Mira Ghniem | | 2:56.99 | |
Finals
Final B
Final A
