Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 50 metre freestyle
The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on 26 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 | 7 | 4 | Le Jingyi | | 25.10 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | Amy Van Dyken | | 25.12 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | 5 | Sandra Völker | | 25.45 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | 4 | Angel Martino | | 25.47 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | Shan Ying | | 25.71 | Q |
| 6 | 7 | 5 | Natalya Meshcheryakova | | 25.73 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | 6 | Leah Martindale | | 25.76 | Q |
| 8 | 6 | 3 | Linda Olofsson | | 25.84 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 3 | Karen van Wirdum | | 25.88 | q |
| 10 | 7 | 3 | Sumika Minamoto | | 25.89 | q |
| 11 | 6 | 6 | Marianne Muis | | 25.93 | q |
| 12 | 5 | 7 | Yevgeniya Yermakova | | 25.97 | q, NR |
| 13 | 6 | 2 | Simone Osygus | | 26.00 | q |
| 13 | 7 | 6 | Angela Postma | | 26.00 | q |
| 15 | 4 | 4 | Laura Petrutytė | | 26.13 | q, =NR |
| 16 | 7 | 7 | Claudia Franco | | 26.17 | q |
| 17 | 4 | 2 | Vibeke Johansen | | 26.22 | |
| 18 | 7 | 1 | Rania Elwani | | 26.26 | NR |
| 19 | 7 | 8 | Siobhan Cropper | | 26.29 | NR |
| 20 | 4 | 6 | Judith Draxler | | 26.34 | |
| 20 | 5 | 2 | Sarah Ryan | | 26.34 | |
| 22 | 4 | 5 | Blanca Cerón | | 26.39 | |
| 22 | 6 | 1 | Sue Rolph | | 26.39 | |
| 24 | 5 | 1 | Marianne Kriel | | 26.42 | |
| 25 | 4 | 7 | Metka Sparavec | | 26.43 | |
| 26 | 4 | 3 | Martine Dessureault | | 26.44 | |
| 27 | 6 | 7 | Luminița Dobrescu | | 26.47 | |
| 28 | 4 | 8 | Mette Nielsen | | 26.50 | |
| 29 | 4 | 1 | Casey Legler | | 26.52 | |
| 29 | 7 | 2 | Laura Nicholls | | 26.52 | |
| 31 | 5 | 8 | Dita Želvienė | | 26.55 | |
| 32 | 3 | 8 | Dominique Diezi | | 26.57 | NR |
| 33 | 3 | 2 | Eileen Coparropa | | 26.67 | |
| 34 | 3 | 4 | Minna Salmela | | 26.72 | |
| 35 | 2 | 4 | Alison Fitch | | 26.74 | |
| 36 | 3 | 1 | Monica Dahl | | 26.76 | |
| 37 | 3 | 6 | Elín Sigurðardóttir | | 26.90 | |
| 38 | 6 | 8 | Lin Chien-ju | | 27.00 | |
| 39 | 3 | 5 | Valeria Álvarez | | 27.12 | |
| 40 | 1 | 5 | Alena Popchanka | | 27.18 | NR |
| 41 | 2 | 1 | Seo So-yung | | 27.30 | NR |
| 42 | 2 | 2 | Gyöngyvér Lakos | | 27.34 | |
| 43 | 2 | 5 | Teresa Moodie | | 27.38 | |
| 44 | 3 | 3 | Joscelin Yeo | | 27.51 | |
| 45 | 2 | 8 | Duška Radan | | 27.62 | NR |
| 46 | 2 | 3 | Gabrijela Ujčić | | 27.63 | |
| 47 | 2 | 7 | Agnese Ozoliņa | | 27.65 | |
| 48 | 1 | 3 | Sangeeta Puri | | 28.02 | |
| 49 | 1 | 2 | Verónica Prono | | 28.40 | |
| 50 | 1 | 4 | Gail Rizzo | | 28.43 | |
| 51 | 2 | 6 | Akiko Thomson | | 28.51 | |
| 52 | 1 | 6 | Võ Trần Trương An | | 29.02 | |
| 53 | 1 | 7 | Ingrid Louis | | 29.56 | |
| 54 | 1 | 1 | Monika Bakale | | 34.43 | |
| 55 | 1 | 8 | Nishma Gurung | | 41.45 | |
| 3 | 7 | Antonia Machaira | | | |
Finals
Final B
Final A
