Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre butterfly
# Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre butterfly

The women's 200 metre butterfly event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 25 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

| World record | Mary T. Meagher (USA) | 2:05.96 | Brown Deer, United States | 13 August 1981 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Olympic record | Mary T. Meagher (USA) | 2:06.90 | Los Angeles, United States | 4 August 1984 |

## Results

### Heats

Rule: The eight fastest swimmers advance to final A (Q), while the next eight to final B (q).

| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 2 | Kathleen Nord | East Germany | 2:11.81 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Birte Weigang | East Germany | 2:11.97 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Mary T. Meagher | United States | 2:12.35 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Conny van Bentum | Netherlands | 2:12.41 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Stela Pura | Romania | 2:12.53 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Kiyomi Takahashi | Japan | 2:12.68 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Trina Radke | United States | 2:12.93 | Q |
| 8 | 3 | Wang Xiaohong | China | 2:13.05 | Q |
| 9 | 4 | Gabi Reha | West Germany | 2:13.09 | q |
| 10 | 2 | Mojca Cater | Canada | 2:13.21 | q |
| 11 | 3 | Ina Beyermann | West Germany | 2:13.56 | q |
| 12 | 4 | Svitlana Kopchykova | Soviet Union | 2:15.26 | q |
| 13 | 4 | Takayo Kitano | Japan | 2:15.41 | q |
| 14 | 2 | Mette Jacobsen | Denmark | 2:15.78 | q |
| 15 | 3 | Helen Bewley | Great Britain | 2:17.10 | q |
| 16 | 4 | Lynne Wilson | Great Britain | 2:17.28 | q |
| 17 | 4 | Donna Procter | Australia | 2:18.17 | |
| 18 | 2 | Sandra Neves | Portugal | 2:18.29 | |
| 19 | 3 | Neviana Miteva | Bulgaria | 2:18.44 | |
| 20 | 3 | Kim Soo-jin | South Korea | 2:19.00 | |
| 21 | 1 | Blanca Morales | Guatemala | 2:19.28 | |
| 22 | 2 | Mo Wanlan | China | 2:19.56 | |
| 23 | 1 | Marlene Bruten | Mexico | 2:19.68 | |
| 24 | 1 | Isabelle Arnould | Belgium | 2:20.74 | |
| 25 | 3 | Claire Supiot | France | 2:21.65 | |
| 26 | 1 | Chang Hui-chien | Chinese Taipei | 2:25.50 | |
| 27 | 1 | Nguyễn Kiều Oanh | Vietnam | 2:33.07 | |
| | 2 | Donna McGinnis | Canada | DSQ | |

### Finals

**Final B**

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 9 | 5 | Mojca Cater | Canada | 2:12.66 |
| 10 | 3 | Ina Beyermann | West Germany | 2:13.74 |
| 11 | 4 | Gabi Reha | West Germany | 2:14.20 |
| 12 | 6 | Svitlana Kopchykova | Soviet Union | 2:14.43 |
| 13 | 7 | Mette Jacobsen | Denmark | 2:15.60 |
| 14 | 2 | Takayo Kitano | Japan | 2:15.61 |
| 15 | 1 | Helen Bewley | Great Britain | 2:17.11 |
| 16 | 8 | Lynne Wilson | Great Britain | 2:18.66 |

**Final A**

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | 4 | Kathleen Nord | East Germany | 2:09.51 |
| | 5 | Birte Weigang | East Germany | 2:09.91 |
| | 3 | Mary T. Meagher | United States | 2:10.80 |
| 4 | 2 | Stela Pura | Romania | 2:11.28 |
| 5 | 1 | Trina Radke | United States | 2:11.55 |
| 6 | 7 | Kiyomi Takahashi | Japan | 2:11.62 |
| 7 | 8 | Wang Xiaohong | China | 2:12.34 |
| 8 | 6 | Conny van Bentum | Netherlands | 2:13.17 |
