2016 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 800 metre freestyle
# 2016 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 800 metre freestyle

The Women's 800 metre freestyle competition of the 2016 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) was held on 7 and 8 December 2016.

## Records

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

| | Name | Nation | Time | Location | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| World record | Mireia Belmonte | Spain | 7:59.34 | Berlin | 10 August 2013 |
| Championship record | Mireia Belmonte | Spain | 8:03.41 | Doha | 4 December 2014 |

## Results

### Heats

The heats were held at 11:31.

| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 4 | 4 | Leah Smith | United States | 8:07.67 | Q, AM |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | Ashley Twichell | United States | 8:16.08 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | Kiah Melverton | Australia | 8:23.51 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | 2 | Olivia Anderson | Canada | 8:24.65 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | 5 | Katinka Hosszú | Hungary | 8:25.00 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 4 | Delfina Pignatiello | Argentina | 8:25.05 | Q, NR |
| 7 | 3 | 2 | Zhang Yuhan | China | 8:25.33 | Q |
| 8 | 4 | 8 | Ariarne Titmus | Australia | 8:25.85 | Q |
| 9 | 4 | 3 | Sharon van Rouwendaal | Netherlands | 8:27.41 | |
| 10 | 4 | 7 | Celine Rieder | Germany | 8:28.50 | |
| 11 | 4 | 6 | Viviane Jungblut | Brazil | 8:29.58 | |
| 12 | 3 | 1 | Hannah Miley | Great Britain | 8:30.96 | |
| 13 | 3 | 8 | Yuna Kikuchi | Japan | 8:33.06 | |
| 14 | 3 | 7 | Gaja Natlacen | Slovenia | 8:34.59 | |
| 15 | 4 | 0 | Martina Elhenická | Czech Republic | 8:34.60 | |
| 16 | 3 | 6 | Dong Jie | China | 8:35.69 | |
| 17 | 3 | 9 | Diana Durães | Portugal | 8:36.08 | |
| 18 | 4 | 1 | Misato Iwanaga | Japan | 8:38.61 | |
| 19 | 4 | 9 | Julia Hassler | Liechtenstein | 8:39.95 | |
| 20 | 3 | 0 | Tamila Holub | Portugal | 8:41.46 | |
| 21 | 2 | 6 | Helena Moreno | Costa Rica | 8:44.01 | NR |
| 22 | 2 | 7 | Souad Nefissa Cherouati | Algeria | 8:45.40 | NR |
| 23 | 2 | 5 | Monique Olivier | Luxembourg | 8:45.47 | |
| 24 | 2 | 3 | Benjaporn Sriphanomthorn | Thailand | 8:54.90 | NR |
| 25 | 2 | 8 | Nejla Karić | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8:57.87 | NR |
| 26 | 2 | 1 | Daniella van den Berg | Aruba | 8:58.72 | NR |
| 27 | 2 | 2 | Daniela Miyahara Coello | Peru | 8:59.57 | |
| 28 | 1 | 4 | Rosalee Mira Santa Ana | Philippines | 9:02.19 | NR |
| 29 | 1 | 5 | Gabriella Doueihy | Lebanon | 9:03.93 | NR |
| 30 | 2 | 9 | Malavika Vishwanath | India | 9:12.08 | |
| 31 | 1 | 3 | Fatima Alkaramova | Azerbaijan | 9:25.50 | NR |
| 32 | 1 | 6 | Osisang Chilton | Palau | 10:15.29 | NR |
| | 2 | 0 | Talita Te Flan | Ivory Coast | | DNS |
| | 3 | 5 | Mireia Belmonte | Spain | | DNS |

### Final

The final was held at 20:06.

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | 4 | Leah Smith | United States | 8:10.17 |
| | 5 | Ashley Twichell | United States | 8:11.95 |
| | 3 | Kiah Melverton | Australia | 8:16.51 |
| 4 | 8 | Ariarne Titmus | Australia | 8:17.95 |
| 5 | 1 | Zhang Yuhan | China | 8:21.05 |
| 6 | 7 | Delfina Pignatiello | Argentina | 8:26.41 |
| 7 | 6 | Olivia Anderson | Canada | 8:30.16 |
| 8 | 2 | Katinka Hosszú | Hungary | 8:36.76 |
