| Event: | Women's 100 metre freestyle |
| Games: | 1932 Summer |
| Date: | 6–8 August |
| Competitors: | 20 |
| Nations: | 10 |
| Gold: | Helene Madison |
| Goldnoc: | USA |
| Silver: | Willy den Ouden |
| Silvernoc: | NED |
| Bronze: | Eleanor Saville |
| Bronzenoc: | USA |
| Prev: | 1928 |
| Next: | 1936 |
The women's 100 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1932 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the fifth appearance of the event, which was established in 1912. The competition was held on Saturday August 6, 1932 and on Monday August 8, 1932.
Twenty swimmers from ten nations competed.
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1932 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 1:06.6 |  Helene Madison | Boston (USA) | April 20, 1931 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Record | 1:11.0 | Albina Osipowich | Amsterdam (NED) | August 11, 1928 |
In the heats the Olympic record was broken in the second heat by Joyce Cooper with 1:09.0, in the third heat by Helene Madison with 1:08.9 and in the fourth heat Eleanor Saville with 1:08.5. In the first semi-final Willy den Ouden bettered the Olympic record with 1:07.6 and in the final Madison again set a new Olympic record with 1:06.8.
Saturday August 6, 1932: The fastest two in each heat and the fastest third-placed from across the heats advanced to the final.
Heat 1
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:12.1 | Q | ||||
| 2 | 1:12.2 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:12.7 | |||||
| 4 | 1:17.1 | |||||
| 5 | 1:19.9 |
Heat 2
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:09.0 | Q OR | ||||
| 2 | 1:09.3 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:11.4 | q | ||||
| 4 | 1:13.3 | |||||
| 5 | 1:15.2 |
Heat 3
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:08.9 | Q OR | ||||
| 2 | 1:11.0 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:11.6 | |||||
| 4 | 1:15.1 | |||||
| 5 | 1:16.2 |
Heat 4
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:08.5 | Q OR | ||||
| 2 | 1:09.2 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:16.1 | |||||
| 4 | 1:16.3 | |||||
| 5 | 1:25.8 |
Sunday August 7, 1932: The fastest three in each semi-final advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:07.6 | Q OR | ||||
| 2 | 1:08.8 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:08.8 | Q | ||||
| 4 | 1:09.2 | |||||
| 5 | 1:14.1 |
Semifinal 2
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:09.9 | Q | ||||
| 2 | 1:10.2 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:10.6 | Q | ||||
| 4 | 1:11.8 |
Monday August 8, 1932:
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:06.8 OR | |||
| 2 | 1:07.8 | |||
| 3 | 1:08.2 | |||
| 4 | 1:09.3 | |||
| 5 | 1:09.9 | |||
| 6 | 1:10.8 |