| Event: | Women's 100 metre freestyle |
| Games: | 1936 Summer |
| Date: | 8–10 August |
| Competitors: | 33 |
| Nations: | 14 |
| Gold: | Rie Mastenbroek |
| Goldnoc: | NED |
| Silver: | Jeannette Campbell |
| Silvernoc: | ARG |
| Bronze: | Gisela Arendt |
| Bronzenoc: | GER |
| Prev: | 1932 |
| Next: | 1948 |
The women's 100 metre freestyle was a swimming event held as part of the swimming at the 1936 Summer Olympics programme.[1] It was the sixth appearance of the event, which was established in 1912. The competition was held from Saturday to Monday, 8 to 10 August 1936.
Thirty-three swimmers from 14 nations competed.
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1936 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 1:04.6 | Willy den Ouden | Amsterdam (NED) | 27 February 1936 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Record | 1:06.8 |  Helene Madison | Los Angeles (USA) | 8 August 1932 |
Rie Mastenbroek set a new Olympic record in the first heat with 1 minute 06.4 seconds and equaled her time in the first semi-final. In the final she lowered the Olympic record to 1 minute 05.9 seconds.
Saturday 8 August 1936: The fastest three in each heat and the fastest fourth-placed from across the heats advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat 1
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:06.4 | Q OR | ||||
| 2 | 1:07.3 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:08.5 | Q | ||||
| 4 | 1:09.2 | q | ||||
| 5 | 1:10.1 | |||||
| 6 | 1:13.0 | |||||
| 7 | 1:14.6 | |||||
| 8 | 1:15.1 |
Heat 2
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:08.1 | Q | ||||
| 2 | 1:08.5 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:09.3 | Q | ||||
| 4 | 1:12.7 | |||||
| 5 | 1:12.8 | |||||
| 6 | 1:14.6 |
Heat 3
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:06.8 | Q | ||||
| 2 | 1:08.9 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:09.4 | Q | ||||
| 4 | 1:10.3 | |||||
| 5 | 1:10.9 | |||||
| 6 | 1:11.5 | |||||
| 7 | 1:12.1 |
Heat 4
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:09.6 | Q | ||||
| 2 | 1:11.0 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:11.5 | Q | ||||
| 4 | 1:11.8 | |||||
| 5 | 1:13.8 | |||||
| 6 | 1:16.2 | |||||
| 7 | 1:22.2 |
Heat 5
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:09.0 | Q | ||||
| 2 | 1:09.9 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:10.0 | Q | ||||
| 4 | 1:10.3 | |||||
| 5 | 1:10.9 |
Sunday 9 August 1936: The fastest three in each semi-final and the fastest fourth-placed from across the heats advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:06.4 | Q =OR | ||||
| 2 | 1:07.2 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:08.5 | Q | ||||
| 4 | 1:08.6 | q | ||||
| 5 | 1:09.6 | |||||
| 6 | 1:09.6 | |||||
| 7 | 1:11.1 | |||||
| 8 | 1:12.1 |
Semifinal 2
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Qual. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:06.6 | Q | ||||
| 2 | 1:06.7 | Q | ||||
| 3 | 1:08.9 | Q | ||||
| 4 | 1:09.6 | |||||
| 5 | 1:10.0 | |||||
| 6 | 1:12.0 | |||||
| 7 | 1:12.8 | |||||
| 8 | 1:14.0 |
Monday 10 August 1936:
| Place | width=230 | Swimmer | width=90 | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:05.9 OR | |||
| 2 | 1:06.4 | |||
| 3 | 1:06.6 | |||
| 4 | 1:07.6 | |||
| 5 | 1:08.1 | |||
| 6 | 1:08.4 | |||
| 7 | 1:08.7 |