The final seemed to have been decided when Senff built up an apparently unassailable lead at halfway but she made what appeared to be a disastrous error and failed to touch the wall. Rather than risk disqualification she turned round and went back but dropped from first to sixth. Mastenbroek moved ahead of the pack but she clipped the lane dividers and lost enough time for Senff to close back on her. With twenty metres left Senff edged into the lead and held on to win the championship.
First 3 from each Semi and Best 4th (Phyllis Harding, Great Britain) advanced to Final.
Semi 1
time
gap
L
Y
Rk.
1. Nida Senff
Netherlands
1:17.1
4
16
1.
2. Edith Motridge
United States
1:19.1
+2.0s
1
23
2.
3. Tove Brunnstrom Madsen
Denmark
1:19.1
+2.0s
2
15
2.
4. Phyllis Harding
Great Britain
1:19.8
+2.7s
6
28
6.
5. Anni Stolte
Germany
1:21.7
+4.6s
3
21
10.
6. Patricia Norton
Australia
1:21.9
+4.8s
5
17
11.
Semi 2
time
gap
L
Y
Rk.
1. Hendrika Mastenbroek
Netherlands
1:19.1
+2.0s
3
17
2.
2. Lorna Frampton
Great Britain
1:19.6
+2.5s
1
16
5.
3. Alice Bridges
United States
1:20.4
+3.3s
4
20
7.
4. Alberdina Geetruida Kerkmeester
Netherlands
1:21.3
+4.2s
2
14
8.
5. Audrey Morris Mavis Hancock
Great Britain
1:21.6
+4.5s
6
17
9.
6. Tove Nielsen
Denmark
1:22.0
+4.9s
5
19
12.
The first sensation of this event happened before one of the potential medallists had even set foot in Germany. Eleanor Holm, the glamorous American who had won this event in Los Angeles, was removed from the US team because of her behaviour on the boat bringing her from America. She was accused, amongst other charges, of being blind drunk following a party. Holm was still present in the Olympic swimming stadium but only covering the Games for a press agency.
Netherlands
United States
Denmark
Great Britain
Germany
Australia
Hungary
Canada
Brazil
France
Austria
China