[1] U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin won the gold medal in this event, outside the record time of 1:00.37.

The silver medal was awarded to Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who finished behind Coughlin by 0.13 of a second, breaking an African record of 1:00.50.

France's Laure Manaudou, who won the gold in the 400 m freestyle on the previous day, took home the bronze medal, with a time of 1:00.88.

[2] In the semifinals, Coughlin lowered an Olympic record time of 1:00.21, set by Romania's Diana Mocanu in Sydney (2000), to 1:00.17.

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