| Women 200m Backstroke V Swimming World Championship 1986 Madrid, Spain - Saturday, 23rd August - Gold Medal: Cornelia Sirch, East Germany | 
| Final |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | pts |  | 1. Cornelia Sirch |   East Germany | 2:11.37 |   |   | 3 | 19 | 902  |  | 2. Betsy Mitchell |   United States | 2:11.39 |   | +0.02s | 4 | 20 | 902  |  | 3. Kathrin Zimmermann |   East Germany | 2:11.45 |   | +0.08s | 6 | 19 | 901  |  | 4. Holly Green |   United States | 2:13.59 |   | +2.22s | 5 |   | 858  |  | 5. Natalya Shibayeva |   Soviet Union | 2:14.69 |   | +3.32s | 7 | 18 | 837  |  | 6. Jolanda De Rover |   Netherlands | 2:14.94 |   | +3.57s | 2 | 22 | 833  |  | 7. Aneta Patrascoiu |   Romania | 2:16.60 |   | +5.23s | 1 | 18 | 803  |  | 8. Svenja Schlicht |   West Germany | 2:18.03 |   | +6.66s | 8 | 19 | 778  |   
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| Final B |   | time |   | gap | L | ag |  | 9. Dora Varga |   Hungary | 2:16.65 |   |   | 2 |   |  | 10.Lorenza Vigarani |   Italy | 2:17.11 |   | +0.46s | 3 | 16 |  | 11.Monika Gyuro |   Hungary | 2:17.39 |   | +0.74s | 5 |   |  | 12.Christine Magnier |   France | 2:17.88 |   | +1.23s | 6 | 17 |  | 13.Kathy Read |   Great Britain | 2:18.13 |   | +1.48s | 4 | 17 |  | 14.Sylvia Hume |   New Zealand | 2:18.15 |   | +1.50s | 7 | 18 |  | 15.Barb McBain |   Canada | 2:21.46 |   | +4.81s | 8 |   |  | 16.Marion Aizpors |   West Germany | 2:22.51 |   | +5.86s | 1 | 25 |   
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Heats - Saturday, 23rd August | 
| Best 8 times advanced to Final. Next 8 to Final B.  | 
| Heat 4 |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | Rk |  | 1. Betsy Mitchell |   United States | 2:12.58 |   |   | - | 20 | 1.  |  | 2. Holly Green |   United States | 2:13.34 |   | +0.76s | - |   | 2.  |  | 10.Monika Gyuro |   Hungary | 2:17.65 |   | +5.07s | - |   | 3.  |  | 13.Georgina Parkes |   Australia | 2:18.85 |   | +6.27s | - | 21 | 4.  |  | 21.Eeva Ketola |   Finland | 2:26.48 |   | +13.90s | - |   | 5.  |  | 27.Monica Rezende |   Brazil | 2:32.48 |   | +19.90s | - | 17 | 6.  |   
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| Heat 3 |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | Rk |  | 5. Natalya Shibayeva |   Soviet Union | 2:15.05 |   | +2.47s | - | 18 | 1.  |  | 7. Aneta Patrascoiu |   Romania | 2:15.97 |   | +3.39s | - | 18 | 2.  |  | 8. Svenja Schlicht |   West Germany | 2:16.53 |   | +3.95s | - | 19 | 3.  |  | 11.Lorenza Vigarani |   Italy | 2:18.00 |   | +5.42s | - | 16 | 4.  |  | 17.Barb McBain |   Canada | 2:22.02 |   | +9.44s | - |   | 5.  |  | 20.Sylvie Closset |   Belgium | 2:25.66 |   | +13.08s | - |   | 6.  |  | 23.Amaya Larranaga |   Spain | 2:27.50 |   | +14.92s | - |   | 7.  |  | 28.Lee-Yu Lan |   Chinese Taipei | 2:34.12 |   | +21.54s | - |   | 8.  |   
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| Heat 2 |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | Rk |  | 6. Kathrin Zimmermann |   East Germany | 2:15.16 |   | +2.58s | - | 19 | 1.  |  | 9. Kathy Read |   Great Britain | 2:17.34 |   | +4.76s | - | 17 | 2.  |  | 14.Dora Varga |   Hungary | 2:19.55 |   | +6.97s | - |   | 3.  |  | 15.Sylvia Hume |   New Zealand | 2:19.68 |   | +7.10s | - | 18 | 4.  |  | 19.Pascale Choquet |   Canada | 2:23.82 |   | +11.24s | - |   | 5.  |  | 24.Rita Garay |   Puerto Rico | 2:29.67 |   | +17.09s | - | 15 | 6.  |  | 26.Leticia Morales |   Argentina | 2:32.37 |   | +19.79s | - |   | 7.  |  | 29.Soumaya Koudri |   Algeria | 2:37.37 |   | +24.79s | - |   | 8.  |   
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| Heat 1 |   | time |   | gap | L | ag | Rk |  | 3. Cornelia Sirch |   East Germany | 2:13.52 |   | +0.94s | - | 19 | 1.  |  | 4. Jolanda De Rover |   Netherlands | 2:13.91 |   | +1.33s | - | 22 | 2.  |  | 12.Christine Magnier |   France | 2:18.57 |   | +5.99s | - | 17 | 3.  |  | 16.Marion Aizpors |   West Germany | 2:19.69 |   | +7.11s | - | 25 | 4.  |  | 18.Mayra Kikuchi |   Brazil | 2:22.67 |   | +10.09s | - |   | 5.  |  | 22.Ana Luisa Barros |   Portugal | 2:27.44 |   | +14.86s | - | 16 | 6.  |  | 25.Beatriz Villa |   Colombia | 2:30.97 |   | +18.39s | - |   | 7.  |   
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