Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Munich, West Germany, 29 events in swimming were contested. There was a total of 532 participants from 52 countries competing.

Perhaps the most spectacular athletic events were in swimming. Mark Spitz of the United States had a spectacular run, lining up for seven events, winning seven Olympic titles and setting seven world records. The seven world records in a single Olympic meet was tied by Michael Phelps in 2008. According to the official Olympic website, "He took part in the 4x200 m one hour after his final in the 100 m butterfly. As for the 200 m freestyle gold, it was his third medal in three days" [1].

On the women's side of the competition, Shane Gould of Australia won 5 medals. She won the 200 m and 400 m freestyle as well as the 200 m individual medley, each with a new world record time. In addition, she won the silver and the bronze in the 800 m and 100 m freestyle, respectively.

In terms of records, the Olympic record was broken at least once in all 29 events. In 20 of those events, there was a new world record set.

Medal table

1	United States (USA)	17	14	12	43
2	Australia (AUS)	6	2	2	10
3	East Germany (GDR)	2	5	2	9
4	Japan (JPN)	2	0	1	3
5	Sweden (SWE)	2	0	0	2
6	Soviet Union (URS)	0	2	3	5
7	Canada (CAN)	0	2	2	4
8	West Germany (FRG)	0	1	3	4
9	Italy (ITA)	0	1	2	3
	Hungary (HUN)	0	1	2	3
11	Great Britain (GBR)	0	1	0	1

Medal summary

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle	Mark Spitz (USA)	51.22 (WR)	Jerry Heidenreich (USA)	51.65	Vladimir Bure (URS)	51.77
200 m freestyle	Mark Spitz (USA)	1:52.78 (WR)	Steve Genter (USA)	1:53.73	Werner Lampe (FRG)	1:53.99
400 m freestyle	Brad Cooper (AUS)	4:00.27 (OR)	Steve Genter (USA)	4:01.94	Tom McBreen (USA)	4:02.64
1500 m freestyle	Mike Burton (USA)	15:52.58 (WR)	Graham Windeatt (AUS)	15:58.48	Doug Northway (USA)	16:09.25
100 m backstroke	Roland Matthes (GDR)	56.58 (OR)	Mike Stamm (USA)	57.70	John Murphy (USA)	58.35
200 m backstroke	Roland Matthes (GDR)	2:02.82 (WR)	Mike Stamm (USA)	2:04.09	Mitch Ivey (USA)	2:04.33
100 m breaststroke	Nobutaka Taguchi (JPN)	1:04.94 (WR)	Tom Bruce (USA)	1:05.43	John Hencken (USA)	1:05.61
200 m breaststroke	John Hencken (USA)	2:21.55 (WR)	David Wilkie (GBR)	2:23.67	Nobutaka Taguchi (JPN)	2:23.88
100 m butterfly	Mark Spitz (USA)	54.27 (WR)	Bruce Robertson (CAN)	55.56	Jerry Heidenreich (USA)	55.74
200 m butterfly	Mark Spitz (USA)	2:00.70 (WR)	Gary Hall, Sr. (USA)	2:02.86	Robin Backhaus (USA)	2:03.23
200 m individual medley	Gunnar Larsson (SWE)	2:07.17 (WR)	Tim McKee (USA)	2:08.37	Steve Furniss (USA)	2:08.45
400 m individual medley	Gunnar Larsson (SWE)	4:31.98 (OR)	Tim McKee (USA)	4:31.98	András Hargitay (HUN)	4:32.70
4×100 m freestyle relay	United States (USA) David Edgar John Murphy Jerry Heidenreich Mark Spitz	3:26.42 (WR)	Soviet Union (URS) Vladimir Bure Viktor Mazanov Viktor Aboimov Igor Grivennikov	3:29.72	East Germany (GDR) Roland Matthes Wilfried Hartung Peter Bruch Lutz Unger	3:32.42
4×200 m freestyle relay	United States (USA) John Kinsella Fred Tyler Steve Genter Mark Spitz	7:35.78 (WR)	West Germany (FRG) Klaus Steinbach Werner Lampe Hans Vosseler Hans Fassnacht	7:41.69	Soviet Union (URS) Igor Grivennikov Viktor Mazanov Georgi Kulikov Vladimir Bure	7:45.76
4×100 m medley relay	United States (USA) Mike Stamm Tom Bruce Mark Spitz Jerry Heidenreich	3:48.16 (WR)	East Germany (GDR) Roland Matthes Klaus Katzur Hartmut Flöckner Lutz Unger	3:52.26	Canada (CAN) Erik Fish William Mahony Bruce Robertson Robert Kasting	3:53.26

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle	Sandy Neilson (USA)	58.59 (OR)	Shirley Babashoff (USA)	59.02	Shane Gould (AUS)	59.06
200 m freestyle	Shane Gould (AUS)	2:03.56 (WR)	Shirley Babashoff (USA)	2:04.33	Keena Rothhammer (USA)	2:04.92
400 m freestyle	Shane Gould (AUS)	4:19.04 (WR)	Novella Calligaris (ITA)	4:22.44	Gudrun Wegner (GDR)	4:23.11
800 m freestyle	Keena Rothhammer (USA)	8:53.68 (WR)	Shane Gould (AUS)	8:56.39	Novella Calligaris (ITA)	8:57.46
100 m backstroke	Melissa Belote (USA)	1:05.78 (OR)	Andrea Gyarmati (HUN)	1:06.26	Susie Atwood (USA)	1:06.34
200 m backstroke	Melissa Belote (USA)	2:19.19 (WR)	Susie Atwood (USA)	2:20.38	Donna Gurr (CAN)	2:23.22
100 m breaststroke	Cathy Carr (USA)	1:13.58 (WR)	Galina Prozumenshchikova (URS)	1:14.99	Beverley Whitfield (AUS)	1:15.73
200 m breaststroke	Beverley Whitfield (AUS)	2:41.05 (OR)	Dana Schoenfield (USA)	2:42.05	Galina Prozumenshchikova (URS)	2:42.36
100 m butterfly	Mayumi Aoki (JPN)	1:03.34 (OR)	Roswitha Beier (GDR)	1:03.61	Andrea Gyarmati (HUN)	1:03.73
200 m butterfly	Karen Moe (USA)	2:15.57 (WR)	Lynn Colella (USA)	2:16.34	Ellie Daniel (USA)	2:16.74
200 m individual medley	Shane Gould (AUS)	2:23.07 (WR)	Kornelia Ender (GDR)	2:23.59	Lynn Vidali (USA)	2:24.06
400 m individual medley	Gail Neall (AUS)	5:02.97 (WR)	Leslie Cliff (CAN)	5:03.57	Novella Calligaris (ITA)	5:03.99
4×100 m freestyle relay	United States (USA) Shirley Babashoff Jane Barkman Jenny Kemp Sandy Neilson	3:55.19 (WR)	East Germany (GDR) Andrea Eife Kornelia Ender Elke Sehmisch Gabriele Wetzko	3:55.55	West Germany (FRG) Gudrun Beckmann Heidemarie Reineck Angela Steinbach Jutta Weber	3:57.93
4×100 m medley relay	United States (USA) Melissa Belote Cathy Carr Deena Deardurff Sandy Neilson	4:20.75 (WR)	East Germany (GDR) Christine Herbst Renate Vogel Roswitha Beier Kornelia Ender	4:24.91	West Germany (FRG) Gudrun Beckmann Vreni Eberle Silke Pielen Heidemarie Reineck	4:26.46

References

• 1972 Summer Olympics results: swimming, from http://www.sports-reference.com/; retrieved 2009-12-05.