Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle

The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place between September 2 and 3.[1] There were 48 competitors from 29 nations.[2] Nations had been limited to three swimmers each since the 1924 Games (except in 1960, when the limit was two). The event was won by Mark Spitz of the United States, his then-record sixth gold medal in a single Games (he would add a seventh in the medley relay, for a record that stood until Michael Phelps won eight in 2008). It was the ninth victory in the event for an American, most of any nation. Jerry Heidenreich, also of the United States, took silver. Soviet swimmer Vladimir Bure (father of future hockey hall of famer Pavel Bure) earned bronze, the nation's first medal in the men's 100 metre freestyle.

Men's 100 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Mark Spitz and Jerry Heidenreich (after the 400 metre freestyle)
VenueOlympia Schwimmhalle
Dates2–3 September
Competitors48 from 29 nations
Winning time51.22 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mark Spitz
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Jerry Heidenreich
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Vladimir Bure
 Soviet Union
← 1968
1976 →

Background

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This was the 16th appearance of the men's 100 metre freestyle. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1900 (when the shortest freestyle was the 200 metres), though the 1904 version was measured in yards rather than metres.[2]

Three of the eight finalists from the 1968 Games returned: gold medalist Michael Wenden of Australia, bronze medalist Mark Spitz of the United States, and sixth-place finisher Georgijs Kuļikovs of the Soviet Union. Spitz had already won five gold medals in 1972, matching the record, and had two events left: the 100 metre freestyle and the medley relay. The American team was not expected to have any difficulty with the relay, so this event was the last one in which there was any substantial drama as to whether Spitz could take 7 gold medals in Munich. Spitz, who had set the world record at the U.S. trials, was favored, though fellow American Jerry Heidenreich was a serious contender, as were Wenden and the Soviet team.[2]

Cambodia (then Khmer Republic), Kuwait, and New Zealand each made their debut in the event; East Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States made its 16th appearance, having competed at each edition of the event to date.

Competition format

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The competition used a three-round (heats, semifinals, final) format. The advancement rule mostly followed the format introduced in 1952, though the number of semifinals was reduced from 3 to 2 and qualification for the final was done via place with wild cards in the semifinals. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

A swimmer's place in the heat was not used to determine advancement; instead, the fastest times from across all heats in a round were used. There were 7 heats scheduled, with 7 or 8 swimmers each. Due to withdrawals, some heats had as few as 6 swimmers. The top 16 swimmers advanced to the semifinals.

There were 2 semifinals of 8 swimmers each. The top 3 swimmers in each semifinal as well as the next 2 fastest swimmers advanced to the final.

This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

For the first time at the Olympics, times were reported to the hundredths of a second.

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics.

World record   Mark Spitz (USA) 51.47 Chicago, United States 5 August 1972
Olympic record   Michael Wenden (AUS) 52.2 Mexico City, Mexico 19 October 1968

Mark Spitz broke the world record in the final, swimming in 51.22 seconds. This also set a new record for most gold medals in a single Olympics, with six.

Schedule

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All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 2 September 1972 10:00
18:00
Heats
Semifinals
Sunday, 3 September 1972 18:45 Final

Results

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Heats

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The 16 fastest swimmers from seven heats advanced to the semifinals.

Rank Heat Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 7 Mike Wenden   Australia 52.34 Q
2 6 Jerry Heidenreich   United States 52.38 Q
3 7 Mark Spitz   United States 52.46 Q
4 3 Vladimir Bure   Soviet Union 52.87 Q
5 7 Klaus Steinbach   West Germany 52.91 Q
6 4 Michel Rousseau   France 52.93 Q
7 5 John Murphy   United States 53.07 Q
8 2 Igor Grivennikov   Soviet Union 53.64 Q
9 3 Jorge Comas   Spain 53.70 Q
10 6 Brian Phillips   Canada 53.75 Q
11 5 Georgijs Kuļikovs   Soviet Union 53.78 Q
12 4 Kersten Meier   West Germany 53.96 Q
13 4 Greg Rogers   Australia 53.98 Q
14 3 José Aranha   Brazil 54.06 Q
15 6 Bob Kasting   Canada 54.07 Q
16 5 Peter Bruch   East Germany 54.25 Q
17 1 Ruy de Oliveira   Brazil 54.26
18 6 Gerhard Schiller   West Germany 54.28
19 1 Gilles Vigne   France 54.34
20 4 Hartmut Flöckner   East Germany 54.36
21 1 Wilfried Hartung   East Germany 54.37
22 2 Colin Herring   New Zealand 54.41
7 Fritz Warncke   Norway 54.41
24 2 Alain Hermitte   France 54.57
25 1 Malcolm Windeatt   Great Britain 54.70
26 2 István Szentirmay   Hungary 54.71
27 7 Roberto Pangaro   Italy 54.74
28 4 Bruce Robertson   Canada 54.76
29 5 Paulo Zanetti   Brazil 54.97
30 5 Brian Brinkley   Great Britain 55.06
31 3 Hanspeter Würmli   Switzerland 55.08
32 3 Neil Rogers   Australia 55.32
33 7 Marian Slavic   Romania 55.35
34 6 Attila Császári   Hungary 55.37
35 6 Finnur Garðarsson   Iceland 55.97
5 Zbigniew Pacelt   Poland 55.97
37 5 Andrew Hunter   Ireland 56.09
38 1 Geoffrey Ferreira   Trinidad and Tobago 56.27
39 6 Salvador Vilanova   El Salvador 56.57
40 2 Antonio Ferracuti   El Salvador 56.69
41 1 Roberto Strauss   Mexico 56.78
42 2 Sandro Rudan   Yugoslavia 56.91
43 7 Jorge van Balen   Venezuela 57.20
44 6 Wong Ronnie   Hong Kong 57.53
45 3 Samnang Prak   Khmer Republic 59.18
46 4 Feridun Aybars   Turkey 59.32
47 2 Bruno Bassoul   Lebanon 1:00.08
48 5 Abdullah Abdulrahman   Kuwait 1:03.94

Semifinals

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The top three swimmers in each semifinal and the next two fastest overall advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Jerry Heidenreich   United States 52.31 Q
2 Igor Grivennikov   Soviet Union 52.55 Q
3 Vladimir Bure   Soviet Union 52.60 Q
4 Michel Rousseau   France 52.82 q
5 José Aranha   Brazil 53.47
6 Brian Phillips   Canada 53.73
7 Peter Bruch   East Germany 53.97
8 Kersten Meier   West Germany 54.35

Semifinal 2

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Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
1 Mike Wenden   Australia 52.32 Q
2 Mark Spitz   United States 52.43 Q
3 Klaus Steinbach   West Germany 52.87 Q
4 John Murphy   United States 53.17 q
5 Bob Kasting   Canada 53.62
6 Georgijs Kuļikovs   Soviet Union 53.68
7 Jorge Comas   Spain 53.92
8 Greg Rogers   Australia 54.26

Final

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Spitz started fast, surprising Heidenreich. Heidenreich gave chase and closed during the final stretch, but was unable to catch Spitz.[2]

Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes
  Mark Spitz   United States 51.22 WR
  Jerry Heidenreich   United States 51.65
  Vladimir Bure   Soviet Union 51.77
4 John Murphy   United States 52.08
5 Mike Wenden   Australia 52.41
6 Igor Grivennikov   Soviet Union 52.44
7 Michel Rousseau   France 52.90
8 Klaus Steinbach   West Germany 52.92

References

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  1. ^ "Swimming at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "100 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2020.