Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle

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Men's 200 metre freestyle
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Mark Spitz and Werner Lampe 1972.jpg
The medalists on the podium
Venue Olympia Schwimmhalle
Date29 August
Competitors46 from 27 nations
Winning time1:52.78 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Mark Spitz Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Steve Genter Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Werner Lampe Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany
  1968
1976  

The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Summer Olympics took place on August 29 at the Olympia Schwimmhalle. [1] [2] There were 46 competitors from 27 nations, with each nation having up to three swimmers. [2] The event was won by Mark Spitz of the United States, the nation's second victory in the event (68 years, but only two appearances of the event, apart). It was the third gold medal for Spitz in 1972, halfway to his goal of six (he would ultimately finish the Games with seven). His teammate Steve Genter took silver, with Werner Lampe of West Germany earning bronze. Defending champion Michael Wenden of Australia finished fourth.

Background

This was the fourth appearance of the 200 metre freestyle event. It was first contested in 1900. It would be contested a second time, though at 220 yards, in 1904. After that, the event did not return until 1968; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. [2]

Two of the 8 finalists from the 1968 Games returned: gold medalist Michael Wenden of Australia and fourth-place finisher Ralph Hutton of Canada. Mark Spitz was the world record holder and a heavy favourite coming into the Games, aiming for at least six gold medals. He had won the 200 fly and 4x100 free relay the day before this event. His biggest challenger was countryman Steve Genter, though Genter was hampered by pneumothorax while in Munich. [2]

Brazil, Cambodia (then Khmer Republic), East Germany, Egypt, Iceland, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Romania, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the event. Australia and the United States made their fourth appearance each, the only two nations to have competed in all prior editions of the event.

Competition format

The competition used a two-round (heats, final) format. The advancement rule followed the format introduced in 1952. 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 of between 5 and 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

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 four lengths of the pool.

Records

The standing world and Olympic records prior to this competition were as follows. Clark's Olympic record was set as the first leg in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay final.

World recordFlag of the United States.svg  Mark Spitz  (USA)1:53.5 Minsk, Soviet Union 10 September 1971
Olympic recordFlag of Australia.svg  Michael Wenden  (AUS)1:55.2 Mexico City, Mexico 24 October 1968

Mark Spitz beat his own world record in the final, swimming 1:52.78.

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

DateTimeRound
Tuesday, 29 August 197210:00
18:40
Heats
Final

Results

Heats

The 8 fastest swimmers from the seven heats, without regard to place in heat, advanced to final.

RankHeatSwimmerNationTimeNotes
17 Mark Spitz Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:55.29Q
26 Steve Genter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:55.42Q
34 Klaus Steinbach Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:55.80Q
43 Werner Lampe Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:55.97Q
55 Fred Tyler Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:56.04Q
62 Vladimir Bure Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:56.15Q
71 Mike Wenden Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:56.66Q
87 Ralph Hutton Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:56.84Q
94 Wilfried Hartung Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:56.95
106 Brian Brinkley Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:56.99
112 Georgijs Kuļikovs Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:57.04
127 Udo Poser Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:57.23
134Gerardo VeraFlag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 1:57.33
141 Robert Nay Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:57.69
151 Viktor Mazanov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:57.92
165 Peter Bruch Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 1:58.49
173 Graham White Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:58.60
186 Peter Prijdekker Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 1:58.78
195 Bruce Robertson Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:59.02
201 Hans Ljungberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:59.42
217 Rolf Pettersson Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:00.02
221 Alfredo Machado Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 2:00.14
233 John Mills Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:00.17
245 Marian Slavic Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg  Romania 2:00.23
254 Olaf, Baron von Schilling Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:00.27
265 Colin Herring Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:00.29
276 Ruy de Oliveira Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 2:00.48
282 Pierre Caland Flag of France.svg  France 2:00.75
292 Michael Bailey Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:00.79
306 Roberto Pangaro Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:00.97
313 Fritz Warncke Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 2:00.98
325 Ian MacKenzie Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:01.22
332 Zbigniew Pacelt Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 2:01.28
344 Bernt Zarnowiecki Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:01.34
352 Arnaldo Cinquetti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:01.78
364 Riccardo Targetti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:02.58
375 Hanspeter Würmli Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 2:03.14
385 Roberto Strauss Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:03.57
393 Kamal Kenawi Ali Moustafa Flag of Egypt (1972-1984).svg  Egypt 2:05.30
406 Sandro Rudan Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 2:05.88
413 Luis Ayesa Flag of the Philippines (1936-1985, 1986-1998).svg  Philippines 2:05.97
426 Tomás Rengifo Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 2:08.67
436 Finnur Garðarsson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 2:08.88
447 Mark Crocker Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 2:12.85
457 Samnang Prak Flag of the Khmer Republic.svg  Khmer Republic 2:13.34
464 Fawzi Burhma Flag of Kuwait (3-2).svg  Kuwait 2:33.75

Final

Spitz led at the first turn, followed by Bure. Genter, still recovering from his collapsed lung, took the lead at the halfway mark by .13 seconds (54.93 to 55.06 for Spitz). Genter held the lead through the final turn at 150 metres. Wenden, the defending champion, worked his way up to third by that mark. Spitz finished strong to win by a full second over Genter. Lampe also finished strong, beating Wenden for bronze. [2]

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Mark Spitz Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:52.78 WR
Silver medal icon.svg Steve Genter Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:53.73
Bronze medal icon.svg Werner Lampe Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:53.99
4 Mike Wenden Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:54.40
5 Fred Tyler Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:54.96
6 Klaus Steinbach Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:55.65
7 Vladimir Bure Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:57.24
8 Ralph Hutton Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:57.56

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "200 metres Freestyle, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 June 2021.