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

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Men's 200 metre backstroke
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J1219-0025-001, Roland Matthes.jpg
Gold medalist Roland Matthes (1970)
Venue Olympia Schwimmhalle
Date2 September (heats, final)
Competitors36 from 23 nations
Winning time2:02.82 =WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Roland Matthes Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany
Silver medal icon.svg Mike Stamm Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Mitch Ivey Flag of the United States.svg  United States
  1968
1976  

The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1972 Summer Olympics took place on September 2 at the Olympia Schwimmhalle. [1] There were 36 competitors from 23 nations, with each nation having up to 3 swimmers. [2] The podium was very similar to the previous Games in 1968, with Roland Matthes of East Germany winning gold and the United States taking the other two medals, including one going to Mitch Ivey. Matthes and Ivey were the first two men to earn multiple medals in the event, with Matthes the first to win back-to-back championships and Ivey adding his 1972 bronze to his 1968 silver. Mike Stamm was the silver medalist in Munich. Matthes also defended his 1968 100 metre backstroke title, giving him the backstroke double a second time. [2]

Background

This was the fourth appearance of the 200 metre backstroke event. It was first held in 1900. The event did not return until 1964; since then, it has been on the programme at every Summer Games. From 1904 to 1960, a men's 100 metre backstroke was held instead. In 1964, only the 200 metres was held. Beginning in 1968 and ever since, both the 100 and 200 metre versions have been held. [2]

Two of the 8 finalists from the 1968 Games returned: gold medalist Roland Matthes of East Germany and silver medalist Mitch Ivey of the United States. The American team also included Mike Stamm, who had briefly held the world record in the event in 1970 before Matthes broke it in 1970 (and then bettered his own record in 1971 and at the East German Olympic trials in 1972). [2]

Brazil, Cambodia (then Khmer Republic), El Salvador, and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the event. Italy and the Netherlands each made their fourth appearance, the only two nations to have competed at each appearance of the event to that point.

Competition format

The competition used a two-round (heats and 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 5 heats of up to 8 swimmers each. The top 8 swimmers advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties.

This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1964 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of East Germany.svg  Roland Matthes  (GDR)2:02.8 Leipzig, East Germany 10 July 1972
Olympic recordFlag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  Roland Matthes  (GDR)2:09.6 Mexico City, Mexico 25 October 1968

Mike Stamm broke the Olympic record with a time of 2:07.51 in the second heat. Roland Matthes broke that record with 2:06.62 in the fifth heat. Matthes's final time of 2:02.82 is considered equal to his prior world record of 2:02.8. In all, six of the finalists beat the old Olympic record set in 1968; four were better than the record set in the heats.

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

DateTimeRound
Saturday, 2 September 197210:35
18:10
Heats
Final

Results

Heats

RankHeatSwimmerNationTimeNotes
15 Roland Matthes Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:06.62Q, OR
22 Mike Stamm Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:07.51Q, OR
33 Brad Cooper Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:07.90Q
43 Tim McKee Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:08.19Q
55 Lothar Noack Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:08.80Q
64 Mitch Ivey Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:09.32Q
71 Zoltán Verrasztó Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:09.89Q
84 Jean-Paul Berjeau Flag of France.svg  France 2:09.93Q
94 Bob Schoutsen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 2:10.56
101 Colin Cunningham Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 2:11.06
114 Tadashi Honda Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 2:11.11
125 Anders Sandberg Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2:11.36
132 Neil Martin Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:12.09
145 Ejvind Pedersen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2:12.30
151 Bill Kennedy Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:12.55
163 Massimo Nistri Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2:12.85
172 Nenad Miloš Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 2:12.99
182 Lutz Wanja Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:13.46
195 Helmut Podolan Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 2:13.63
204 Róbert Rudolf Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:13.64
213José UruetaFlag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:13.85
223 Lars Børgesen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2:14.50
235 Pierre Baehr Flag of France.svg  France 2:14.65
244 John Hawes Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:15.34
251 Rafael Rocha Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 2:15.81
264 Norbert Verweyen Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 2:15.94
271 Ian MacKenzie Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2:16.36
283 Rômulo Arantes Filho Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 2:18.15
294 Predrag Miloš Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 2:18.43
305 Bruce Featherston Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:18.63
315 Gustavo González Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 2:19.74
323 Gerardo Rosario Flag of the Philippines (1936-1985, 1986-1998).svg  Philippines 2:23.53
332 Sarun Van Flag of the Khmer Republic.svg  Khmer Republic 2:24.42
342 Chiang Jin Choon Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 2:26.51
351 Sergio Hasbún Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 2:27.93
361 Mark Crocker Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 2:33.64

Final

RankSwimmerNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Roland Matthes Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:02.82 =WR
Silver medal icon.svg Mike Stamm Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:04.09
Bronze medal icon.svg Mitch Ivey Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:04.33
4 Brad Cooper Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 2:06.59
5 Tim McKee Flag of the United States.svg  United States 2:07.29
6 Lothar Noack Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 2:08.67
7 Zoltán Verrasztó Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 2:10.09
8 Jean-Paul Berjeau Flag of France.svg  France 2:11.77

References

  1. "Swimming at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 200 metres Backstroke". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "200 metres Backstroke, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 July 2021.