| | Event type

100 metres Butterfly, Men

Date	20 – 21 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	47 from 28 countries

This was a new Olympic event but the favorite was well known – Mark Spitz, who was the world record holder. Spitz came to Mexico City attempting to win gold medals in six events. He disappointed, winning two gold medals in relays, and one silver and one bronze in individual events. Better things would be ahead for him in Munich four years hence. His biggest challenger in this event was his teammate Doug Russell, but Russell had never defeated Spitz at the distance. Normally a fast starter, he was invariably passed by Spitz on the home lap. In Mexico City, however, Russell went out slowly as Spitz led the final to the turn in 26.1. On the final lap, Russell pulled ahead and won the gold medal with Spitz second, winning his individual silver, and Ross Wales completing the American sweep. Spitz would return in 1972 and win this event in world record time, along with most everything else.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Doug Russell	USA	57.3 (1 h1)	55.9 (1 h3)	55.9 (1)	Gold
2	Mark Spitz	USA	58.5 (1 h5)	57.4 (1 h1)	56.4 (2)	Silver
3	Ross Wales	USA	58.7 (1 h3)	58.2 (2 h3)	57.2 (3)	Bronze
4	Vladimir Nemshilov	URS	59.1 (2 h1)	59.0 (2 h2)	58.1 (4)
5	Satoshi Maruya	JPN	58.1 (1 h4)	58.0 (1 h2)	58.6 (5)
6	Yury Suzdaltsev	URS	59.3 (2 h3)	58.9 (3 h3)	58.8 (6)
7	Lutz Stoklasa	FRG	59.2 (1 h6)	58.5 (2 h1)	58.9 (7)
8	Robert Cusack	AUS	59.6 (2 h6)	59.2 (4 h3)	59.8 (8)
9	Neil Jackson	GBR	59.7 (1 h2)	59.3 (3 h1)	–
10	Martyn Woodroffe	GBR	59.7 (2 h4)	59.5 (3 h2)	–
=11	Tom Arusoo	CAN	59.8 (3 h6)	59.6 (4 h2)	–
=11	Avraham Melamed	ISR	59.4 (3 h3)	59.6 (4 h1)	–
13	Yasuo Takada	JPN	1:00.0 (2 h5)	59.8 (5 h3)	–
=14	Werner Freitag	FRG	1:00.1 (3 h4)	59.9 (5 h1)	–
=14	Ingvar Eriksson	SWE	1:00.6 (5 h5)	59.9 (5 h2)	–
=14	Bo Westergren	SWE	59.9 (2 h7)	59.9 (6 h1)	–
17	Gary Goodner	PUR	1:00.3 (2 h2)	1:00.1 (6 h3)	–
18	Antonio Attanasio	ITA	1:00.0 (3 h1)	1:00.3 (6 h2)	–
19	Ron Jacks	CAN	1:00.5 (3 h2)	1:00.5 (7 h2)	–
20	Angelo Tozzi	ITA	1:00.6 (4 h5)	1:00.8 (7 h3)	–
21	José Ferraioli	PUR	1:00.6 (3 h5)	1:00.9 (7 h1)	–
22	John Thurley	GBR	1:00.7 (4 h1)	1:01.2 (8 h1)	–
23	Luis Nicolao	ARG	59.3 (1 h7)	– (DNS h2)	–
24	Arturo Lang-Lenton	ESP	1:00.7 (3 h7)	– (DNS h3)	–
25	Horst-Günter Gregor	GDR	59.8 (4 h3)	–	–
26	Sergey Konov	URS	1:00.8 (4 h2)	–	–
=27	Eduardo Orejuela	ECU	1:00.9 (4 h7)	–	–
=27	Ayis Capéronis	SUI	1:00.9 (5 h1)	–	–
29	István Szentirmay	HUN	1:01.0 (5 h3)	–	–
30	Graham Dunn	AUS	1:01.6 (4 h4)	–	–
=31	Giampiero Fossati	ITA	1:01.7 (5 h7)	–	–
=31	Mario Santibáñez	MEX	1:01.7 (4 h6)	–	–
33	Leroy Goff	PHI	1:02.0 (6 h3)	–	–
=34	Joseph Meyten	BEL	1:02.2 (6 h1)	–	–
=34	Tomás Becerra	COL	1:02.2 (6 h5)	–	–
=36	Nikita	BRA	1:02.3 (5 h2)	–	–
=36	Peter Feil	SWE	1:02.3 (5 h6)	–	–
38	Donnacha O'Dea	IRL	1:02.8 (5 h4)	–	–
39	Ramiro Benavides	GUA	1:03.1 (6 h2)	–	–
40	Guðmundur Gíslason	ISL	1:03.3 (6 h4)	–	–
41	Maximiliano Aguilar	MEX	1:04.0 (6 h6)	–	–
42	Lee Tong-Shing	TPE	1:05.2 (6 h7)	–	–
43	Salvador Vilanova	ESA	1:06.4 (7 h3)	–	–
=44	Andrew Loh	HKG	1:06.5 (7 h1)	–	–
=44	Bob Loh	HKG	1:06.5 (7 h5)	–	–
46	Rubén Guerrero	ESA	1:10.1 (7 h6)	–	–
47	Friedrich Jokisch	ESA	1:10.5 (7 h4)	–	–
DNS	László Cseh, Sr.	HUN	– (DNS h7)	–	–
DNS	Geoffrey Ferreira	TTO	– (DNS h2)	–	–

Round One (20 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest 24 advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Doug Russell	USA	– (–) –	57.3	QOR
2	1	Vladimir Nemshilov	URS	– (–) –	59.1	Q
3	3	Antonio Attanasio	ITA	– (–) –	1:00.0	Q
4	6	John Thurley	GBR	– (–) –	1:00.7	Q
5	7	Ayis Capéronis	SUI	– (–) –	1:00.9
6	2	Joseph Meyten	BEL	– (–) –	1:02.2
7	5	Andrew Loh	HKG	– (–) –	1:06.5

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Neil Jackson	GBR	– (–) –	59.7	Q
2	2	Gary Goodner	PUR	– (–) –	1:00.3	Q
3	4	Ron Jacks	CAN	– (–) –	1:00.5	Q
4	7	Sergey Konov	URS	– (–) –	1:00.8
5	5	Nikita	BRA	– (–) –	1:02.3
6	6	Ramiro Benavides	GUA	– (–) –	1:03.1
DNS	–	Geoffrey Ferreira	TTO	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Ross Wales	USA	– (–) –	58.7	Q
2	2	Yury Suzdaltsev	URS	– (–) –	59.3	Q
3	4	Avraham Melamed	ISR	– (–) –	59.4	Q
4	1	Horst-Günter Gregor	GDR	– (–) –	59.8	Q
5	7	István Szentirmay	HUN	– (–) –	1:01.0
6	3	Leroy Goff	PHI	– (–) –	1:02.0
7	6	Salvador Vilanova	ESA	– (–) –	1:06.4

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	1	Satoshi Maruya	JPN	– (–) –	58.1	Q
2	3	Martyn Woodroffe	GBR	– (–) –	59.7	Q
3	7	Werner Freitag	FRG	– (–) –	1:00.1	Q
4	6	Graham Dunn	AUS	– (–) –	1:01.6
5	4	Donnacha O'Dea	IRL	– (–) –	1:02.8
6	5	Guðmundur Gíslason	ISL	– (–) –	1:03.3
7	2	Friedrich Jokisch	ESA	– (–) –	1:10.5

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Mark Spitz	USA	– (–) –	58.5	Q
2	7	Yasuo Takada	JPN	– (–) –	1:00.0	Q
3	6	José Ferraioli	PUR	– (–) –	1:00.6	Q
4	1	Angelo Tozzi	ITA	– (–) –	1:00.6	Q
5	2	Ingvar Eriksson	SWE	– (–) –	1:00.6	Q
6	3	Tomás Becerra	COL	– (–) –	1:02.2
7	5	Bob Loh	HKG	– (–) –	1:06.5

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	Lutz Stoklasa	FRG	– (–) –	59.2	Q
2	3	Robert Cusack	AUS	– (–) –	59.6	Q
3	6	Tom Arusoo	CAN	– (–) –	59.8	Q
4	4	Mario Santibáñez	MEX	– (–) –	1:01.7
5	5	Peter Feil	SWE	– (–) –	1:02.3
6	7	Maximiliano Aguilar	MEX	– (–) –	1:04.0
7	1	Rubén Guerrero	ESA	– (–) –	1:10.1

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Luis Nicolao	ARG	– (–) –	59.3	Q
2	7	Bo Westergren	SWE	– (–) –	59.9	Q
3	6	Arturo Lang-Lenton	ESP	– (–) –	1:00.7
4	5	Eduardo Orejuela	ECU	– (–) –	1:00.9
5	3	Giampiero Fossati	ITA	– (–) –	1:01.7
6	2	Lee Tong-Shing	TPE	– (–) –	1:05.2
DNS	–	László Cseh, Sr.	HUN	– (–) –	–

Semi-Finals (20 October 1968 — 17:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Mark Spitz	USA	– (–) –	57.4	Q
2	5	Lutz Stoklasa	FRG	– (–) –	58.5	Q
3	6	Neil Jackson	GBR	– (–) –	59.3
4	3	Avraham Melamed	ISR	– (–) –	59.6
5	7	Werner Freitag	FRG	– (–) –	59.9
6	2	Bo Westergren	SWE	– (–) –	59.9
7	1	José Ferraioli	PUR	– (–) –	1:00.9
8	8	John Thurley	GBR	– (–) –	1:01.2

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Satoshi Maruya	JPN	– (–) –	58.0	Q
2	4	Vladimir Nemshilov	URS	– (–) –	59.0	Q
3	5	Martyn Woodroffe	GBR	– (–) –	59.5
4	2	Tom Arusoo	CAN	– (–) –	59.6
5	7	Ingvar Eriksson	SWE	– (–) –	59.9
6	6	Antonio Attanasio	ITA	– (–) –	1:00.3
7	1	Ron Jacks	CAN	– (–) –	1:00.5
DNS	–	Luis Nicolao	ARG	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	3	Doug Russell	USA	– (–) –	55.9	QOR
2	4	Ross Wales	USA	– (–) –	58.2	Q
3	2	Yury Suzdaltsev	URS	– (–) –	58.9	Q
4	5	Robert Cusack	AUS	– (–) –	59.2	Q
5	6	Yasuo Takada	JPN	– (–) –	59.8
6	1	Gary Goodner	PUR	– (–) –	1:00.1
7	7	Angelo Tozzi	ITA	– (–) –	1:00.8
DNS	–	Arturo Lang-Lenton	ESP	– (–) –	–

Final (21 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	4	Doug Russell	USA	– (–) –	55.9	OR
2	5	Mark Spitz	USA	– (–) –	56.4
3	6	Ross Wales	USA	– (–) –	57.2
4	1	Vladimir Nemshilov	URS	– (–) –	58.1
5	3	Satoshi Maruya	JPN	– (–) –	58.6
6	7	Yury Suzdaltsev	URS	– (–) –	58.8
7	2	Lutz Stoklasa	FRG	– (–) –	58.9
8	8	Robert Cusack	AUS	– (–) –	59.8