| | Event type
100 metres Butterfly, Men
| Date | 30 – 31 August 1972 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Schwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München |
| Participants | 39 from 27 countries |
Mark Spitz was the best swimmer in the world in 1971. The 100 metre butterfly was his best event – you do the math. Spitz had set six of the last seven world records in the 100 fly, including two at the US Trials in August. By the day of the 100 fly final, he had already won three gold medals in Munich, in his quest to sweep seven events. The final was all Spitz. He started out at world record pace (25.38 to the wall), and increased it, winning in 54.27, a full 1.29 seconds ahead of Canada’s Bruce Robertson. Spitz had his fourth gold medal and his fourth world record in Munich. There were 38 other swimmers in this event, and seven other finalists – nobody noticed. Later on the same day, Spitz would swim in the final of the 4 x 200 freestyle relay, winning his fifth gold medal.
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Spitz |  USA | 56.45 (1 h5) | 55.98 (1 h2) | 54.27 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Bruce Robertson |  CAN | 56.45 (1 h2) | 56.86 (2 h1) | 55.56 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Jerry Heidenreich | USA | 56.86 (1 h4) | 56.18 (2 h2) | 55.74 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Roland Matthes |  GDR | 57.16 (1 h3) | 56.51 (1 h1) | 55.87 (4) | |||
| 5 | Dave Edgar | USA | 57.30 (1 h1) | 56.88 (3 h2) | 56.11 (5) | |||
| 6 | Byron MacDonald | CAN | 57.56 (4 h5) | 57.06 (3 h1) | 57.27 (6) | |||
| 7 | Hartmut Flöckner | GDR | 57.41 (2 h5) | 56.96 (4 h2) | 57.40 (7) | |||
| 8 | Neil Rogers |  AUS | 57.40 (2 h3) | 57.28 (4 h1) | 57.90 (8) | |||
| 9 | Juan Carlos Bello |  PER | 57.54 (3 h5) | 57.51 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | Bob Kasting | CAN | 57.65 (3 h4) | 57.67 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | Roger Pyttel | GDR | 57.98 (2 h1) | 57.69 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 12 | Sérgio Waismann |  BRA | 58.37 (3 h2) | 58.07 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 13 | John Mills |  GBR | 58.28 (3 h3) | 58.13 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 14 | István Szentirmay |  HUN | 58.07 (2 h2) | 58.25 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 15 | Lutz Stoklasa |  FRG | 57.50 (2 h4) | 58.33 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 16 | Geoffrey Ferreira |  TTO | 58.26 (4 h4) | 58.54 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 17 | Viktor Sharygin |  URS | 58.40 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 18 | Jacques Leloup |  BEL | 58.77 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 19 | Peter Remmel | FRG | 58.97 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 20 | Hans Lampe | FRG | 59.00 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 21 | Arturo Lang-Lenton |  ESP | 59.22 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 22 | Georgijs Kuļikovs | URS | 59.28 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 23 | Sean Maher | GBR | 59.50 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 24 | Yasuhiro Komazaki |  JPN | 59.71 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 25 | Vladimir Krivtsov | URS | 59.83 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 26 | Dimitrios Karydis |  GRE | 1:00.06 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 27 | Vasil Dobrev |  BUL | 1:00.07 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 28 | Hugo Valencia |  MEX | 1:00.14 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 29 | Andrzej Chudziński |  POL | 1:00.22 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 30 | Alain Mosconi |  FRA | 1:00.23 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 31 | Aleksandar Pavličević |  YUG | 1:00.29 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 32 | Salvador Vilanova |  ESA | 1:01.25 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 33 | Martin Edwards | GBR | 1:01.29 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 34 | Carlos Brosas |  PHI | 1:02.11 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 35 | Roy Chan |  SGP | 1:02.24 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 36 | Feridun Aybars |  TUR | 1:04.46 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 37 | Chhay-Kheng Nhem |  CAM | 1:05.12 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 38 | Bruno Bassoul |  LBN | 1:05.45 (8 h1) | – | – | |||
| 39 | Ronnie Wong |  HKG | 1:07.50 (8 h2) | – | – | |||
| Hsu Tung-Hsiung |  TPE | – (DNS h4) | – | – |
Round One (30 August 1972 — 11:10)
Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Dave Edgar | USA | 57.30 | |||
| 2 | – | Roger Pyttel | GDR | 57.98 | |||
| 3 | – | Peter Remmel | FRG | 58.97 | |||
| 4 | – | Andrzej Chudziński | POL | 1:00.22 | |||
| 5 | – | Alain Mosconi | FRA | 1:00.23 | |||
| 6 | – | Salvador Vilanova | ESA | 1:01.25 | |||
| 7 | – | Martin Edwards | GBR | 1:01.29 | |||
| 8 | – | Bruno Bassoul | LBN | 1:05.45 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Bruce Robertson | CAN | 56.45 | |||
| 2 | – | István Szentirmay | HUN | 58.07 | |||
| 3 | – | Sérgio Waismann | BRA | 58.37 | |||
| 4 | – | Yasuhiro Komazaki | JPN | 59.71 | |||
| 5 | – | Hugo Valencia | MEX | 1:00.14 | |||
| 6 | – | Feridun Aybars | TUR | 1:04.46 | |||
| 7 | – | Chhay-Kheng Nhem | CAM | 1:05.12 | |||
| 8 | – | Ronnie Wong | HKG | 1:07.50 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Roland Matthes | GDR | 57.16 | |||
| 2 | – | Neil Rogers | AUS | 57.40 | |||
| 3 | – | John Mills | GBR | 58.28 | |||
| 4 | – | Viktor Sharygin | URS | 58.40 | |||
| 5 | – | Arturo Lang-Lenton | ESP | 59.22 | |||
| 6 | – | Georgijs Kuļikovs | URS | 59.28 | |||
| 7 | – | Dimitrios Karydis | GRE | 1:00.06 | |||
| 8 | – | Roy Chan | SGP | 1:02.24 |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Jerry Heidenreich | USA | 56.86 | |||
| 2 | – | Lutz Stoklasa | FRG | 57.50 | |||
| 3 | – | Bob Kasting | CAN | 57.65 | |||
| 4 | – | Geoffrey Ferreira | TTO | 58.26 | |||
| 5 | – | Jacques Leloup | BEL | 58.77 | |||
| 6 | – | Vladimir Krivtsov | URS | 59.83 | |||
| 7 | – | Carlos Brosas | PHI | 1:02.11 | |||
| – | Hsu Tung-Hsiung | TPE | – |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Mark Spitz | USA | 56.45 | |||
| 2 | – | Hartmut Flöckner | GDR | 57.41 | |||
| 3 | – | Juan Carlos Bello | PER | 57.54 | |||
| 4 | – | Byron MacDonald | CAN | 57.56 | |||
| 5 | – | Hans Lampe | FRG | 59.00 | |||
| 6 | – | Sean Maher | GBR | 59.50 | |||
| 7 | – | Vasil Dobrev | BUL | 1:00.07 | |||
| 8 | – | Aleksandar Pavličević | YUG | 1:00.29 |
Semi-Finals (30 August 1972 — 17:30)
Top three in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Roland Matthes | GDR | 56.51 | |||
| 2 | – | Bruce Robertson | CAN | 56.86 | |||
| 3 | – | Byron MacDonald | CAN | 57.06 | |||
| 4 | – | Neil Rogers | AUS | 57.28 | |||
| 5 | – | Roger Pyttel | GDR | 57.69 | |||
| 6 | – | Sérgio Waismann | BRA | 58.07 | |||
| 7 | – | Lutz Stoklasa | FRG | 58.33 | |||
| 8 | – | Geoffrey Ferreira | TTO | 58.54 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Mark Spitz | USA | 55.98 | |||
| 2 | – | Jerry Heidenreich | USA | 56.18 | |||
| 3 | – | Dave Edgar | USA | 56.88 | |||
| 4 | – | Hartmut Flöckner | GDR | 56.96 | |||
| 5 | – | Juan Carlos Bello | PER | 57.51 | |||
| 6 | – | Bob Kasting | CAN | 57.67 | |||
| 7 | – | John Mills | GBR | 58.13 | |||
| 8 | – | István Szentirmay | HUN | 58.25 |
Final (31 August 1972 — 17:40)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Mark Spitz | USA | 54.27 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Bruce Robertson | CAN | 55.56 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Jerry Heidenreich | USA | 55.74 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Roland Matthes | GDR | 55.87 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Dave Edgar | USA | 56.11 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Byron MacDonald | CAN | 57.27 | |||
| 7 | 7 | Hartmut Flöckner | GDR | 57.40 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Neil Rogers | AUS | 57.90 |