| | Event type

100 metres Freestyle, Women

Date	28 – 29 August 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München
Participants	46 from 23 countries

The world record holder was Shane Gould, considered the greatest female swimmer in the world, as in 1971 she had finally broken the records set by her countrywoman, Dawn Fraser. She came into Munich not having lost a freestyle race, at any distance, for two years. The day before she had opened the Munich female swimming events by winning the 200 individual medley. But in this final, she was beaten by two Americans, Sandy Neilson winning gold followed by Shirley Babashoff, Gould trailing in third. Neilson had a great start in the final and went to the wall first and hung on for her victory by almost half-a-second. Six women broke the one-minute barrier in the race.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	Sandy Neilson	USA	59.51 (2 h3)	59.41 (2 h2)	58.59 (1)	Gold
2	Shirley Babashoff	USA	59.51 (1 h4)	59.05 (1 h1)	59.02 (2)	Silver
3	Shane Gould	AUS	59.44 (1 h6)	59.20 (1 h2)	59.06 (3)	Bronze
4	Gabriele Wetzko	GDR	1:00.40 (1 h1)	59.46 (3 h2)	59.21 (4)
5	Heidi Reineck	FRG	1:00.39 (3 h6)	59.66 (3 h1)	59.73 (5)
6	Andrea Eife	GDR	59.73 (2 h6)	59.71 (4 h1)	59.91 (6)
7	Magdolna Patóh	HUN	59.47 (1 h3)	59.64 (2 h1)	1:00.02 (7)
8	Enith Brigitha	NED	1:00.02 (1 h2)	59.75 (4 h2)	1:00.09 (8)
9	Jutta Weber	FRG	59.72 (1 h5)	59.90 (5 h2)	–
10	Jenny Kemp	USA	1:00.42 (2 h5)	59.93 (5 h1)	–
11	Sylvia Eichner	GDR	1:00.64 (3 h5)	1:00.73 (6 h2)	–
12	Hansje Bunschoten	NED	1:00.82 (3 h3)	1:00.79 (7 h2)	–
13	Anke Rijnders	NED	1:00.76 (2 h2)	1:00.84 (6 h1)	–
14	Tatyana Zolotnitskaya	URS	1:01.24 (2 h1)	1:01.12 (8 h2)	–
15	Wendy Cook	CAN	1:01.20 (2 h4)	1:01.26 (7 h1)	–
16	Claude Mandonnaud	FRA	1:01.34 (3 h1)	1:01.88 (8 h1)	–
17	Mary Beth Rondeau	CAN	1:01.46 (3 h4)	–	–
18	Grethe Mathiesen	NOR	1:01.47 (4 h6)	–	–
19	Guylaine Berger	FRA	1:01.54 (4 h1)	–	–
20	Judit Turóczy	HUN	1:01.57 (5 h1)	–	–
21	Angela Steinbach	FRG	1:01.66 (4 h5)	–	–
22	Yelena Timoshenko	URS	1:01.68 (5 h6)	–	–
23	Eva Andersson	SWE	1:01.88 (4 h3)	–	–
24	Leanne Francis	AUS	1:01.90 (4 h4)	–	–
25	Judy Wright	CAN	1:01.97 (3 h2)	–	–
=26	Sharon Booth	AUS	1:02.07 (6 h1)	–	–
=26	Lesley Allardice	GBR	1:02.07 (5 h4)	–	–
28	Shigeko Kawanishi	JPN	1:02.13 (6 h6)	–	–
29	Nadezhda Matyukhina	URS	1:02.14 (5 h5)	–	–
30	Susan Edmondson	GBR	1:02.29 (5 h3)	–	–
31	Margrit Thomet	SUI	1:02.33 (6 h5)	–	–
32	Françoise Monod	SUI	1:02.43 (6 h3)	–	–
33	Chantal Schertz	FRA	1:02.82 (4 h2)	–	–
34	Laura Podestà	ITA	1:02.88 (7 h5)	–	–
35	Heather Coombridge	NZL	1:02.95 (7 h3)	–	–
36	Edit Kovács	HUN	1:03.00 (5 h2)	–	–
37	Lucy Burle	BRA	1:03.12 (6 h2)	–	–
38	Inger Andersson	SWE	1:03.40 (6 h4)	–	–
39	Hriska Peycheva	BUL	1:03.43 (7 h6)	–	–
40	Marcia Arriaga	MEX	1:03.66 (7 h2)	–	–
41	Kirsten Campbell	DEN	1:03.83 (7 h1)	–	–
42	Ileana Morales	VEN	1:04.13 (8 h2)	–	–
43	Diane Walker	GBR	1:04.44 (7 h4)	–	–
44	Hsu Yue-Yun	TPE	1:04.77 (8 h3)	–	–
45	Susana Saxlund	URU	1:04.91 (8 h1)	–	–
46	Virginia Anchestegui	MEX	1:04.99 (8 h6)	–	–
DNS	Irwi Johansson	SWE	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	Mireille Bassoul	LBN	– (DNS h4)	–	–

Round One (28 August 1972 — 11:45)

Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time
1	–	Gabriele Wetzko	GDR	29.91 (4) 30.49 (1)	1:00.40	Q
2	–	Tatyana Zolotnitskaya	URS	29.84 (3) 31.40 (3)	1:01.24	Q
3	–	Claude Mandonnaud	FRA	29.97 (5) 31.37 (2)	1:01.34	Q
4	–	Guylaine Berger	FRA	30.06 (6) 31.48 (4)	1:01.54
5	–	Judit Turóczy	HUN	29.62 (1) 31.95 (5)	1:01.57
6	–	Sharon Booth	AUS	29.70 (2) 32.37 (6)	1:02.07
7	–	Kirsten Campbell	DEN	30.77 (7) 33.06 (7)	1:03.83
8	–	Susana Saxlund	URU	31.58 (8) 33.33 (8)	1:04.91

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time
1	–	Enith Brigitha	NED	28.95 (1) 31.07 (1)	1:00.02	Q
2	–	Anke Rijnders	NED	29.57 (3) 31.19 (2)	1:00.76	Q
3	–	Judy Wright	CAN	30.16 (5) 31.81 (3)	1:01.97
4	–	Chantal Schertz	FRA	30.78 (8) 32.04 (4)	1:02.82
5	–	Edit Kovács	HUN	29.01 (2) 33.99 (8)	1:03.00
6	–	Lucy Burle	BRA	30.03 (4) 33.09 (5)	1:03.12
7	–	Marcia Arriaga	MEX	30.45 (7) 33.21 (6)	1:03.66
8	–	Ileana Morales	VEN	30.41 (6) 33.72 (7)	1:04.13

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time
1	–	Magdolna Patóh	HUN	28.99 (1) 30.48 (2)	59.47	QOR
2	–	Sandy Neilson	USA	29.17 (2) 30.34 (1)	59.51	Q
3	–	Hansje Bunschoten	NED	29.57 (4) 31.25 (3)	1:00.82	Q
4	–	Eva Andersson	SWE	29.21 (3) 32.67 (5)	1:01.88
5	–	Susan Edmondson	GBR	30.22 (=6) 32.07 (4)	1:02.29
6	–	Françoise Monod	SUI	29.73 (5) 32.70 (6)	1:02.43
7	–	Heather Coombridge	NZL	30.22 (=6) 32.73 (7)	1:02.95
8	–	Hsu Yue-Yun	TPE	31.33 (8) 33.44 (8)	1:04.77

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time
1	–	Shirley Babashoff	USA	29.21 (1) 30.30 (1)	59.51	Q
2	–	Wendy Cook	CAN	29.56 (3) 31.64 (2)	1:01.20	Q
3	–	Mary Beth Rondeau	CAN	29.54 (2) 31.92 (4)	1:01.46
4	–	Leanne Francis	AUS	30.07 (5) 31.83 (3)	1:01.90
5	–	Lesley Allardice	GBR	29.90 (4) 32.17 (5)	1:02.07
6	–	Inger Andersson	SWE	30.24 (6) 33.16 (6)	1:03.40
7	–	Diane Walker	GBR	31.21 (7) 33.23 (7)	1:04.44
DNS	–	Mireille Bassoul	LBN	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time
1	–	Jutta Weber	FRG	29.12 (1) 30.60 (1)	59.72	Q
2	–	Jenny Kemp	USA	29.22 (2) 31.20 (3)	1:00.42	Q
3	–	Sylvia Eichner	GDR	29.73 (3) 30.91 (2)	1:00.64	Q
4	–	Angela Steinbach	FRG	30.01 (6) 31.65 (4)	1:01.66
5	–	Nadezhda Matyukhina	URS	29.94 (5) 32.20 (5)	1:02.14
6	–	Margrit Thomet	SUI	29.87 (4) 32.46 (6)	1:02.33
7	–	Laura Podestà	ITA	– (–) –	1:02.88
DNS	–	Irwi Johansson	SWE	– (–) –	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time
1	–	Shane Gould	AUS	29.21 (3) 30.23 (1)	59.44	QOR
2	–	Andrea Eife	GDR	28.93 (1) 30.80 (2)	59.73	Q
3	–	Heidi Reineck	FRG	29.10 (2) 31.29 (3)	1:00.39	Q
4	–	Grethe Mathiesen	NOR	29.95 (=4) 31.52 (4)	1:01.47
5	–	Yelena Timoshenko	URS	29.95 (=4) 31.73 (6)	1:01.68
6	–	Shigeko Kawanishi	JPN	30.58 (6) 31.55 (5)	1:02.13
7	–	Hriska Peycheva	BUL	30.62 (7) 32.81 (7)	1:03.43
8	–	Virginia Anchestegui	MEX	31.75 (8) 33.24 (8)	1:04.99

Semi-Finals (28 August 1972 — 17:45)

Top three in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time
1	–	Shirley Babashoff	USA	29.37 (5) 29.68 (1)	59.05	QOR
2	–	Magdolna Patóh	HUN	29.34 (4) 30.30 (3)	59.64	Q
3	–	Heidi Reineck	FRG	28.79 (1) 30.87 (5)	59.66	Q
4	–	Andrea Eife	GDR	29.45 (6) 30.26 (2)	59.71	Q
5	–	Jenny Kemp	USA	29.16 (2) 30.77 (4)	59.93
6	–	Anke Rijnders	NED	29.59 (7) 31.25 (6)	1:00.84
7	–	Wendy Cook	CAN	29.24 (3) 32.02 (7)	1:01.26
8	–	Claude Mandonnaud	FRA	29.72 (8) 32.16 (8)	1:01.88

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time
1	–	Shane Gould	AUS	29.05 (2) 30.15 (1)	59.20	Q
2	–	Sandy Neilson	USA	29.08 (3) 30.33 (3)	59.41	Q
3	–	Gabriele Wetzko	GDR	29.14 (4) 30.32 (2)	59.46	Q
4	–	Enith Brigitha	NED	29.17 (5) 30.58 (4)	59.75	Q
5	–	Jutta Weber	FRG	28.94 (1) 30.96 (5)	59.90
6	–	Sylvia Eichner	GDR	29.48 (7) 31.25 (7)	1:00.73
7	–	Hansje Bunschoten	NED	29.29 (6) 31.50 (8)	1:00.79
8	–	Tatyana Zolotnitskaya	URS	29.93 (8) 31.19 (6)	1:01.12

Final (29 August 1972 — 17:40)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time
1	3	Sandy Neilson	USA	28.46 (1) 30.13 (3)	58.59	OR
2	4	Shirley Babashoff	USA	29.16 (7) 29.86 (1)	59.02
3	5	Shane Gould	AUS	28.82 (4) 30.24 (4)	59.06
4	6	Gabriele Wetzko	GDR	29.18 (8) 30.03 (2)	59.21
5	7	Heidi Reineck	FRG	28.81 (3) 30.92 (5)	59.73
6	1	Andrea Eife	GDR	28.96 (6) 30.95 (6)	59.91
7	2	Magdolna Patóh	HUN	28.92 (5) 31.10 (7)	1:00.02
8	8	Enith Brigitha	NED	28.72 (2) 31.37 (8)	1:00.09