| | Event type

200 metres Backstroke, Women

Date	4 September 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München
Participants	37 from 20 countries

The favorite was American Melissa Belote, who had broken the world record at the US Trials in August, recording 2:20.64. She had already won the 100 back two days earlier, and a gold in the medley relay the day before, and in the heats in Munich she broke her world record in this event with 2:20.58. The 200 final was the final event of the women’s 1972 swimming program. Belote made easy work of it, taking the lead on the first lap and increasing it throughout to win gold in another record time of 2:19.19. Her teammate Susie Atwood was second for much of the race and held on for silver, ahead of Canada’s Donna-Marie Gurr, a surprise bronze medalist.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Melissa Belote	USA	2:20.58 (1 h5)	2:19.19 (1)	Gold
2	Susie Atwood	USA	2:22.13 (1 h2)	2:20.38 (2)	Silver
3	Donna-Marie Gurr	CAN	2:25.33 (2 h4)	2:23.22 (3)	Bronze
4	Annegret Kober	FRG	2:24.88 (1 h1)	2:23.35 (4)
5	Christine Herbst	GDR	2:25.09 (2 h5)	2:23.44 (5)
6	Enith Brigitha	NED	2:23.70 (1 h4)	2:23.70 (6)
7	Debbie Palmer	AUS	2:24.25 (2 h2)	2:24.65 (7)
8	Leslie Cliff	CAN	2:25.08 (1 h3)	2:25.80 (8)
9	Sue Lewis	AUS	2:25.34 (3 h5)	–
10	Karin Bormann	FRG	2:25.59 (2 h3)	–
11	Wendy Cook	CAN	2:25.71 (2 h1)	–
12	Andrea Gyarmati	HUN	2:25.81 (4 h5)	–
13	Lynn Skrifvars	USA	2:26.40 (3 h3)	–
14	Suzuko Matsumura	JPN	2:26.95 (3 h1)	–
15	Debra Cain	AUS	2:27.14 (4 h3)	–
16	Sylvie Le Noach	FRA	2:27.18 (3 h4)	–
17	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	2:27.47 (4 h1)	–
18	Susanne Hilger	GDR	2:27.88 (3 h2)	–
19	Josien Elzerman	NED	2:28.18 (5 h3)	–
20	Tina Lek'veishvili	URS	2:28.22 (4 h4)	–
21	Susan Hunter	NZL	2:28.28 (4 h2)	–
22	Susanne Niesner	SUI	2:28.62 (5 h4)	–
23	Annemarie Groen	NED	2:29.17 (5 h1)	–
24	Pam Bairstow	GBR	2:29.28 (6 h4)	–
25	Nataliya Yershova	URS	2:29.46 (5 h5)	–
26	Kikuyo Ishii	JPN	2:29.66 (5 h2)	–
27	Diana Ashton	GBR	2:29.95 (6 h1)	–
28	Kazu Fujimura	JPN	2:30.37 (6 h3)	–
29	Angelika Kraus	FRG	2:31.16 (6 h5)	–
30	Patricia López	ARG	2:33.41 (7 h5)	–
31	Zdenka Gašparac	YUG	2:33.57 (6 h2)	–
32	Christine Fulcher	IRL	2:33.73 (7 h2)	–
33	María Cecilia Vargas	MEX	2:37.54 (7 h4)	–
34	Diana Sutherland	GBR	2:37.61 (8 h5)	–
35	Felicia Ospitaletche	URU	2:37.88 (7 h3)	–
36	Pat Chan	SGP	2:41.27 (8 h2)	–
37	Ong Mei Lin	MAS	2:46.40 (8 h4)	–
DNS	Svetlozara Ignatova	BUL	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	Mireille Bassoul	LBN	– (DNS h3)	–

Round One (4 September 1972 — 10:30)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	3	Annegret Kober	FRG	32.98 (1) 36.37 (1)	1:09.35 (1) 37.42 (1)	1:46.77 (1) 38.11 (4)	2:24.88	Q
2	5	Wendy Cook	CAN	33.53 (3) 36.47 (2)	1:10.00 (2) 38.06 (4)	1:48.06 (2) 37.65 (1)	2:25.71
3	6	Suzuko Matsumura	JPN	34.59 (5) 36.66 (3)	1:11.25 (4) 37.97 (3)	1:49.22 (3) 37.73 (2)	2:26.95
4	7	María Teresa Ramírez	MEX	34.70 (6) 37.20 (5)	1:11.90 (6) 37.60 (2)	1:49.50 (5) 37.97 (3)	2:27.47
5	4	Annemarie Groen	NED	33.55 (4) 37.04 (4)	1:10.59 (3) 38.71 (6)	1:49.30 (4) 39.87 (6)	2:29.17
6	2	Diana Ashton	GBR	33.46 (2) 38.42 (6)	1:11.88 (5) 38.70 (5)	1:50.58 (6) 39.37 (5)	2:29.95
DNS	–	Svetlozara Ignatova	BUL	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Susie Atwood	USA	33.86 (1) 35.47 (2)	1:09.33 (1) 36.69 (1)	1:46.02 (1) 36.11 (1)	2:22.13	QOR
2	5	Debbie Palmer	AUS	34.39 (3) 35.23 (1)	1:09.62 (2) 37.24 (3)	1:46.86 (2) 37.39 (2)	2:24.25	Q
3	3	Susanne Hilger	GDR	35.44 (7) 36.27 (3)	1:11.71 (3) 38.15 (4)	1:49.86 (3) 38.02 (3)	2:27.88
4	2	Susan Hunter	NZL	34.97 (5) 38.00 (5)	1:12.97 (5) 37.22 (2)	1:50.19 (4) 38.09 (4)	2:28.28
5	6	Kikuyo Ishii	JPN	35.12 (6) 37.44 (4)	1:12.56 (4) 38.92 (5)	1:51.48 (5) 38.18 (5)	2:29.66
6	7	Zdenka Gašparac	YUG	34.88 (4) 38.60 (6)	1:13.48 (6) 39.44 (7)	1:52.92 (6) 40.65 (7)	2:33.57
7	1	Christine Fulcher	IRL	34.31 (2) 39.74 (7)	1:14.05 (7) 39.30 (6)	1:53.35 (7) 40.38 (6)	2:33.73
8	8	Pat Chan	SGP	36.95 (8) 40.56 (8)	1:17.51 (8) 41.51 (8)	1:59.02 (8) 42.25 (8)	2:41.27

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	3	Leslie Cliff	CAN	33.91 (2) 36.67 (=3)	1:10.58 (3) 37.63 (2)	1:48.21 (2) 36.87 (1)	2:25.08	Q
2	7	Karin Bormann	FRG	33.14 (1) 35.84 (2)	1:08.98 (1) 37.61 (1)	1:46.59 (1) 39.00 (6)	2:25.59
3	5	Lynn Skrifvars	USA	34.66 (5) 36.67 (=3)	1:11.33 (4) 37.70 (3)	1:49.03 (4) 37.37 (2)	2:26.40
4	4	Debra Cain	AUS	34.49 (4) 35.80 (1)	1:10.29 (2) 37.94 (4)	1:48.23 (3) 38.91 (5)	2:27.14
5	6	Josien Elzerman	NED	34.42 (3) 37.23 (5)	1:11.65 (5) 38.38 (5)	1:50.03 (5) 38.15 (3)	2:28.18
6	2	Kazu Fujimura	JPN	34.67 (6) 38.21 (6)	1:12.88 (6) 39.01 (6)	1:51.89 (6) 38.48 (4)	2:30.37
7	8	Felicia Ospitaletche	URU	36.81 (7) 40.64 (7)	1:17.45 (7) 40.58 (7)	1:58.03 (7) 39.85 (7)	2:37.88
DNS	–	Mireille Bassoul	LBN	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	2	Enith Brigitha	NED	32.89 (1) 36.60 (1)	1:09.49 (1) 37.40 (1)	1:46.89 (1) 36.81 (1)	2:23.70	Q
2	4	Donna-Marie Gurr	CAN	33.55 (2) 36.68 (2)	1:10.23 (2) 37.79 (2)	1:48.02 (2) 37.31 (3)	2:25.33	Q
3	5	Sylvie Le Noach	FRA	34.45 (=5) 37.24 (3)	1:11.69 (3) 37.95 (4)	1:49.64 (3) 37.54 (4)	2:27.18
4	6	Tina Lek'veishvili	URS	33.80 (3) 38.06 (5)	1:11.86 (4) 39.12 (6)	1:50.98 (6) 37.24 (2)	2:28.22
5	3	Susanne Niesner	SUI	34.33 (4) 38.39 (6)	1:12.72 (6) 37.86 (3)	1:50.58 (4) 38.04 (5)	2:28.62
6	7	Pam Bairstow	GBR	34.45 (=5) 37.71 (4)	1:12.16 (5) 38.74 (5)	1:50.90 (5) 38.38 (6)	2:29.28
7	1	María Cecilia Vargas	MEX	35.77 (7) 40.10 (7)	1:15.87 (7) 40.70 (7)	1:56.57 (7) 40.97 (7)	2:37.54
8	8	Ong Mei Lin	MAS	39.14 (8) 42.95 (8)	1:22.09 (8) 42.21 (8)	2:04.30 (8) 42.10 (8)	2:46.40

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Melissa Belote	USA	32.14 (1) 35.18 (1)	1:07.32 (1) 36.52 (1)	1:43.84 (1) 36.74 (1)	2:20.58	QWR
2	3	Christine Herbst	GDR	32.94 (3) 36.11 (4)	1:09.05 (3) 37.75 (3)	1:46.80 (2) 38.29 (3)	2:25.09	Q
3	6	Sue Lewis	AUS	34.30 (5) 36.04 (2)	1:10.34 (4) 37.33 (2)	1:47.67 (4) 37.67 (2)	2:25.34
4	5	Andrea Gyarmati	HUN	32.92 (2) 36.10 (3)	1:09.02 (2) 38.26 (4)	1:47.28 (3) 38.53 (4)	2:25.81
5	2	Nataliya Yershova	URS	33.61 (4) 37.71 (5)	1:11.32 (5) 39.17 (6)	1:50.49 (5) 38.97 (5)	2:29.46
6	7	Angelika Kraus	FRG	34.72 (6) 38.24 (6)	1:12.96 (6) 38.91 (5)	1:51.87 (6) 39.29 (6)	2:31.16
7	8	Patricia López	ARG	34.97 (7) 38.28 (7)	1:13.25 (7) 39.36 (7)	1:52.61 (7) 40.80 (7)	2:33.41
8	1	Diana Sutherland	GBR	35.35 (8) 39.21 (8)	1:14.56 (8) 41.01 (8)	1:55.57 (8) 42.04 (8)	2:37.61

Final (4 September 1972 — 18:50)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	4	Melissa Belote	USA	32.11 (1) 34.48 (1)	1:06.59 (1) 35.96 (1)	1:42.55 (1) 36.64 (2)	2:19.19	WR
2	5	Susie Atwood	USA	33.01 (6) 35.03 (2)	1:08.04 (2) 36.33 (2)	1:44.37 (2) 36.01 (1)	2:20.38
3	8	Donna-Marie Gurr	CAN	32.97 (5) 36.26 (4)	1:09.23 (5) 36.66 (3)	1:45.89 (3) 37.33 (5)	2:23.22
4	2	Annegret Kober	FRG	32.41 (=2) 36.32 (5)	1:08.73 (4) 37.54 (7)	1:46.27 (5) 37.08 (3)	2:23.35
5	1	Christine Herbst	GDR	32.53 (4) 36.71 (7)	1:09.24 (6) 37.02 (4)	1:46.26 (4) 37.18 (4)	2:23.44
6	3	Enith Brigitha	NED	32.41 (=2) 36.13 (3)	1:08.54 (3) 37.75 (8)	1:46.29 (6) 37.41 (6)	2:23.70
7	6	Debbie Palmer	AUS	33.35 (7) 36.35 (6)	1:09.70 (7) 37.16 (5)	1:46.86 (7) 37.79 (7)	2:24.65
8	7	Leslie Cliff	CAN	33.67 (8) 36.94 (8)	1:10.61 (8) 37.34 (6)	1:47.95 (8) 37.85 (8)	2:25.80