The men's 200 metre butterfly

Butterfly stroke

The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with both arms moving simultaneously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as the "dolphin kick"...

event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place August 28. This swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 event used the butterfly stroke

Butterfly stroke

The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with both arms moving simultaneously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as the "dolphin kick"...

. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Medalists

Heats

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Gary Hall Sr.		2:03.70	OR, Q
2	András Hargitay András Hargitay András Hargitay is a former medley swimmer from Hungary, who won the bronze medal as a sixteen-year old in the men's 400 m individual medley at the 1972 Summer Olympics....		2:05.05	Q
3	Roger Pyttel Roger Pyttel Roger Pyttel is a former German butterfly swimmer. After failing to place in various races during the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, Pyttel attained both a silver and bronze medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.-References:...		2:08.72
4	Sean Maher		2:09.39
5	Jorge Jaramillo		2:10.24
6	Walter Mack		2:11.03
7	Vasil Dobrev		2:11.28

Key: OR = Olympic record, Q = Qualified

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Robin Backhaus Robin Backhaus Robin Backhaus is an American former swimmer who won the bronze medal for 200 meter butterfly at the 1972 Summer Olympics. At the 1973 World Aquatics Championships he won two gold medals and a bronze medal. He also worked as a coach at Konawaena High School.Graduated from Redlands High School in...		2:03.11	OR, Q
2	Folkert Meeuw		2:06.13	Q
3	Yasuhiro Komazaki		2:08.72
4	Hugo Valencia		2:09.56
5	Andrzej Chudziński		2:12.62
6	Geoffrey Ferreira		2:19.76
	Angelo Tozzi		2:10.82	DQ

Key: DQ = Disqualified, OR = Olympic record, Q = Qualified

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Hans Faßnacht		2:05.39	Q
2	Jorge Delgado, Jr.		2:05.61	Q
3	Viktor Sharygin		2:06.76
4	James Findlay		2:08.36
5	Ron Jacks Ron Jacks Ronald Jacks was a Canadian Olympic and International Swimmer in the 1960s and 1970s.At the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games he won a gold medal in the 110 yards butterfly. In the 1970 British Commonwealth Games he won a bronze medal in the 100 metres butterfly...		2:09.04
6	Ricardo Marmolejo Ricardo Marmolejo Ricardo Marmolejo is a two-time Olympic swimmer from Mexico. He swam for the Mexico National Swim Team at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics....		2:10.00
7	Jacques Leloup		2:10.79
8	Roy Chan		2:20.30

Key: Q = Qualified

Heat 4

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Mark Spitz Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics....		2:02.11	OR, Q
2	Hartmut Flöckner		2:05.54	Q
3	John Mills		2:06.58
4	Brian Brinkley		2:06.82
5	Byron MacDonald		2:12.12
6	Gaetano Carboni		2:12.16
7	Hsu Tung-Hsiung		2:16.35
8	Carlos Singson		2:23.70

Key: OR = Olympic record, Q = Qualified

Final

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
	Mark Spitz Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics....		2:00.70	WR
	Gary Hall Sr.		2:02.86
	Robin Backhaus Robin Backhaus Robin Backhaus is an American former swimmer who won the bronze medal for 200 meter butterfly at the 1972 Summer Olympics. At the 1973 World Aquatics Championships he won two gold medals and a bronze medal. He also worked as a coach at Konawaena High School.Graduated from Redlands High School in...		2:03.23
4	Jorge Delgado, Jr.		2:04.60
5	Hans Faßnacht		2:04.69
6	András Hargitay András Hargitay András Hargitay is a former medley swimmer from Hungary, who won the bronze medal as a sixteen-year old in the men's 400 m individual medley at the 1972 Summer Olympics....		2:04.69
7	Hartmut Flöckner		2:05.34
8	Folkert Meeuw		2:05.57

Key: WR = World record