| | Event type

200 metres Breaststroke, Men

Date	2 September 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München
Participants	41 from 28 countries

Three days before this race, American John Hencken had won a bronze in the 100 breaststroke behind Japan’s Nobutaka Taguchi. Hencken had set the world record of 2:22.79 at the US Trials in Chicago in August. Not expected to challenge was Britain’s David Wilkie, but he made the final, as Taguchi led the qualifying with 2:23.45. One surprise in the heats was the failure of Brian Job of the United States, former world record holder, to get through.

In the final Hencken led from the start, trailed by his teammate Rick Colella through 150 metres, although Hencken was well ahead. Hencken won easily, posting a world record of 2:21.55. He was over two seconds ahead of Wilkie at the finish, who came on strong for the silver medal, with Taguchi taking bronze, as Colella flagged badly on the final lap. Over the next few years, Hencken and Wilkie would challenge each other as the best breaststrokers in the world. At Montréal in 1976 the Munich result would be reversed with Wilkie winning, Hencken taking silver.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	John Hencken	USA	2:24.88 (1 h6)	2:21.55 (1)	Gold
2	David Wilkie	GBR	2:24.54 (1 h3)	2:23.67 (2)	Silver
3	Nobutaka Taguchi	JPN	2:23.45 (1 h2)	2:23.88 (3)	Bronze
4	Rick Colella	USA	2:25.40 (1 h4)	2:24.28 (4)
5	Felipe Muñoz	MEX	2:25.99 (2 h2)	2:26.44 (5)
6	Walter Kusch	FRG	2:26.43 (2 h3)	2:26.55 (6)
7	Igor Cherdakov	URS	2:26.21 (1 h5)	2:27.15 (7)
8	Klaus Katzur	GDR	2:26.32 (1 h1)	2:27.44 (8)
=9	Bill Mahony	CAN	2:26.71 (2 h1)	–
=9	Nikolay Pankin	URS	2:26.71 (2 h6)	–
11	Brian Job	USA	2:26.91 (2 h5)	–
12	Paul Jarvie	AUS	2:27.83 (3 h6)	–
13	Vladimir Kosinsky	URS	2:28.00 (2 h4)	–
14	Pedro Balcells	ESP	2:29.29 (3 h2)	–
15	Roger-Philippe Menu	FRA	2:30.05 (3 h1)	–
16	Robert Stoddart	CAN	2:30.08 (4 h2)	–
17	Steffen Kriechbaum	AUT	2:30.09 (3 h3)	–
18	José Sylvio Fiolo	BRA	2:30.21 (3 h5)	–
19	Angel Chakarov	BUL	2:30.27 (3 h4)	–
20	Malcolm O'Connell	GBR	2:31.21 (4 h3)	–
21	Jean-Pierre Dubey	SUI	2:31.56 (5 h3)	–
22	Guðjón Guðmundsson	ISL	2:32.40 (4 h1)	–
23	Rainer Hradetzky	GDR	2:32.48 (4 h5)	–
24	Andreas Hellmann	FRG	2:32.60 (4 h4)	–
25	Gustavo Salcedo	MEX	2:32.81 (6 h3)	–
=26	Liam Ball	IRL	2:33.47 (5 h4)	–
=26	Mike Whitaker	CAN	2:33.47 (4 h6)	–
28	Amman Jalmaani	PHI	2:33.54 (5 h5)	–
29	Nigel Johnson	GBR	2:34.37 (6 h4)	–
30	Cezary Śmiglak	POL	2:34.51 (5 h2)	–
31	Sokhon Yi	CAM	2:34.77 (5 h1)	–
32	Michele Di Pietro	ITA	2:36.49 (6 h5)	–
33	Rudi Vingerhoets	BEL	2:36.89 (5 h6)	–
34	Gregor Betz	FRG	2:36.96 (6 h6)	–
35	Alfredo Hunger	PER	2:37.20 (7 h6)	–
36	János Tóth	HUN	2:37.40 (6 h1)	–
37	Karl Christian Koch	DEN	2:38.47 (7 h4)	–
38	Faruk Morkal	TUR	2:43.69 (6 h2)	–
39	Piero Ferracuti	ESA	2:45.73 (7 h2)	–
40	Alejandro Cabrera	ESA	2:56.60 (8 h6)	–
DQ	Osvaldo Boretto	ARG	[2:31.84] (DQ h3)	–
DNS	Theodoros Koutoumanis	GRE	– (DNS h1)	–
DNS	Antonio Aguerrevere	VEN	– (DNS h5)	–
DNS	Bob Hatherly	RHO	–	–

Round One (2 September 1972 — 11:10)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	–	Klaus Katzur	GDR	32.75 (1) 37.51 (1)	1:10.26 (1) 38.25 (2)	1:48.51 (1) 37.81 (2)	2:26.32	QOR
2	–	Bill Mahony	CAN	33.40 (3) 38.01 (2)	1:11.41 (3) 37.56 (1)	1:48.97 (2) 37.74 (1)	2:26.71
3	–	Roger-Philippe Menu	FRA	33.14 (2) 38.16 (3)	1:11.30 (2) 39.07 (3)	1:50.37 (3) 39.68 (4)	2:30.05
4	–	Guðjón Guðmundsson	ISL	34.52 (5) 38.83 (4)	1:13.35 (4) 39.50 (4)	1:52.85 (4) 39.55 (3)	2:32.40
5	–	Sokhon Yi	CAM	34.13 (4) 39.55 (5)	1:13.68 (5) 39.86 (5)	1:53.54 (5) 41.23 (5)	2:34.77
6	–	János Tóth	HUN	34.74 (6) 39.77 (6)	1:14.51 (6) 41.60 (6)	1:56.11 (6) 41.29 (6)	2:37.40
DNS	–	Theodoros Koutoumanis	GRE	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	–	Nobutaka Taguchi	JPN	33.23 (1) 36.36 (1)	1:09.59 (1) 36.98 (1)	1:46.57 (1) 36.88 (1)	2:23.45	QOR
2	–	Felipe Muñoz	MEX	34.52 (4) 37.52 (2)	1:12.04 (2) 37.02 (2)	1:49.06 (2) 36.93 (2)	2:25.99	Q
3	–	Pedro Balcells	ESP	34.79 (5) 38.79 (4)	1:13.58 (5) 37.56 (3)	1:51.14 (4) 38.15 (3)	2:29.29
4	–	Robert Stoddart	CAN	34.25 (3) 37.87 (3)	1:12.12 (3) 38.30 (4)	1:50.42 (3) 39.66 (4)	2:30.08
5	–	Cezary Śmiglak	POL	34.03 (2) 39.39 (5)	1:13.42 (4) 39.53 (5)	1:52.95 (5) 41.56 (5)	2:34.51
6	–	Faruk Morkal	TUR	37.18 (7) 41.72 (6)	1:18.90 (7) 42.62 (6)	2:01.52 (6) 42.17 (6)	2:43.69
7	–	Piero Ferracuti	ESA	36.14 (6) 42.40 (7)	1:18.54 (6) 44.48 (7)	2:03.02 (7) 42.71 (7)	2:45.73

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	–	David Wilkie	GBR	33.92 (3) 38.18 (2)	1:12.10 (2) 35.77 (1)	1:47.87 (1) 36.67 (1)	2:24.54	Q
2	–	Walter Kusch	FRG	34.11 (4) 38.41 (3)	1:12.52 (3) 36.89 (2)	1:49.41 (2) 37.02 (2)	2:26.43	Q
3	–	Steffen Kriechbaum	AUT	32.99 (1) 38.77 (5)	1:11.76 (1) 38.08 (3)	1:49.84 (3) 40.25 (7)	2:30.09
4	–	Malcolm O'Connell	GBR	33.41 (2) 39.32 (7)	1:12.73 (5) 38.67 (4)	1:51.40 (4) 39.81 (5)	2:31.21
5	–	Jean-Pierre Dubey	SUI	34.51 (6) 38.09 (1)	1:12.60 (4) 39.40 (6)	1:52.00 (5) 39.56 (4)	2:31.56
6	–	Gustavo Salcedo	MEX	34.45 (5) 39.03 (6)	1:13.48 (7) 39.27 (5)	1:52.75 (6) 40.06 (6)	2:32.81
DQ	–	Osvaldo Boretto	ARG	[34.60] ([7]) [38.58 (4)]	[1:13.18] ([6]) [40.38 (7)]	[1:53.56] ([7]) [38.28 (3)]	[2:31.84]

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	–	Rick Colella	USA	33.79 (3) 37.48 (2)	1:11.27 (1) 36.47 (1)	1:47.74 (1) 37.66 (1)	2:25.40	Q
2	–	Vladimir Kosinsky	URS	33.77 (2) 37.70 (3)	1:11.47 (2) 37.68 (2)	1:49.15 (2) 38.85 (2)	2:28.00
3	–	Angel Chakarov	BUL	34.87 (5) 37.47 (1)	1:12.34 (4) 38.84 (3)	1:51.18 (3) 39.09 (3)	2:30.27
4	–	Andreas Hellmann	FRG	33.61 (1) 39.05 (6)	1:12.66 (5) 39.17 (5)	1:51.83 (4) 40.77 (5)	2:32.60
5	–	Liam Ball	IRL	35.62 (7) 38.51 (5)	1:14.13 (6) 39.08 (4)	1:53.21 (6) 40.26 (4)	2:33.47
6	–	Nigel Johnson	GBR	34.47 (4) 37.83 (4)	1:12.30 (3) 39.81 (6)	1:52.11 (5) 42.26 (6)	2:34.37
7	–	Karl Christian Koch	DEN	35.30 (6) 40.14 (7)	1:15.44 (7) 40.51 (7)	1:55.95 (7) 42.52 (7)	2:38.47

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	–	Igor Cherdakov	URS	33.04 (1) 38.17 (3)	1:11.21 (2) 37.17 (1)	1:48.38 (1) 37.83 (1)	2:26.21	Q
2	–	Brian Job	USA	33.98 (3) 37.56 (1)	1:11.54 (3) 37.26 (2)	1:48.80 (2) 38.11 (2)	2:26.91
3	–	José Sylvio Fiolo	BRA	33.54 (2) 37.66 (2)	1:11.20 (1) 38.90 (3)	1:50.10 (3) 40.11 (5)	2:30.21
4	–	Rainer Hradetzky	GDR	34.32 (4) 39.08 (4)	1:13.40 (4) 39.10 (4)	1:52.50 (4) 39.98 (4)	2:32.48
5	–	Amman Jalmaani	PHI	34.43 (5) 39.27 (5)	1:13.70 (5) 39.90 (5)	1:53.60 (5) 39.94 (3)	2:33.54
6	–	Michele Di Pietro	ITA	35.00 (6) 39.33 (6)	1:14.33 (6) 41.22 (6)	1:55.55 (6) 40.94 (6)	2:36.49
DNS	–	Antonio Aguerrevere	VEN	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	–	John Hencken	USA	32.52 (1) 37.11 (2)	1:09.63 (1) 37.45 (2)	1:47.08 (1) 37.80 (1)	2:24.88	Q
2	–	Nikolay Pankin	URS	33.38 (2) 37.07 (1)	1:10.45 (2) 37.50 (3)	1:47.95 (2) 38.76 (2)	2:26.71
3	–	Paul Jarvie	AUS	33.94 (3) 37.74 (3)	1:11.68 (3) 36.87 (1)	1:48.55 (3) 39.28 (3)	2:27.83
4	–	Mike Whitaker	CAN	33.96 (4) 39.53 (4)	1:13.49 (4) 39.85 (4)	1:53.34 (4) 40.13 (4)	2:33.47
5	–	Rudi Vingerhoets	BEL	35.07 (7) 39.54 (5)	1:14.61 (6) 40.97 (6)	1:55.58 (6) 41.31 (5)	2:36.89
6	–	Gregor Betz	FRG	34.42 (5) 39.77 (6)	1:14.19 (5) 40.73 (5)	1:54.92 (5) 42.04 (7)	2:36.96
7	–	Alfredo Hunger	PER	34.53 (6) 40.10 (7)	1:14.63 (7) 41.14 (7)	1:55.77 (7) 41.43 (6)	2:37.20
8	–	Alejandro Cabrera	ESA	38.52 (8) 44.01 (8)	1:22.53 (8) 46.81 (8)	2:09.34 (8) 47.26 (8)	2:56.60

Final (2 September 1972 — 18:30)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	100 m	150 m	Time
1	3	John Hencken	USA	31.55 (1) 36.79 (1)	1:08.34 (1) 37.01 (4)	1:45.35 (1) 36.20 (1)	2:21.55	WR
2	5	David Wilkie	GBR	33.45 (5) 37.92 (7)	1:11.37 (6) 36.04 (1)	1:47.41 (3) 36.26 (2)	2:23.67
3	4	Nobutaka Taguchi	JPN	32.93 (3) 37.94 (8)	1:10.87 (5) 36.74 (2)	1:47.61 (4) 36.27 (3)	2:23.88
4	6	Rick Colella	USA	33.49 (6) 36.82 (2)	1:10.31 (2) 36.86 (3)	1:47.17 (2) 37.11 (5)	2:24.28
5	2	Felipe Muñoz	MEX	34.09 (8) 37.63 (4)	1:11.72 (8) 38.01 (6)	1:49.73 (8) 36.71 (4)	2:26.44
6	8	Walter Kusch	FRG	33.65 (7) 37.76 (5)	1:11.41 (7) 38.00 (5)	1:49.41 (7) 37.14 (6)	2:26.55
7	7	Igor Cherdakov	URS	33.28 (4) 37.10 (3)	1:10.38 (3) 38.11 (7)	1:48.49 (5) 38.66 (8)	2:27.15
8	1	Klaus Katzur	GDR	32.91 (2) 37.77 (6)	1:10.68 (4) 38.53 (8)	1:49.21 (6) 38.23 (7)	2:27.44