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| Event type

4 x 100 metres Medley Relay, Men

Date 4 September 1972
StatusOlympic
LocationSchwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München
Participants76 from 17 countries

This was the final swimming event of the 1972 Olympics. Mark Spitz was to swim the butterfly leg, the third leg, for the American team in the final. He had already won six gold medals in Munich, having won the 100 freestyle the day before. The United States’ team was the overwhelming favorite and the only way they could lose, it was thought, was to false start or take off early on an exchange. Unsurprisingly, however, East Germany led on the opening backstroke leg, as Roland Matthes, the top backstroker in the world, set a world 100 metre backstroke record with 56.30, as American Mike Stamm was 1.67 seconds back in second place. But Tom Bruce made up the margin on the breaststroke leg, giving Spitz a slight lead, as he and East German Hartmut Flöckner started the butterfly leg almost together. So much for that race. Spitz beat Flöckner by over two seconds in the butterfly, and anchor freestyler Jerry Heidenreich poured it on for the US, winning for four seconds over East Germany in a world record 3:48.16.

For Mark Spitz it had been a pretty good Olympics. Seven events. Seven gold medals. Seven world records. His Olympic total from 1968 and 1972 increased to 11 Olympic medals and 9 gold medals. The day after the medley relay, Palestine terrorists from the Black September group would attack the Israeli Olympic team in the Olympic Village, eventually killing 11 of them. The Olympics and world sport would never be the same. Mark Spitz was Jewish and quickly left Munich, fearing for his fame and his heritage.

PosSwimmerNOCR1Final
1United StatesUSA3:51.98 (1 h3)3:48.16 (1)Gold
Mike StammTom BruceMark SpitzJerry HeidenreichMitch IveyJohn HenckenGary HallDave Fairbank
2East GermanyGDR3:55.23 (1 h2)3:52.12 (2)Silver
Roland MatthesKlaus KatzurHartmut FlöcknerLutz UngerRoger Pyttel (DNS)
3CanadaCAN3:57.05 (2 h1)3:52.26 (3)Bronze
Erik FishBill MahonyBruce RobertsonBob KastingBill KennedyClay Evans (DNS)Brian Phillips (DNS)
4Soviet UnionURS3:56.57 (1 h1)3:53.26 (4)
Igor GrivennikovNikolay PankinViktor SharyginVladimir BureViktor StulikovViktor Aboimov
5BrazilBRA3:58.56 (2 h2)3:57.89 (5)
Rômulo ArantesJosé Sylvio FioloSérgio WaismannJosé Roberto AranhaRuy Oliveira (DNS)
6JapanJPN3:59.55 (3 h2)3:58.23 (6)
Tadashi HondaNobutaka TaguchiYasuhiro KomazakiJiro Sasaki
7Great BritainGBR3:58.97 (2 h3)3:58.82 (7)
Colin CunninghamDavid WilkieJohn MillsMalcolm WindeattMalcolm O'Connell (DNS)
8HungaryHUN3:59.86 (3 h1)3:59.07 (8)
László Cseh, Sr.Sándor SzabóIstván SzentirmayAttila CsászáriAndrás Hargitay
9AustraliaAUS4:00.16 (3 h3)
Brad CooperPaul JarvieNeil RogersMike Wenden
10FranceFRA4:00.50 (4 h1)
Jean-Paul BerjeauRoger-Philippe MenuAlain MosconiMichel Rousseau
11West GermanyFRG4:00.56 (4 h2)
Andreas WeberWalter KuschLutz StoklasaKlaus Steinbach
12SpainESP4:03.73 (5 h2)
Enrique MeloPedro BalcellsArturo Lang-LentonJorge Comas
13MexicoMEX4:05.61 (5 h1)
José Joaquín SantibáñezFelipe MuñozHugo ValenciaGuillermo GarcíaGustavo Salcedo (DNS)Roberto Strauss (DNS)
14SwedenSWE4:06.67 (4 h3)
Anders SandbergGunnar LarssonHans LjungbergAnders BellbringBengt Gingsjö (DNS)
15PolandPOL4:07.87 (5 h3)
Piotr DłucikCezary ŚmiglakAndrzej ChudzińskiZbigniew Pacelt
16PhilippinesPHI4:13.62 (6 h2)
Gerardo RosarioAmman JalmaaniCarlos BrosasLuis Ayesa
17CambodiaCAM4:20.71 (6 h3)
Sarun VanSokhon YiChhay-Kheng NhemSamnang Prak
DNSEl SalvadorESA– (DNS h1)
Antonio FerracutiPiero FerracutiSergio HasbúnSalvador Vilanova
DNSRhodesiaRHO
Ken BorainKim BrantRod HamiltonBob Hatherly

Round One (4 September 1972 — 11:05)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

PosLaneSwimmerNOC50 mTimeExchange (Pos)
17Soviet UnionURS3:56.57Q
Igor Grivennikov1:00.821:00.82 (2)
Viktor Stulikov1:05.922:06.74 (1)
Viktor Sharygin57.033:03.77 (1)
Viktor Aboimov52.793:56.56 (1)
25CanadaCAN3:57.05Q
Bill Kennedy1:01.321:01.32 (4)
Bill Mahony1:06.462:07.78 (3)
Bruce Robertson56.413:04.19 (2)
Bob Kasting52.843:57.03 (2)
33HungaryHUN3:59.86Q
László Cseh, Sr.1:00.271:00.27 (1)
Sándor Szabó1:07.202:07.47 (2)
András Hargitay58.783:06.25 (3)
István Szentirmay53.603:59.85 (3)
44FranceFRA4:00.50
Jean-Paul Berjeau1:01.271:01.27 (3)
Roger-Philippe Menu1:08.112:09.38 (4)
Alain Mosconi58.273:07.65 (4)
Michel Rousseau52.844:00.49 (4)
56MexicoMEX4:05.61
José Joaquín Santibáñez1:02.481:02.48 (5)
Felipe Muñoz1:08.052:10.53 (5)
Hugo Valencia59.253:09.78 (5)
Guillermo García55.834:05.61 (5)
DNSEl SalvadorESA
Antonio Ferracuti (DNS)– (–)
Piero Ferracuti (DNS)– (–)
Sergio Hasbún (DNS)– (–)
Salvador Vilanova (DNS)– (–)

Heat Two

PosLaneSwimmerNOC50 mTimeExchange (Pos)
14East GermanyGDR3:55.23Q
Roland Matthes58.0858.08 (1)
Klaus Katzur1:06.442:04.52 (1)
Hartmut Flöckner56.693:01.21 (1)
Lutz Unger54.003:55.21 (1)
26BrazilBRA3:58.56Q
Rômulo Arantes1:02.211:02.21 (4)
José Sylvio Fiolo1:05.812:08.02 (3)
Sérgio Waismann57.333:05.35 (3)
José Roberto Aranha53.203:58.55 (2)
37JapanJPN3:59.55Q
Tadashi Honda1:00.231:00.23 (2)
Nobutaka Taguchi1:04.902:05.13 (2)
Yasuhiro Komazaki58.143:03.27 (2)
Jiro Sasaki56.273:59.54 (3)
45West GermanyFRG4:00.56
Andreas Weber1:02.141:02.14 (3)
Walter Kusch1:07.982:10.12 (4)
Lutz Stoklasa58.353:08.47 (4)
Klaus Steinbach52.084:00.55 (4)
53SpainESP4:03.73
Enrique Melo1:02.331:02.33 (5)
Pedro Balcells1:09.302:11.63 (5)
Arturo Lang-Lenton58.523:10.15 (5)
Jorge Comas53.564:03.71 (5)
62PhilippinesPHI4:13.62
Gerardo Rosario1:06.241:06.24 (6)
Amman Jalmaani1:08.192:14.43 (6)
Carlos Brosas1:03.853:18.28 (6)
Luis Ayesa55.334:13.61 (6)

Heat Three

PosLaneSwimmerNOC50 mTimeExchange (Pos)
14United StatesUSA3:51.98QOR
Mitch Ivey58.7258.72 (1)
John Hencken1:05.102:03.82 (1)
Gary Hall55.392:59.21 (1)
Dave Fairbank52.753:51.96 (1)
26Great BritainGBR3:58.97Q
Colin Cunningham1:01.161:01.16 (4)
David Wilkie1:06.152:07.31 (2)
John Mills57.883:05.19 (2)
Malcolm Windeatt53.773:58.96 (2)
33AustraliaAUS4:00.16
Brad Cooper1:00.771:00.77 (2)
Paul Jarvie1:08.972:09.74 (3)
Neil Rogers58.193:07.93 (3)
Mike Wenden52.224:00.15 (3)
42SwedenSWE4:06.67
Anders Sandberg1:00.961:00.96 (3)
Gunnar Larsson1:09.232:10.19 (4)
Hans Ljungberg1:00.533:10.72 (4)
Anders Bellbring55.944:06.66 (4)
55PolandPOL4:07.87
Piotr Dłucik1:01.951:01.95 (5)
Cezary Śmiglak1:10.882:12.83 (5)
Andrzej Chudziński59.633:12.46 (5)
Zbigniew Pacelt55.394:07.85 (5)
67CambodiaCAM4:20.71
Sarun Van1:07.511:07.51 (6)
Sokhon Yi1:08.542:16.05 (6)
Chhay-Kheng Nhem1:06.573:22.62 (6)
Samnang Prak58.084:20.70 (6)

Final (4 September 1972 — 19:10)

PosLaneSwimmerNOC50 mTimeExchange (Pos)
14United StatesUSA3:48.16WR
Mike Stamm57.9757.97 (2)
Tom Bruce1:04.222:02.19 (1)
Mark Spitz54.282:56.47 (1)
Jerry Heidenreich51.673:48.14 (1)
25East GermanyGDR3:52.12
Roland Matthes56.3056.30 (1)
Klaus Katzur1:06.022:02.32 (2)
Hartmut Flöckner56.362:58.68 (2)
Lutz Unger53.433:52.11 (2)
36CanadaCAN3:52.26
Erik Fish59.6159.61 (4)
Bill Mahony1:05.892:05.50 (5)
Bruce Robertson54.482:59.98 (3)
Bob Kasting52.283:52.26 (3)
43Soviet UnionURS3:53.26
Igor Grivennikov59.2259.22 (3)
Nikolay Pankin1:05.202:04.42 (4)
Viktor Sharygin57.443:01.86 (4)
Vladimir Bure51.383:53.24 (4)
52BrazilBRA3:57.89
Rômulo Arantes1:01.871:01.87 (8)
José Sylvio Fiolo1:05.922:07.79 (8)
Sérgio Waismann57.993:05.78 (8)
José Roberto Aranha52.093:57.87 (5)
61JapanJPN3:58.23
Tadashi Honda59.8359.83 (5)
Nobutaka Taguchi1:04.332:04.16 (3)
Yasuhiro Komazaki58.103:02.26 (5)
Jiro Sasaki55.963:58.22 (6)
77Great BritainGBR3:58.82
Colin Cunningham1:01.021:01.02 (7)
David Wilkie1:06.272:07.29 (6)
John Mills57.533:04.82 (6)
Malcolm Windeatt53.983:58.80 (7)
88HungaryHUN3:59.07
László Cseh, Sr.1:00.541:00.54 (6)
Sándor Szabó1:06.992:07.53 (7)
István Szentirmay58.023:05.55 (7)
Attila Császári53.503:59.05 (8)