| | Event type

400 metres Individual Medley, Women

Date	31 August 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Schwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München
Participants	38 from 24 countries

The world record was still held by Claudia Kolb, the 1968 gold medalist who had won this event in 1968. The 1970 European Champion was East Germany’s Evelyn Stolze, and she made the final, but there was no clear favorite. The final saw Australia’s unheralded Gail Neall, silver medalist from the 1970 Commonwealth Games, take the lead on the butterfly opener. She maintained that lead for 7 laps until Canada’s Leslie Cliff, the 1971 Pan American champion, took over briefly. But Neall fought back and won the gold medal in world record time, with 5:02.97. Cliff held on for silver over Italy’s Novella Calligaris, as all three medalists finished inside Kolb’s previous world mark. Stolze placed fifth, behind American Jenny Bartz.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Gail Neall	AUS	5:11.89 (1 h1)	5:02.97 (1)	Gold
2	Leslie Cliff	CAN	5:08.64 (1 h5)	5:03.57 (2)	Silver
3	Novella Calligaris	ITA	5:11.16 (2 h3)	5:03.99 (3)	Bronze
4	Jenny Bartz	USA	5:07.31 (2 h4)	5:05.56 (4)
5	Evelyn Stolze	GDR	5:06.96 (1 h4)	5:06.80 (5)
6	Mary Montgomery	USA	5:13.62 (2 h5)	5:09.98 (6)
7	Lynn Vidali	USA	5:09.67 (1 h3)	5:13.06 (7)
8	Nina Petrova	URS	5:13.42 (3 h4)	5:15.68 (8)
9	Susan Hunter	NZL	5:14.47 (2 h1)	–
10	Angela Franke	GDR	5:14.81 (3 h5)	–
11	Hennie Penterman	NED	5:14.99 (1 h2)	–
12	Anita Zarnowiecki	SWE	5:15.05 (4 h5)	–
13	Marlis Pohl	GDR	5:15.38 (2 h2)	–
14	Jaroslava Slavíčková	TCH	5:18.53 (3 h1)	–
15	Susan Richardson	GBR	5:19.53 (5 h5)	–
16	Birutė Užkuraitytė	URS	5:20.05 (4 h1)	–
17	Jennifer McHugh	CAN	5:20.25 (3 h2)	–
18	Yukari Takemoto	JPN	5:20.89 (4 h4)	–
19	Debbie Bengtson	CAN	5:21.62 (4 h2)	–
20	Helga Niemann	FRG	5:21.97 (5 h1)	–
21	Gerda Lassooij	NED	5:22.09 (3 h3)	–
22	Eva Sigg	FIN	5:22.92 (5 h2)	–
23	Wijda Mazereeuw	NED	5:24.00 (5 h4)	–
24	Karen Moras	AUS	5:24.13 (6 h2)	–
25	Shelagh Ratcliffe	GBR	5:24.27 (6 h1)	–
26	Maria Isabel Guerra	BRA	5:24.43 (4 h3)	–
27	Laura Vaca	MEX	5:24.63 (6 h4)	–
28	Trine Krogh	NOR	5:25.08 (5 h3)	–
29	Susanne Niesner	SUI	5:25.23 (6 h5)	–
30	Kirsten Campbell	DEN	5:25.97 (7 h2)	–
31	Diane Walker	GBR	5:28.82 (6 h3)	–
32	Gisela Cerezo	VEN	5:29.56 (7 h5)	–
33	María Ballesteros	MEX	5:31.06 (8 h5)	–
34	Helmi Boxberger	FRG	5:32.31 (7 h1)	–
35	Eleni Avlonitou	GRE	5:32.49 (7 h3)	–
36	Béatrice Mottoulle	BEL	5:35.38 (8 h3)	–
37	Roselina Ángel	COL	5:35.44 (7 h4)	–
38	Silvia Borgini	ARG	5:44.22 (8 h1)	–
DNS	Mireille Bassoul	LBN	– (DNS h2)	–
DNS	Hsu Yue-Yun	TPE	– (DNS h4)	–

Round One (31 August 1972 — 10:50)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	–	Gail Neall	AUS	1:09.89 (1) 1:19.07 (2)	2:28.96 (2) 1:32.92 (3)	4:01.88 (1) 1:10.01 (1)	5:11.89	Q
2	–	Susan Hunter	NZL	1:11.44 (2) 1:16.43 (1)	2:27.87 (1) 1:35.86 (6)	4:03.73 (2) 1:10.74 (2)	5:14.47
3	–	Jaroslava Slavíčková	TCH	1:12.98 (4) 1:22.32 (4)	2:35.30 (4) 1:30.82 (1)	4:06.12 (4) 1:12.41 (5)	5:18.53
4	–	Birutė Užkuraitytė	URS	1:13.76 (7) 1:22.67 (5)	2:36.43 (5) 1:32.14 (2)	4:08.57 (5) 1:11.48 (3)	5:20.05
5	–	Helga Niemann	FRG	1:11.99 (3) 1:20.50 (3)	2:32.49 (3) 1:33.16 (4)	4:05.65 (3) 1:16.32 (7)	5:21.97
6	–	Shelagh Ratcliffe	GBR	1:13.15 (5) 1:24.28 (6)	2:37.43 (6) 1:34.71 (5)	4:12.14 (6) 1:12.13 (4)	5:24.27
7	–	Helmi Boxberger	FRG	1:13.68 (6) 1:24.90 (7)	2:38.58 (7) 1:37.22 (7)	4:15.80 (7) 1:16.51 (8)	5:32.31
8	–	Silvia Borgini	ARG	1:18.61 (8) 1:31.19 (8)	2:49.80 (8) 1:39.71 (8)	4:29.51 (8) 1:14.71 (6)	5:44.22

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	–	Hennie Penterman	NED	1:11.78 (3) 1:23.02 (4)	2:34.80 (4) 1:29.51 (1)	4:04.31 (2) 1:10.68 (1)	5:14.99
2	–	Marlis Pohl	GDR	1:10.35 (1) 1:21.15 (2)	2:31.50 (1) 1:30.92 (2)	4:02.42 (1) 1:12.96 (5)	5:15.38
3	–	Jennifer McHugh	CAN	1:10.54 (2) 1:23.08 (5)	2:33.62 (2) 1:35.36 (6)	4:08.98 (4) 1:11.27 (2)	5:20.25
4	–	Debbie Bengtson	CAN	1:14.11 (7) 1:20.94 (1)	2:35.05 (5) 1:33.80 (4)	4:08.85 (3) 1:12.77 (4)	5:21.62
5	–	Eva Sigg	FIN	1:11.85 (4) 1:23.62 (6)	2:35.47 (6) 1:34.26 (5)	4:09.73 (5) 1:13.19 (6)	5:22.92
6	–	Karen Moras	AUS	1:13.38 (5) 1:21.25 (3)	2:34.63 (3) 1:37.76 (7)	4:12.39 (7) 1:11.74 (3)	5:24.13
7	–	Kirsten Campbell	DEN	1:13.68 (6) 1:24.22 (7)	2:37.90 (7) 1:33.01 (3)	4:10.91 (6) 1:15.06 (7)	5:25.97
DNS	–	Mireille Bassoul	LBN	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	–	Lynn Vidali	USA	1:08.33 (1) 1:20.14 (2)	2:28.47 (1) 1:32.04 (2)	4:00.51 (1) 1:09.16 (2)	5:09.67	Q
2	–	Novella Calligaris	ITA	1:11.24 (3) 1:19.94 (1)	2:31.18 (2) 1:31.83 (1)	4:03.01 (2) 1:08.15 (1)	5:11.16	Q
3	–	Gerda Lassooij	NED	1:10.94 (2) 1:21.52 (4)	2:32.46 (3) 1:35.51 (5)	4:07.97 (3) 1:14.12 (6)	5:22.09
4	–	Maria Isabel Guerra	BRA	1:11.98 (4) 1:21.20 (3)	2:33.18 (4) 1:39.67 (8)	4:12.85 (4) 1:11.58 (5)	5:24.43
5	–	Trine Krogh	NOR	1:13.74 (5) 1:24.38 (5)	2:38.12 (5) 1:35.62 (6)	4:13.74 (6) 1:11.34 (4)	5:25.08
6	–	Diane Walker	GBR	1:14.31 (6) 1:25.91 (6)	2:40.22 (6) 1:33.26 (4)	4:13.48 (5) 1:15.34 (7)	5:28.82
7	–	Eleni Avlonitou	GRE	1:16.52 (7) 1:27.80 (8)	2:44.32 (8) 1:37.14 (7)	4:21.46 (8) 1:11.03 (3)	5:32.49
8	–	Béatrice Mottoulle	BEL	1:16.56 (8) 1:27.60 (7)	2:44.16 (7) 1:33.03 (3)	4:17.19 (7) 1:18.19 (8)	5:35.38

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	–	Evelyn Stolze	GDR	1:09.48 (1) 1:18.80 (1)	2:28.28 (1) 1:29.70 (3)	3:57.98 (1) 1:08.98 (1)	5:06.96	QOR
2	–	Jenny Bartz	USA	1:09.71 (2) 1:19.40 (2)	2:29.11 (2) 1:28.98 (2)	3:58.09 (2) 1:09.22 (2)	5:07.31	Q
3	–	Nina Petrova	URS	1:12.01 (5) 1:20.53 (3)	2:32.54 (4) 1:28.17 (1)	4:00.71 (3) 1:12.71 (3)	5:13.42	Q
4	–	Yukari Takemoto	JPN	1:11.02 (3) 1:20.84 (4)	2:31.86 (3) 1:32.85 (4)	4:04.71 (4) 1:16.18 (7)	5:20.89
5	–	Wijda Mazereeuw	NED	1:11.47 (4) 1:23.17 (6)	2:34.64 (5) 1:33.71 (5)	4:08.35 (5) 1:15.65 (6)	5:24.00
6	–	Laura Vaca	MEX	1:14.41 (7) 1:22.67 (5)	2:37.08 (6) 1:34.06 (6)	4:11.14 (6) 1:13.49 (5)	5:24.63
7	–	Roselina Ángel	COL	1:13.87 (6) 1:27.41 (7)	2:41.28 (7) 1:40.74 (7)	4:22.02 (7) 1:13.42 (4)	5:35.44
DNS	–	Hsu Yue-Yun	TPE	– (–) –	– (–) –	– (–) –	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	–	Leslie Cliff	CAN	1:10.26 (3) 1:18.25 (1)	2:28.51 (1) 1:30.16 (2)	3:58.67 (1) 1:09.97 (3)	5:08.64	Q
2	–	Mary Montgomery	USA	1:12.12 (6) 1:18.99 (2)	2:31.11 (2) 1:33.70 (6)	4:04.81 (3) 1:08.81 (1)	5:13.62	Q
3	–	Angela Franke	GDR	1:10.13 (2) 1:22.73 (6)	2:32.86 (4) 1:31.50 (3)	4:04.36 (2) 1:10.45 (4)	5:14.81
4	–	Anita Zarnowiecki	SWE	1:12.06 (5) 1:20.73 (3)	2:32.79 (3) 1:32.43 (5)	4:05.22 (5) 1:09.83 (2)	5:15.05
5	–	Susan Richardson	GBR	1:09.72 (1) 1:23.30 (7)	2:33.02 (5) 1:31.80 (4)	4:04.82 (4) 1:14.71 (6)	5:19.53
6	–	Susanne Niesner	SUI	1:11.15 (4) 1:22.23 (5)	2:33.38 (6) 1:38.26 (8)	4:11.64 (6) 1:13.59 (5)	5:25.23
7	–	Gisela Cerezo	VEN	1:13.43 (7) 1:36.19 (8)	2:49.62 (8) 1:24.87 (1)	4:14.49 (7) 1:15.07 (7)	5:29.56
8	–	María Ballesteros	MEX	1:16.67 (8) 1:22.08 (4)	2:38.75 (7) 1:36.93 (7)	4:15.68 (8) 1:15.38 (8)	5:31.06

Final (31 August 1972 — 18:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	100 m	200 m	300 m	Time
1	7	Gail Neall	AUS	1:08.64 (1) 1:16.69 (2)	2:25.33 (1) 1:30.18 (5)	3:55.51 (1) 1:07.46 (4)	5:02.97	WR
2	3	Leslie Cliff	CAN	1:19.28 (8) 1:08.71 (1)	2:27.99 (4) 1:28.73 (2)	3:56.72 (2) 1:06.85 (2)	5:03.57
3	2	Novella Calligaris	ITA	1:09.64 (4) 1:17.55 (4)	2:27.19 (2) 1:30.44 (6)	3:57.63 (4) 1:06.36 (1)	5:03.99
4	5	Jenny Bartz	USA	1:08.88 (2) 1:19.77 (6)	2:28.65 (5) 1:28.52 (1)	3:57.17 (3) 1:08.39 (6)	5:05.56
5	4	Evelyn Stolze	GDR	1:09.99 (5) 1:19.42 (5)	2:29.41 (7) 1:30.00 (3)	3:59.41 (5) 1:07.39 (3)	5:06.80
6	8	Mary Montgomery	USA	1:10.41 (6) 1:17.20 (3)	2:27.61 (3) 1:34.69 (8)	4:02.30 (7) 1:07.68 (5)	5:09.98
7	6	Lynn Vidali	USA	1:08.90 (3) 1:20.28 (7)	2:29.18 (6) 1:32.57 (7)	4:01.75 (6) 1:11.31 (7)	5:13.06
8	1	Nina Petrova	URS	1:12.60 (7) 1:20.66 (8)	2:33.26 (8) 1:30.06 (4)	4:03.32 (8) 1:12.36 (8)	5:15.68