| | Event type
100 metres Backstroke, Men
| Date | 28 – 29 August 1972 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Schwimmhalle, Olympiapark, München |
| Participants | 39 from 26 countries |
Roland Matthes had won this event and the 200 backstroke in 1968. Since Mexico City he had bettered the world record in the 100 back four times and the 200 back five times. Other than Mark Spitz, and possibly including him, there was no heavier favorite in Munich. Matthes did not disappoint. He took the lead in the final from the start, with American Mike Stamm close at the turn. But he could not match Matthes on the in-run and Matthes defeated Stamm by over a second, with Americans John Murphy and Mitch Ivey placing third and fourth, respectively. Four days later Matthes would complete the double-double by again winning gold in the 200 backstroke.
| Pos | Swimmer | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roland Matthes |  GDR | 1:00.01 (1 h6) | 58.44 (1 h1) | 56.58 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Mike Stamm |  USA | 58.63 (1 h4) | 58.74 (2 h1) | 57.70 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | John Murphy | USA | 59.93 (1 h3) | 58.64 (2 h2) | 58.35 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Mitch Ivey | USA | 58.15 (1 h5) | 57.99 (1 h2) | 58.48 (4) | |||
| 5 | Igor Grivennikov |  URS | 1:00.05 (1 h1) | 59.15 (3 h2) | 59.50 (5) | |||
| 6 | Lutz Wanja | GDR | 1:00.62 (2 h4) | 59.83 (3 h1) | 59.80 (6) | |||
| 7 | Jürgen Krüger | GDR | 1:00.65 (2 h6) | 1:00.06 (4 h2) | 59.93 (7) | |||
| 8 | Tadashi Honda |  JPN | 1:00.89 (3 h3) | 1:00.43 (4 h1) | 1:00.41 (8) | |||
| 9 | Bob Schoutsen |  NED | 1:00.76 (1 h2) | 1:00.48 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 10 | Ejvind Pedersen |  DEN | 1:00.83 (2 h3) | 1:00.53 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 11 | Jean-Paul Berjeau |  FRA | 1:00.83 (3 h6) | 1:00.59 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 12 | Erik Fish |  CAN | 1:00.81 (2 h5) | 1:00.73 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 13 | Ian MacKenzie | CAN | 1:01.11 (4 h3) | 1:00.92 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | Clive Rushton |  GBR | 1:01.07 (4 h5) | 1:01.25 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 15 | Mike Richards | GBR | 1:01.03 (4 h6) | 1:01.27 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 16 | Nenad Miloš |  YUG | 1:00.94 (3 h5) | 1:01.29 (8 h2) | – | |||
| =17 | Pierre Baehr | FRA | 1:01.13 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| =17 | Zoltán Verrasztó |  HUN | 1:01.13 (2 h1) | – | – | |||
| 19 | Lars Børgesen | DEN | 1:01.23 (2 h2) | – | – | |||
| 20 | Colin Cunningham | GBR | 1:01.28 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 21 | Anders Sandberg |  SWE | 1:01.41 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 22 | Helmut Podolan |  AUT | 1:01.49 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 23 | László Cseh, Sr. | HUN | 1:01.63 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 24 | Clay Evans | CAN | 1:01.69 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 25 | Piotr Dłucik |  POL | 1:01.94 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 26 | Róbert Rudolf | HUN | 1:02.34 (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| 27 | José Joaquín Santibáñez |  MEX | 1:02.46 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 28 | Andreas Weber |  FRG | 1:02.49 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 29 | Predrag Miloš | YUG | 1:03.02 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 30 | Rômulo Arantes |  BRA | 1:03.18 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 31 | Hsu Tung-Hsiung |  TPE | 1:03.31 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 32 | Gustavo González |  ARG | 1:04.16 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 33 | Adel Youssef Amin |  EGY | 1:04.40 (6 h6) | – | – | |||
| 34 | Neil Martin |  AUS | 1:05.13 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 35 | Sergio Hasbún |  ESA | 1:06.53 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 36 | Gerardo Rosario |  PHI | 1:06.85 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 37 | Sarun Van |  CAM | 1:07.26 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 38 | Chiang Jin Choon |  MAS | 1:07.65 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 39 | Mark Crocker |  HKG | 1:11.20 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| Reynaldo Patiño | ESA | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| Bruno Bassoul |  LBN | – (DNS h6) | – | – | ||||
| Giuseppe D'Altrui |  ITA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Dimitar Kolarov |  BUL | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| Kim Brant |  RHO | – | – | – |
Round One (28 August 1972 — 11:15)
Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Igor Grivennikov | URS | 1:00.05 | |||
| 2 | – | Zoltán Verrasztó | HUN | 1:01.13 | |||
| 3 | – | Clay Evans | CAN | 1:01.69 | |||
| 4 | – | Rômulo Arantes | BRA | 1:03.18 | |||
| 5 | – | Hsu Tung-Hsiung | TPE | 1:03.31 | |||
| 6 | – | Sergio Hasbún | ESA | 1:06.53 | |||
| 7 | – | Sarun Van | CAM | 1:07.26 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Bob Schoutsen | NED | 1:00.76 | |||
| 2 | – | Lars Børgesen | DEN | 1:01.23 | |||
| 3 | – | László Cseh, Sr. | HUN | 1:01.63 | |||
| 4 | – | José Joaquín Santibáñez | MEX | 1:02.46 | |||
| 5 | – | Predrag Miloš | YUG | 1:03.02 | |||
| 6 | – | Gustavo González | ARG | 1:04.16 | |||
| 7 | – | Gerardo Rosario | PHI | 1:06.85 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | John Murphy | USA | 59.93 | |||
| 2 | – | Ejvind Pedersen | DEN | 1:00.83 | |||
| 3 | – | Tadashi Honda | JPN | 1:00.89 | |||
| 4 | – | Ian MacKenzie | CAN | 1:01.11 | |||
| 5 | – | Helmut Podolan | AUT | 1:01.49 | |||
| 6 | – | Piotr Dłucik | POL | 1:01.94 | |||
| 7 | – | Andreas Weber | FRG | 1:02.49 |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Mike Stamm | USA | 58.63 | |||
| 2 | – | Lutz Wanja | GDR | 1:00.62 | |||
| 3 | – | Pierre Baehr | FRA | 1:01.13 | |||
| 4 | – | Colin Cunningham | GBR | 1:01.28 | |||
| 5 | – | Anders Sandberg | SWE | 1:01.41 | |||
| 6 | – | Neil Martin | AUS | 1:05.13 | |||
| – | Giuseppe D'Altrui | ITA | – |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Mitch Ivey | USA | 58.15 | |||
| 2 | – | Erik Fish | CAN | 1:00.81 | |||
| 3 | – | Nenad Miloš | YUG | 1:00.94 | |||
| 4 | – | Clive Rushton | GBR | 1:01.07 | |||
| 5 | – | Mark Crocker | HKG | 1:11.20 | |||
| – | Dimitar Kolarov | BUL | – | ||||
| – | Reynaldo Patiño | ESA | – |
Heat Six
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Roland Matthes | GDR | 1:00.01 | |||
| 2 | – | Jürgen Krüger | GDR | 1:00.65 | |||
| 3 | – | Jean-Paul Berjeau | FRA | 1:00.83 | |||
| 4 | – | Mike Richards | GBR | 1:01.03 | |||
| 5 | – | Róbert Rudolf | HUN | 1:02.34 | |||
| 6 | – | Adel Youssef Amin | EGY | 1:04.40 | |||
| 7 | – | Chiang Jin Choon | MAS | 1:07.65 | |||
| – | Bruno Bassoul | LBN | – |
Semi-Finals (28 August 1972 — 17:30)
Top three in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Roland Matthes | GDR | 58.44 | |||
| 2 | – | Mike Stamm | USA | 58.74 | |||
| 3 | – | Lutz Wanja | GDR | 59.83 | |||
| 4 | – | Tadashi Honda | JPN | 1:00.43 | |||
| 5 | – | Bob Schoutsen | NED | 1:00.48 | |||
| 6 | – | Jean-Paul Berjeau | FRA | 1:00.59 | |||
| 7 | – | Ian MacKenzie | CAN | 1:00.92 | |||
| 8 | – | Mike Richards | GBR | 1:01.27 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Mitch Ivey | USA | 57.99 | |||
| 2 | – | John Murphy | USA | 58.64 | |||
| 3 | – | Igor Grivennikov | URS | 59.15 | |||
| 4 | – | Jürgen Krüger | GDR | 1:00.06 | |||
| 5 | – | Ejvind Pedersen | DEN | 1:00.53 | |||
| 6 | – | Erik Fish | CAN | 1:00.73 | |||
| 7 | – | Clive Rushton | GBR | 1:01.25 | |||
| 8 | – | Nenad Miloš | YUG | 1:01.29 |
Final (29 August 1972 — 18:00)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Roland Matthes | GDR | 56.58 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Mike Stamm | USA | 57.70 | |||
| 3 | 3 | John Murphy | USA | 58.35 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Mitch Ivey | USA | 58.48 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Igor Grivennikov | URS | 59.50 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Lutz Wanja | GDR | 59.80 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Jürgen Krüger | GDR | 59.93 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Tadashi Honda | JPN | 1:00.41 |