Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre backstroke explained

Event:	Women's 200 metre backstroke
Games:	1972 Summer
Venue:	Olympia Schwimmhalle
Dates:	4 September 1972 (heats & final)
Competitors:	37
Nations:	20
Win Value:	2:19.19
Gold:	Melissa Belote
Goldnoc:	USA
Silver:	Susie Atwood
Silvernoc:	USA
Bronze:	Donna Gurr
Bronzenoc:	CAN
Prev:	1968
Next:	1976

The women's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place September 4.^[1] This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.

Results

Heats

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1			2:24.88
2			2:25.71
3			2:26.95
4			2:27.47
5			2:29.17
6			2:29.95

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1			2:22.13
2			2:24.25
3			2:27.88
4			2:28.28
5			2:29.66
6			2:33.57
7			2:33.73
8			2:41.27

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1			2:25.08
2			2:25.59
3			2:26.40
4			2:27.14
5			2:28.18
6			2:30.37
7			2:37.88

Heat 4

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1			2:23.70
2			2:25.33
3			2:27.18
4			2:28.22
5			2:28.62
6			2:29.28
7			2:37.54
8			2:46.40

Heat 5

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1			2:20.58
2			2:25.09
3			2:25.34
4			2:25.81
5			2:29.46
6			2:31.16
7			2:33.41
8			2:37.61

Final

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
			2:19.19	WR
			2:20.38
			2:23.22
4			2:23.35
5			2:23.44
6			2:23.70
7			2:24.65
8			2:25.80

Key: WR = World record

Notes and References

1. Web site: Swimming at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Women's 200 metres Backstroke . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417055127/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1972/SWI/womens-200-metres-backstroke.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 27 November 2016 . Sports Reference.