Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metre freestyle
The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place August 29. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated. Nearly all swimmers use the front crawl or a variant of that stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of four lengths of the pool.
Medalists
Results
Heats
8 fastest swimmer from seven heats advanced to final.Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Mike Wenden | 1:56.66 | Q | |
| 2 | Robert Nay | 1:57.69 | ||
| 3 | Viktor Mazanov | 1:57.92 | ||
| 4 | Hans Ljungberg | 1:59.42 | ||
| 5 | Alfredo Machado | 2:00.14 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Vladimir Bure | 1:56.15 | Q | |
| 2 | Georgijs Kuļikovs | 1:57.04 | ||
| 3 | Pierre Caland | 2:00.75 | ||
| 4 | Michael Bailey | 2:00.79 | ||
| 5 | Zbigniew Pacelt | 2:01.28 | ||
| 6 | Arnaldo Cinquetti | 2:01.78 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Werner Lampe | 1:55.97 | Q | |
| 2 | Graham White | 1:58.60 | ||
| 3 | John Mills | 2:00.17 | ||
| 4 | Fritz Warncke | 2:00.98 | ||
| 5 | Kamal Kenawi Ali Moustafa | 2:05.30 | ||
| 6 | Luis Ayesa | 2:05.97 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Klaus Steinbach | 1:55.80 | Q | |
| 2 | Wilfried Hartung | 1:56.95 | ||
| 3 | Gerardo Vera | 1:57.33 | ||
| 4 | Olaf, Baron von Schilling | 2:00.27 | ||
| 5 | Bernt Zarnowiecki | 2:01.34 | ||
| 6 | Riccardo Targetti | 2:02.58 | ||
| 7 | Fawzi Burhma | 2:33.75 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Fred Tyler | 1:56.04 | Q | |
| 2 | Peter Bruch | 1:58.49 | ||
| 3 | Bruce Robertson | 1:59.02 | ||
| 4 | Marian Slavic | 2:00.23 | ||
| 5 | Colin Herring | 2:00.29 | ||
| 6 | Ian MacKenzie | 2:01.22 | ||
| 7 | Hanspeter Würmli | 2:03.14 | ||
| 8 | Roberto Strauss | 2:03.57 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Steve Genter | 1:55.42 | Q | |
| 2 | Brian Brinkley | 1:56.99 | ||
| 3 | Peter Prijdekker | 1:58.78 | ||
| 4 | Ruy de Oliveira | 2:00.48 | ||
| 5 | Roberto Pangaro | 2:00.97 | ||
| 6 | Sandro Rudan | 2:05.88 | ||
| 7 | Tomás Rengifo | 2:08.67 | ||
| 8 | Finnur Garðarsson | 2:08.88 |
Heat 7
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Note |
| 1 | Mark Spitz | 1:55.29 | Q | |
| 2 | Ralph Hutton | 1:56.84 | Q | |
| 3 | Udo Poser | 1:57.23 | ||
| 4 | Rolf Pettersson | 2:00.02 | ||
| 5 | Mark Crocker | 2:12.85 | ||
| 6 | Samnang Prak | 2:13.34 |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Mark Spitz | 1:52.78 | WR | ||
| Steve Genter | 1:53.73 | |||
| Werner Lampe | 1:53.99 | |||
| 4 | Mike Wenden | 1:54.40 | ||
| 5 | Fred Tyler | 1:54.96 | ||
| 6 | Klaus Steinbach | 1:55.65 | ||
| 7 | Vladimir Bure | 1:57.24 | ||
| 8 | Ralph Hutton | 1:57.56 |
Key: WR = World record