Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre butterfly
The men's 100 metre butterfly event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place between August 30 and 31. This swimming event used the butterfly stroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.Medalists
Results
Heats
Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Dave Edgar | | 57.30 | Q |
| 2 | Roger Pyttel | | 57.98 | Q |
| 3 | Peter Remmel | | 58.97 | |
| 4 | Andrzej Chudziński | | 1:00.22 | |
| 5 | Alain Mosconi | | 1:00.23 | |
| 6 | Salvador Vilanova | | 1:01.25 | |
| 7 | Martin Edwards | | 1:01:29 | |
| 8 | Bruno Bassoul | | 1:05.45 | |
Key: Q = Qualified
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Bruce Robertson | | 56.45 | Q |
| 2 | István Szentirmay | | 58.07 | Q |
| 3 | Sérgio Waismann | | 58.37 | Q |
| 4 | Yasuhiro Komazaki | | 59.71 | |
| 5 | Hugo Valencia | | 1:00.14 | |
| 6 | Feridun Aybars | | 1:04:46 | |
| 7 | Chhay-Kheng Nhem | | 1:05.12 | |
| 8 | Wong Ronnie | | 1:07.50 | |
Key: Q = Qualified
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Roland Matthes | | 57.16 | Q |
| 2 | Neil Rogers | | 57.40 | Q |
| 3 | John Mills | | 58.28 | Q |
| 4 | Viktor Sharygin | | 58.40 | |
| 5 | Arturo Lang-Lenton | | 59.22 | |
| 6 | Georgijs Kuļikovs | | 59.28 | |
| 7 | Dimitrios Karydis | | 1:00.06 | |
| 8 | Roy Chan | | 1:02.24 | |
Key: Q = Qualified
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jerry Heidenreich | | 56.86 | Q |
| 2 | Lutz Stoklasa | | 57.50 | Q |
| 3 | Bob Kasting | | 57.65 | Q |
| 4 | Geoffrey Ferreira | | 58.26 | Q |
| 5 | Jacques Leloup | | 58.77 | |
| 6 | Vladimir Krivtsov | | 59.83 | |
| 7 | Carlos Singson | | 1:02.11 | |
Key: Q = Qualified
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mark Spitz | | 56.45 | Q |
| 2 | Hartmut Flöckner | | 57.41 | Q |
| 3 | Juan Carlos Bello | | 57.54 | Q |
| 4 | Byron MacDonald | | 57.56 | Q |
| 5 | Hans Lampe | | 59.00 | |
| 6 | Sean Maher | | 59.50 | |
| 7 | Vasil Dobrev | | 1:00.07 | |
| 8 | Aleksandar Pavličević | | 1:00.29 | |
Key: Q = QualifiedSemifinals
Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Roland Matthes | | 56.51 | Q |
| 2 | Bruce Robertson | | 56.86 | Q |
| 3 | Byron MacDonald | | 57.06 | Q |
| 4 | Neil Rogers | | 57.28 | Q |
| 5 | Roger Pyttel | | 57.69 | |
| 6 | Sérgio Waismann | | 58.07 | |
| 7 | Lutz Stoklasa | | 58.33 | |
| 8 | Geoffrey Ferreira | | 58.54 | |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mark Spitz | | 55.98 | Q |
| 2 | Jerry Heidenreich | | 56.18 | Q |
| 3 | Dave Edgar | | 56.88 | Q |
| 4 | Hartmut Flöckner | | 56.96 | Q |
| 5 | Juan Carlos Bello | | 57.51 | |
| 6 | Bob Kasting | | 57.67 | |
| 7 | John Mills | | 58.13 | |
| 8 | István Szentirmay | | 58.25 | |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Mark Spitz | | 54.27 | WR |
| Bruce Robertson | | 55.56 | |
| Jerry Heidenreich | | 55.74 | |
| 4 | Roland Matthes | | 55.87 | |
| 5 | Dave Edgar | | 56.11 | |
| 6 | Byron MacDonald | | 57.27 | |
| 7 | Hartmut Flöckner | | 57.40 | |
| 8 | Neil Rogers | | 57.90 | |
Key: WR = World record
