Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre freestyle
The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place between August 28 and 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 two lengths of the pool.Medalists
Results
Heats
Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gabriele Wetzko | | 1:00.40 | Q |
| 2 | Tatyana Zolotnitskaya | | 1:01.24 | Q |
| 3 | Claude Mandonnaud | | 1:01.34 | Q |
| 4 | Guylaine Berger | | 1:01.54 | |
| 5 | Judit Turóczy | | 1:01.57 | |
| 6 | Sharon Booth | | 1:02.07 | |
| 7 | Kirsten Strange-Campbell | | 1:03.83 | |
| 8 | Susana Saxlund | | 1:04.91 | |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Enith Brigitha | | 1:00.02 | Q |
| 2 | Anke Rijnders | | 1:00.76 | Q |
| 3 | Judy Wright | | 1:01.97 | |
| 4 | Chantal Schertz | | 1:02.82 | |
| 5 | Edit Kovács | | 1:03.00 | |
| 6 | Lucy Burle | | 1:03.12 | |
| 7 | Marcia Arriaga | | 1:03.66 | |
| 8 | Ileana Morales | | 1:04.13 | |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Magdolna Patóh | | 59.47 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Sandy Neilson | | 59.51 | Q |
| 3 | Hansje Bunschoten | | 1:00.82 | Q |
| 4 | Eva Andersson | | 1:01.88 | |
| 5 | Susan Edmondson | | 1:02.29 | |
| 6 | Françoise Monod | | 1:02.43 | |
| 7 | Heather Coombridge | | 1:02.95 | |
| 8 | Hsu Yue-yun | | 1:04.77 | |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Shirley Babashoff | | 59.51 | Q |
| 2 | Wendy Cook | | 1:01.20 | Q |
| 3 | Mary Beth Rondeau | | 1:01.46 | |
| 4 | Leanne Francis | | 1:01.90 | |
| 5 | Lesley Allardice | | 1:02.07 | |
| 6 | Inger Andersson | | 1:03.40 | |
| 7 | Diane Walker | | 1:03.40 | |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jutta Weber | | 59.72 | Q |
| 2 | Jenny Kemp | | 1:00.42 | Q |
| 3 | Sylvia Eichner | | 1:00.64 | Q |
| 4 | Angela Steinbach | | 1:01.66 | |
| 5 | Nadezhda Matyukhina | | 1:02.14 | |
| 6 | Margrit Thomet | | 1:02.33 | |
| 7 | Laura Podestà | | 1:02.88 | |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Shane Gould | | 59.44 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Andrea Eife | | 59.73 | Q |
| 3 | Heidi Reineck | | 1:00.39 | Q |
| 4 | Grethe Mathiesen | | 1:01.47 | |
| 5 | Yelena Timoshenko | | 1:01.68 | |
| 6 | Shigeko Kawanishi | | 1:02.13 | |
| 7 | Khriska Peycheva | | 1:03.43 | |
| 8 | Virginia Anchestegui | | 1:04.99 | |
Semifinals
Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Shirley Babashoff | | 59.05 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Magdolna Patóh | | 59.64 | Q |
| 3 | Heidi Reineck | | 59.66 | Q |
| 4 | Andrea Eife | | 59.71 | Q |
| 5 | Jenny Kemp | | 59.93 | |
| 6 | Anke Rijnders | | 1:00.84 | |
| 7 | Wendy Cook | | 1:01.26 | |
| 8 | Claude Mandonnaud | | 1:01.88 | |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Shane Gould | | 59.20 | Q |
| 2 | Sandy Neilson | | 59.41 | Q |
| 3 | Gabriele Wetzko | | 59.46 | Q |
| 4 | Enith Brigitha | | 59:75 | Q |
| 5 | Jutta Weber | | 59:90 | |
| 6 | Sylvia Eichner | | 1:00.73 | |
| 7 | Hansje Bunschoten | | 1:00.79 | |
| 8 | Tatyana Zolotnitskaya | | 1:01.12 | |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Sandy Neilson | | 58.59 | OR |
| Shirley Babashoff | | 59.02 | |
| Shane Gould | | 59.06 | |
| 4 | Gabriele Wetzko | | 59.21 | |
| 5 | Heidi Reineck | | 59.73 | |
| 6 | Andrea Eife | | 59.91 | |
| 7 | Magdolna Patóh | | 1:00.02 | |
| 8 | Enith Brigitha | | 1:00.09 | |
Key: OR = Olympic record
