Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre butterfly
# Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre butterfly

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

## Medalists

| Gold | Karen Moe United States |
| - | - |
| Silver | Lynn Colella United States |
| Bronze | Ellie Daniel United States |

### Heats

Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Rosemarie Kother | East Germany | 2:18.32 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Mayumi Aoki | Japan | 2:23.01 | Q |
| 3 | Anca Groza | Romania | 2:30.32 | |
| 4 | Grisel Mendoza | Mexico | 2:35.85 | |

Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Ellie Daniel | United States | 2:17.18 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Jean Jeavons | Great Britain | 2:27.59 | |
| 3 | Eva Wikner | Sweden | 2:29.03 | |
| 4 | Margrit Thomet | Switzerland | 2:29.21 | |
| 5 | Věra Faitlová | Czechoslovakia | 2:29.34 | |
| 6 | Moira Brown | Great Britain | 2:30.08 | |
| 7 | Jennifer McHugh | Canada | 2:30.36 | |

Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Lynn Colella | United States | 2:18.80 | Q |
| 2 | Noriko Asano | Japan | 2:20.09 | Q |
| 3 | Gail Neall | Australia | 2:23.21 | Q |
| 4 | Frieke Buys | Netherlands | 2:24.20 | |
| 5 | Olga de Angulo | Colombia | 2:34.69 | |
| 6 | Hsu Yue-yun | Chinese Taipei | 2:44.88 | |

Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Karen Moe | United States | 2:18.15 | Q |
| 2 | Helga Lindner | East Germany | 2:20.00 | Q |
| 3 | Brigitte Mertz | East Germany | 2:24.92 | |
| 4 | Sue Funch | Australia | 2:26.69 | |
| 5 | Eva Sigg | Finland | 2:27.64 | |
| 6 | Ileana Morales | Venezuela | 2:28.41 | |
| 7 | Maria Isabel Guerra | Brazil | 2:32.60 | |

"Q": Qualified

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Karen Moe | United States | 2:15.57 | WR |
| | Lynn Colella | United States | 2:16.34 | |
| | Ellie Daniel | United States | 2:16.74 | |
| 4 | Rosemarie Kother-Gabriel | East Germany | 2:17.11 | |
| 5 | Noriko Asano | Japan | 2:19.50 | |
| 6 | Helga Lindner | East Germany | 2:20.47 | |
| 7 | Gail Neall | Australia | 2:21.88 | |
| 8 | Mayumi Aoki | Japan | 2:22.84 | |

Key: WR = World record

