# Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metre freestyle

The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place between September 3 and 4. This swimming event used freestyle swimming, which means that the method of the stroke is not regulated (unlike backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events). 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 30 lengths of the pool.

## Medalists

| Gold | Mike Burton United States |
| Silver | Graham Windeatt Australia |
| Bronze | Doug Northway United States |

## Results
### Heats

Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Hans Faßnacht | West Germany | 16:34.63 |
| 2 | Peter Rosenkranz | West Germany | 16:58.26 |
| 3 | François Deley | Belgium | 17:06.09 |
| 4 | Jim Carter | Great Britain | 17:16.01 |
| 5 | Sergio Irredento | Italy | 17:19.45 |
| 6 | Friðrik Guðmundsson | Iceland | 17:32.47 |
| 7 | Edwin Borja | Philippines | 18:12.17 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Graham Windeatt | Australia | 15:59.63 |
| 2 | Guillermo García | Mexico | 16:29.48 |
| 3 | Anders Bellbring | Sweden | 16:33.27 |
| 4 | Deane Buckboro | Canada | 16:52.50 |
| 5 | Gerardo Vera | Venezuela | 17:10.33 |
| 6 | Gustavo González | Argentina | 17:23.53 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Mike Burton | United States | 16:09.56 |
| 2 | Graham White | Australia | 16:19.63 |
| 3 | Brian Brinkley | Great Britain | 16:54.39 |
| 4 | Alberto García | Mexico | 17:05.68 |
| 5 | Jorge Jaramillo | Colombia | 17:35.84 |
| 6 | Eugen Almer | Romania | 17:49.80 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Doug Northway | United States | 16:15.30 |
| 2 | Mark Treffers | New Zealand | 16:23.86 |
| 3 | Dusan Grozaj | West Germany | 16:44.59 |
| 4 | Vincenzo Finocchiaro | Italy | 17:13.42 |
| 5 | Tomas Becerra | Colombia | 17:16.38 |
| 6 | Alfredo Carlos Machado | Brazil | 17:20.34 |
| 7 | Guillermo Pacheco | Peru | 17:36.36 |
| 8 | Dae Imlani | Philippines | 17:37.65 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Brad Cooper | Australia | 16:11.41 |
| 2 | Bengt Gingsjö | Sweden | 16:26.67 |
| 3 | Klaus Dockhorn | East Germany | 16:55.30 |
| 4 | Jo O-ryeon | South Korea | 17:29.23 |
| 5 | Aleksandr Samsonov | Soviet Union | 17:32.88 |
| 6 | Kamal Kenawi Ali Moustafa | Egypt | 17:40.37 |
| 7 | Neil Dexter | Great Britain | 17:42.83 |
| 8 | Brian Clifford | Ireland | 18:09.28 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ton van Klooster | Netherlands | 16:34.77 | |
| 2 | Axel Freudenberg | East Germany | 16:37.19 | |
| 3 | Zoltán Verrasztó | Hungary | 17:18.66 | |
| 4 | Władysław Wojtakajtis | Poland | 17:23.47 | |
| 5 | Christoph Kreienbühl | Switzerland | 17:27.67 | |
| 6 | Csaba Sós | Hungary | 17:43.97 | |
| AC | Dimitrios Theodoropoulos | Greece | 16:17.61 | DQ |
| AC | Rick DeMont | United States | 18:15.90 | DQ |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| | Mike Burton | United States | 15:52.58 | WR |
| | Graham Windeatt | Australia | 15:58.48 | |
| | Doug Northway | United States | 16:09.25 | |
| 4 | Bengt Gingsjö | Sweden | 16:16.01 | |
| 5 | Graham White | Australia | 16:17.22 | |
| 6 | Mark Treffers | New Zealand | 16:18.84 | |
| 7 | Brad Cooper | Australia | 16:30.49 | |
| 8 | Guillermo García | Mexico | 16:36.03 | |
Key: WR = World record