Swimming at the 1972 München Summer Games:

The world record was still held by Claudia Kolb, the 1968 gold medalist who had won this event in 1968. The 1970 European Champion was East Germany’s Evelyn Stolze, and she made the final, but there was no clear favorite. The final saw Australia’s unheralded Gail Neall, silver medalist from the 1970 Commonwealth Games, take the lead on the butterfly opener. She maintained that lead for 7 laps until Canada’s [Leslie Cliff], the 1971 Pan American champion, took over briefly. But Neall fought back and won the gold medal in world record time, with 5:02.97. Cliff held on for silver over Italy’s Novella Calligaris, as all three medalists finished inside Kolb’s previous world mark. Stolze placed fifth, behind American Jenny Bartz.