Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke explained

The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place between 4 and 6 December.^[1] This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

Results

Heats

Four heats were held; the swimmers with the sixteen fastest times advanced to the Semifinals. The athletes that advanced are highlighted.

Heat One

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1			1:04.2
2			1:04.4
3			1:06.1
4			1:06.2
5			1:06.9
6			1:10.7

Heat Two

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1			1:06.2
2			1:06.4
3			1:06.4
4			1:07.5
5			1:07.5
6			1:11.6

Heat Three

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1			1:04.3
2			1:05.2
3			1:06.3
4			1:07.7
5			1:07.9
6			1:14.0

Heat Four

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1			1:03.4
2			1:06.0
3			1:06.7
4			1:06.9
5			1:07.5
6			1:09.2
7			1:12.4

Semifinals

Two heats were held; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the Finals. The swimmers that advanced are highlighted.

Semifinal One

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1			1:04.1
2			1:04.8
3			1:05.0
4			1:06.5
5			1:06.5
6			1:07.6
7			1:07.6
8			1:07.9

Semifinal Two

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time
1			1:04.6
2			1:05.0
3			1:05.3
4			1:06.4
5			1:06.5
6			1:06.5
7			1:06.6
8			1:07.6

Final

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
			1:02.2	WR
			1:03.2
			1:04.5
4			1:04.9
5			1:05.0
6			1:05.6
7			1:05.8
8			1:06.9

Key: WR = World record

Notes and References

1. Web site: Swimming at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 100 metres Backstroke . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417170125/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1956/SWI/mens-100-metres-backstroke.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 4 October 2016 . Sports Reference.