| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Men

Date	4 – 6 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Wembley Arena, Wembley, London
Participants	39 from 24 countries

Earlier in the year Allan Stack had broken Adolph Kiefer’s twelve year old world record for this event and the stylish American was considered a strong favourite to follow Kiefer as Olympic champion. Stack was fastest in both heat and semi-final but had a nasty surprise as he lined up for the start of the final. As he waited in the water he attempted to tighten his swimming trunks and felt the cord break in his hands and his trunks begin to slip off. Fortunately the starter allowed him to leave the pool and replace his trunks and avoid what could have been an embarrassing situation for him. The final turned out to be much closer than had been anticipated with Stack’s fellow American, Robert Cowell, pressing him throughout and even leading at one stage. The difference between gold medal winner Stack and Cowell in silver was just a tenth of a second.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	536	Allen Stack	USA	1:06.6 (1 h4)	1:07.3 (1 h1)	1:06.4 (1)	Gold
2	–	Bob Cowell	USA	1:06.9 (1 h5)	1:08.5 (1 h2)	1:06.5 (2)	Silver
3	58	Georges Vallerey, Jr.	FRA	1:07.4 (1 h6)	1:08.3 (2 h1)	1:07.8 (3)	Bronze
=4	47	Mario Chávez	ARG	1:09.7 (2 h3)	1:09.8 (5 h1)	1:09.0 (=4)
=4	71	Clemente Mejía	MEX	1:09.8 (3 h3)	1:09.6 (4 h1)	1:09.0 (=4)
6	75	Jackie Wiid	RSA	1:08.5 (1 h1)	1:09.2 (3 h2)	1:09.1 (6)
7	60	John Brockway	GBR	1:09.2 (1 h3)	1:09.1 (3 h1)	1:09.2 (7)
8	61	Bert Kinnear	GBR	1:09.7 (2 h4)	1:09.2 (2 h2)	1:09.6 (8)
9	52	Paulo Silva	BRA	1:10.0 (3 h4)	1:09.8 (6 h1)	–
10	–	Howard Patterson	USA	1:09.3 (2 h6)	1:09.9 (4 h2)	–
11	–	Paluca	BRA	1:10.5 (3 h6)	1:10.1 (5 h2)	–
12	64	Cees Kievit	NED	1:10.8 (2 h1)	1:11.3 (7 h1)	–
13	–	Bruce Bourke	AUS	1:11.3 (1 h2)	1:11.4 (8 h1)	–
14	59	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:10.9 (4 h3)	1:11.5 (6 h2)	–
15	53	Ilo da Fonseca	BRA	1:11.9 (2 h2)	1:11.6 (7 h2)	–
16	–	René Pirolley	FRA	1:11.4 (2 h5)	1:12.9 (8 h2)	–
17	62	Tony Summers	GBR	1:11.2 (4 h4)	–	–
=17	–	Federico Neumayer	ARG	1:11.8 (4 h6)	–	–
=17	–	Gyula Válent	HUN	1:11.8 (5 h4)	–	–
20	74	Mário Simas	POR	1:12.8 (5 h3)	–	–
21	56	Jiří Kovář	TCH	1:12.9 (3 h2)	–	–
22	55	Peter Mingie	CAN	1:13.2 (5 h6)	–	–
23	50	Fritz Zwazl	AUT	1:13.5 (6 h3)	–	–
24	49	José Vegazzi	ARG	1:13.8 (3 h1)	–	–
25	76	Francisco Calamita	ESP	1:14.2 (4 h1)	–	–
26	9	Eric Jubb	CAN	1:14.3 (5 h1)	–	–
27	42	Per-Olof Olsson	SWE	1:14.6 (6 h1)	–	–
28	–	Manolo Guerra	ESP	1:14.8 (6 h4)	–	–
29	80	Carlos Noriega	URU	1:15.0 (4 h2)	–	–
=30	41	Martin Lundén	SWE	1:15.6 (5 h2)	–	–
=30	70	Tonatiuh Gutiérrez	MEX	1:15.6 (6 h2)	–	–
32	51	Donald Shanks	BER	1:17.1 (3 h5)	–	–
33	–	Hans Blumer	SUI	1:18.5 (6 h6)	–	–
34	–	Dorri Abdel Kader	EGY	1:19.0 (4 h5)	–	–
35	–	Guðmundur Ingólfsson	ISL	1:19.4 (5 h5)	–	–
36	69	Kanti Shah	IND	1:19.9 (7 h1)	–	–
37	63	Nikolaos Melanofeidis	GRE	1:22.0 (7 h3)	–	–
38	68	Prahtip Mitra	IND	1:24.5 (7 h4)	–	–
39	73	Jaffar Ali Shah	PAK	1:30.2 (7 h2)	–	–
DNS	50	Helmut Koppelstätter	AUT	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	65	László Gyöngyösi	HUN	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	75	Iftikhar Ahmed Shah	PAK	– (DNS h6)	–	–

Round One

Date	4 August 1948 — 14:00
Format	Top two in each heat and the next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Allen Stack	USA	1:06.6	Q
2	–	Bob Cowell	USA	1:06.9	Q
3	–	Georges Vallerey, Jr.	FRA	1:07.4	Q
4	–	Jackie Wiid	RSA	1:08.5	Q
5	–	John Brockway	GBR	1:09.2	Q
6	–	Howard Patterson	USA	1:09.3	Q
=7	–	Mario Chávez	ARG	1:09.7	Q
=7	–	Bert Kinnear	GBR	1:09.7	Q
9	–	Clemente Mejía	MEX	1:09.8	q	1
10	–	Paulo Silva	BRA	1:10.0	q
11	–	Paluca	BRA	1:10.5	q
12	–	Cees Kievit	NED	1:10.8	Q
13	–	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:10.9	q
14	–	Tony Summers	GBR	1:11.2
15	–	Bruce Bourke	AUS	1:11.3	Q
16	–	René Pirolley	FRA	1:11.4	Q
=17	–	Gyula Válent	HUN	1:11.8
=17	–	Federico Neumayer	ARG	1:11.8
19	–	Ilo da Fonseca	BRA	1:11.9	Q
20	–	Mário Simas	POR	1:12.8
21	–	Jiří Kovář	TCH	1:12.9
22	–	Peter Mingie	CAN	1:13.2
23	–	Fritz Zwazl	AUT	1:13.5
24	–	José Vegazzi	ARG	1:13.8
25	–	Francisco Calamita	ESP	1:14.2
26	–	Eric Jubb	CAN	1:14.3
27	–	Per-Olof Olsson	SWE	1:14.6
28	–	Manolo Guerra	ESP	1:14.8
29	–	Carlos Noriega	URU	1:15.0
=30	–	Martin Lundén	SWE	1:15.6
=30	–	Tonatiuh Gutiérrez	MEX	1:15.6
32	–	Donald Shanks	BER	1:17.1
33	–	Hans Blumer	SUI	1:18.5
34	–	Dorri Abdel Kader	EGY	1:19.0
35	–	Guðmundur Ingólfsson	ISL	1:19.4
36	–	Kanti Shah	IND	1:19.9
37	–	Nikolaos Melanofeidis	GRE	1:22.0
38	–	Prahtip Mitra	IND	1:24.5
39	–	Jaffar Ali Shah	PAK	1:30.2
DNS	–	Helmut Koppelstätter	AUT	–
DNS	–	László Gyöngyösi	HUN	–
DNS	–	Iftikhar Ahmed Shah	PAK	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Jackie Wiid	RSA	1:08.5	Q
2	–	Cees Kievit	NED	1:10.8	Q
3	–	José Vegazzi	ARG	1:13.8
4	–	Francisco Calamita	ESP	1:14.2
5	–	Eric Jubb	CAN	1:14.3
6	–	Per-Olof Olsson	SWE	1:14.6
7	–	Kanti Shah	IND	1:19.9

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Bruce Bourke	AUS	1:11.3	Q
2	–	Ilo da Fonseca	BRA	1:11.9	Q
3	–	Jiří Kovář	TCH	1:12.9
4	–	Carlos Noriega	URU	1:15.0
5	–	Martin Lundén	SWE	1:15.6
6	–	Tonatiuh Gutiérrez	MEX	1:15.6
7	–	Jaffar Ali Shah	PAK	1:30.2

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	John Brockway	GBR	1:09.2	Q
2	–	Mario Chávez	ARG	1:09.7	Q
3	–	Clemente Mejía	MEX	1:09.8	q	2
4	–	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:10.9	q
5	–	Mário Simas	POR	1:12.8
6	–	Fritz Zwazl	AUT	1:13.5
7	–	Nikolaos Melanofeidis	GRE	1:22.0

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Allen Stack	USA	1:06.6	Q
2	–	Bert Kinnear	GBR	1:09.7	Q
3	–	Paulo Silva	BRA	1:10.0	q
4	–	Tony Summers	GBR	1:11.2
5	–	Gyula Válent	HUN	1:11.8
6	–	Manolo Guerra	ESP	1:14.8
7	–	Prahtip Mitra	IND	1:24.5

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Bob Cowell	USA	1:06.9	Q
2	–	René Pirolley	FRA	1:11.4	Q
3	–	Donald Shanks	BER	1:17.1
4	–	Dorri Abdel Kader	EGY	1:19.0
5	–	Guðmundur Ingólfsson	ISL	1:19.4
DNS	–	Helmut Koppelstätter	AUT	–
DNS	–	László Gyöngyösi	HUN	–

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Georges Vallerey, Jr.	FRA	1:07.4	Q
2	–	Howard Patterson	USA	1:09.3	Q
3	–	Paluca	BRA	1:10.5	q
4	–	Federico Neumayer	ARG	1:11.8
5	–	Peter Mingie	CAN	1:13.2
6	–	Hans Blumer	SUI	1:18.5
DNS	–	Iftikhar Ahmed Shah	PAK	–

Semi-Finals

Date	5 August 1948 — 21:00
Format	Top three in each heat and the next two fastest advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Allen Stack	USA	1:07.3	Q
2	–	Georges Vallerey, Jr.	FRA	1:08.3	Q
3	–	Bob Cowell	USA	1:08.5	Q
4	–	John Brockway	GBR	1:09.1	Q
=5	–	Bert Kinnear	GBR	1:09.2	Q
=5	–	Jackie Wiid	RSA	1:09.2	Q
7	–	Clemente Mejía	MEX	1:09.6	q
=8	–	Mario Chávez	ARG	1:09.8	q
=8	–	Paulo Silva	BRA	1:09.8
10	–	Howard Patterson	USA	1:09.9
11	–	Paluca	BRA	1:10.1
12	–	Cees Kievit	NED	1:11.3
13	–	Bruce Bourke	AUS	1:11.4
14	–	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:11.5
15	–	Ilo da Fonseca	BRA	1:11.6
16	–	René Pirolley	FRA	1:12.9

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Allen Stack	USA	1:07.3	Q
2	–	Georges Vallerey, Jr.	FRA	1:08.3	Q
3	–	John Brockway	GBR	1:09.1	Q
4	–	Clemente Mejía	MEX	1:09.6	q
5	–	Mario Chávez	ARG	1:09.8	q
6	–	Paulo Silva	BRA	1:09.8
7	–	Cees Kievit	NED	1:11.3
8	–	Bruce Bourke	AUS	1:11.4

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Bob Cowell	USA	1:08.5	Q
2	–	Bert Kinnear	GBR	1:09.2	Q
3	–	Jackie Wiid	RSA	1:09.2	Q
4	–	Howard Patterson	USA	1:09.9
5	–	Paluca	BRA	1:10.1
6	–	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:11.5
7	–	Ilo da Fonseca	BRA	1:11.6
8	–	René Pirolley	FRA	1:12.9

Final Round

Date	6 August 1948 — 19:00

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	–	Allen Stack	USA	1:06.4
2	–	Bob Cowell	USA	1:06.5
3	–	Georges Vallerey, Jr.	FRA	1:07.8
=4	–	Mario Chávez	ARG	1:09.0
=4	–	Clemente Mejía	MEX	1:09.0
6	–	Jackie Wiid	RSA	1:09.1
7	–	John Brockway	GBR	1:09.2
8	–	Bert Kinnear	GBR	1:09.6