| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Men

Date	30 July – 1 August 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Helsingin Uimastadion, Helsinki
Participants	38 from 25 countries

Earlier in 1952m the world record had been traded between the Frenchman Gilbert Bozon and the man who had won the title in London, America’s Allen Stack. By the time the Helsinki Games came around, the man in the best form turned out to be another American, the Japanese-Hawaiian Yoshi Oyakawa. Oyakawa recorded the fastest times at all stages of the competition and broke the Olympic record, which had stood since 1936, in both semi-final and final.

A minor piece of history occurred in heat 5 of the first round when the Soviet Union’s Leonid Sagayduk raced against the sole Chinese competitor in Helsinki, Wu Chuanyu. The rest of the Chinese team had been stranded in Leningrad due to a visa problem and were unable to reach Helsinki. It was not until 36 years later in Seoul that competitors from these two countries would meet again at a Summer Olympics.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	598	Yoshi Oyakawa	USA	1:06.0 (1 h4)	1:05.7 (1 h1)	1:05.4 (1)	Gold
2	–	Gilbert Bozon	FRA	1:07.8 (1 h1)	1:06.6 (1 h2)	1:06.2 (2)	Silver
3	599	Jack Taylor	USA	1:07.2 (1 h3)	1:07.0 (2 h2)	1:06.4 (3)	Bronze
4	600	Allen Stack	USA	1:08.9 (2 h1)	1:08.0 (4 h1)	1:07.6 (4)
5	4	Pedro Galvão	ARG	1:08.1 (1 h2)	1:07.9 (3 h1)	1:07.7 (5)
6	192	Bert Wardrop	GBR	1:09.9 (3 h1)	1:08.6 (4 h2)	1:07.8 (6)
7	298	Boris Škanata	YUG	1:07.5 (2 h3)	1:07.8 (2 h1)	1:08.1 (7)
8	126	Lin Meiring	RSA	1:08.5 (2 h4)	1:07.6 (3 h2)	1:08.3 (8)
9	193	John Brockway	GBR	1:08.8 (1 h5)	1:09.0 (5 h1)	–
10	359	Viktor Solovyov	URS	1:09.5 (2 h6)	1:09.6 (5 h2)	–
=11	70	João Gonçalves Filho	BRA	1:09.7 (3 h3)	1:09.7 (6 h2)	–
=11	232	Egidio Massaria	ITA	1:08.8 (1 h6)	1:09.7 (7 h2)	–
=13	69	Fernando Pavan	BRA	1:09.1 (3 h4)	1:10.2 (6 h1)	–
=13	589	Lincoln Hurring	NZL	1:09.6 (3 h6)	1:10.2 (7 h1)	–
=15	432	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:09.7 (2 h5)	1:10.5 (8 h1)	–
=15	144	Jitse van der Veen	NED	1:09.1 (4 h4)	1:10.5 (8 h2)	–
17	68	Ilo da Fonseca	BRA	1:09.9 (3 h5)	–	–
18	562	László Gyöngyösi	HUN	1:10.0 (4 h6)	–	–
19	274	Yasumasu Nishino	JPN	1:10.1 (2 h2)	–	–
20	–	Ladislav Bačík	TCH	1:10.2 (4 h3)	–	–
21	19	Frank O'Neill	AUS	1:10.5 (5 h6)	–	–
22	563	Imre Nyéki	HUN	1:10.6 (5 h3)	–	–
=23	275	Norihiko Kurahashi	JPN	1:10.7 (4 h1)	–	–
=23	333	Clemente Mejía	MEX	1:10.7 (3 h2)	–	–
25	360	Vladimir Lopatin	URS	1:10.8 (5 h1)	–	–
26	361	Leonid Sagayduk	URS	1:11.4 (4 h5)	–	–
27	253	Helmut Koppelstätter	AUT	1:11.9 (4 h2)	–	–
28	650	Wu Chuanyu	CHN	1:12.3 (5 h5)	–	–
29	534	Hermann Gericke	SUI	1:12.6 (5 h2)	–	–
30	–	Eduardo Barbeiro	POR	1:13.0 (6 h5)	–	–
31	420	Jerzy Boniecki	POL	1:13.4 (6 h2)	–	–
32	416	Eurico Surgey	POR	1:13.7 (7 h2)	–	–
33	318	Peter Salmon	CAN	1:13.8 (6 h3)	–	–
34	317	Lucien Beaumont	CAN	1:14.2 (6 h1)	–	–
35	518	Erkki Marttinen	FIN	1:15.2 (6 h6)	–	–
36	406	Tom Pettersen	NOR	1:15.4 (7 h3)	–	–
37	177	Kanti Shah	IND	1:18.3 (7 h1)	–	–
38	176	Bijoy Barman	IND	1:27.3 (5 h4)	–	–
DNS	–	Dorri Abdel Kader	EGY	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	233	Angelo Romani	ITA	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	332	Guillermo Fierro	MEX	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	178	Ran Chandnani	IND	– (DNS h6)	–	–

Round One

Date	30 July 1952 — 10:00
Format	Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	5	Yoshi Oyakawa	USA	1:06.0	Q
2	4	Jack Taylor	USA	1:07.2	Q
3	3	Boris Škanata	YUG	1:07.5	Q
4	4	Gilbert Bozon	FRA	1:07.8	Q
5	7	Pedro Galvão	ARG	1:08.1	Q
6	1	Lin Meiring	RSA	1:08.5	Q
=7	5	John Brockway	GBR	1:08.8	Q
=7	7	Egidio Massaria	ITA	1:08.8	Q
9	3	Allen Stack	USA	1:08.9	Q
=10	4	Fernando Pavan	BRA	1:09.1	Q
=10	2	Jitse van der Veen	NED	1:09.1	Q
12	3	Viktor Solovyov	URS	1:09.5	Q
13	4	Lincoln Hurring	NZL	1:09.6	Q
=14	2	João Gonçalves Filho	BRA	1:09.7	Q
=14	1	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:09.7	Q
=16	2	Bert Wardrop	GBR	1:09.9	q
=16	2	Ilo da Fonseca	BRA	1:09.9	q
18	2	László Gyöngyösi	HUN	1:10.0
19	6	Yasumasu Nishino	JPN	1:10.1
20	6	Ladislav Bačík	TCH	1:10.2
21	5	Frank O'Neill	AUS	1:10.5
22	7	Imre Nyéki	HUN	1:10.6
=23	7	Norihiko Kurahashi	JPN	1:10.7
=23	1	Clemente Mejía	MEX	1:10.7
25	5	Vladimir Lopatin	URS	1:10.8
26	3	Leonid Sagayduk	URS	1:11.4
27	2	Helmut Koppelstätter	AUT	1:11.9
28	6	Wu Chuanyu	CHN	1:12.3
29	3	Hermann Gericke	SUI	1:12.6
30	4	Eduardo Barbeiro	POR	1:13.0
31	4	Jerzy Boniecki	POL	1:13.4
32	5	Eurico Surgey	POR	1:13.7
33	1	Peter Salmon	CAN	1:13.8
34	6	Lucien Beaumont	CAN	1:14.2
35	6	Erkki Marttinen	FIN	1:15.2
36	5	Tom Pettersen	NOR	1:15.4
37	1	Kanti Shah	IND	1:18.3
38	6	Bijoy Barman	IND	1:27.3
DNS	3	Dorri Abdel Kader	EGY	–
DNS	7	Angelo Romani	ITA	–
DNS	7	Guillermo Fierro	MEX	–
DNS	1	Ran Chandnani	IND	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	4	Gilbert Bozon	FRA	1:07.8	Q
2	3	Allen Stack	USA	1:08.9	Q
3	2	Bert Wardrop	GBR	1:09.9	q
4	7	Norihiko Kurahashi	JPN	1:10.7
5	5	Vladimir Lopatin	URS	1:10.8
6	6	Lucien Beaumont	CAN	1:14.2
7	1	Kanti Shah	IND	1:18.3

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	7	Pedro Galvão	ARG	1:08.1	Q
2	6	Yasumasu Nishino	JPN	1:10.1
3	1	Clemente Mejía	MEX	1:10.7
4	2	Helmut Koppelstätter	AUT	1:11.9
5	3	Hermann Gericke	SUI	1:12.6
6	4	Jerzy Boniecki	POL	1:13.4
7	5	Eurico Surgey	POR	1:13.7

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	4	Jack Taylor	USA	1:07.2	Q
2	3	Boris Škanata	YUG	1:07.5	Q
3	2	João Gonçalves Filho	BRA	1:09.7	Q
4	6	Ladislav Bačík	TCH	1:10.2
5	7	Imre Nyéki	HUN	1:10.6
6	1	Peter Salmon	CAN	1:13.8
7	5	Tom Pettersen	NOR	1:15.4

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	5	Yoshi Oyakawa	USA	1:06.0	Q
2	1	Lin Meiring	RSA	1:08.5	Q
3	4	Fernando Pavan	BRA	1:09.1	Q
4	2	Jitse van der Veen	NED	1:09.1	Q
5	6	Bijoy Barman	IND	1:27.3
DNS	3	Dorri Abdel Kader	EGY	–
DNS	7	Angelo Romani	ITA	–

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	5	John Brockway	GBR	1:08.8	Q
2	1	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:09.7	Q
3	2	Ilo da Fonseca	BRA	1:09.9	q
4	3	Leonid Sagayduk	URS	1:11.4
5	6	Wu Chuanyu	CHN	1:12.3
6	4	Eduardo Barbeiro	POR	1:13.0
DNS	7	Guillermo Fierro	MEX	–

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	7	Egidio Massaria	ITA	1:08.8	Q
2	3	Viktor Solovyov	URS	1:09.5	Q
3	4	Lincoln Hurring	NZL	1:09.6	Q
4	2	László Gyöngyösi	HUN	1:10.0
5	5	Frank O'Neill	AUS	1:10.5
6	6	Erkki Marttinen	FIN	1:15.2
DNS	1	Ran Chandnani	IND	–

Swim-Off

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Bert Wardrop	GBR	1:07.8	Q
2	Ilo da Fonseca	BRA	1:09.5

Semi-Finals

Date	31 July 1952 — 17:00
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Yoshi Oyakawa	USA	1:05.7	QOR
2	Gilbert Bozon	FRA	1:06.6	Q
3	Jack Taylor	USA	1:07.0	Q
4	Lin Meiring	RSA	1:07.6	Q
5	Boris Škanata	YUG	1:07.8	Q
6	Pedro Galvão	ARG	1:07.9	Q
7	Allen Stack	USA	1:08.0	Q
8	Bert Wardrop	GBR	1:08.6	Q
9	John Brockway	GBR	1:09.0
10	Viktor Solovyov	URS	1:09.6
=11	João Gonçalves Filho	BRA	1:09.7
=11	Egidio Massaria	ITA	1:09.7
=13	Fernando Pavan	BRA	1:10.2
=13	Lincoln Hurring	NZL	1:10.2
=15	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:10.5
=15	Jitse van der Veen	NED	1:10.5

Heat #1

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Yoshi Oyakawa	USA	1:05.7	QOR
2	Boris Škanata	YUG	1:07.8	Q
3	Pedro Galvão	ARG	1:07.9	Q
4	Allen Stack	USA	1:08.0	Q
5	John Brockway	GBR	1:09.0
6	Fernando Pavan	BRA	1:10.2
7	Lincoln Hurring	NZL	1:10.2
8	Lucien Zins	FRA	1:10.5

Heat #2

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Gilbert Bozon	FRA	1:06.6	Q
2	Jack Taylor	USA	1:07.0	Q
3	Lin Meiring	RSA	1:07.6	Q
4	Bert Wardrop	GBR	1:08.6	Q
5	Viktor Solovyov	URS	1:09.6
6	João Gonçalves Filho	BRA	1:09.7
7	Egidio Massaria	ITA	1:09.7
8	Jitse van der Veen	NED	1:10.5

Final

Date	1 August 1952 — 17:00

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time
1	Yoshi Oyakawa	USA	1:05.4	OR
2	Gilbert Bozon	FRA	1:06.2
3	Jack Taylor	USA	1:06.4
4	Allen Stack	USA	1:07.6
5	Pedro Galvão	ARG	1:07.7
6	Bert Wardrop	GBR	1:07.8
7	Boris Škanata	YUG	1:08.1
8	Lin Meiring	RSA	1:08.3