| Date | 18 – 19 July 1976 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscine olympique, Montréal, Québec |
| Participants | 41 from 28 countries |
Swimming World called this the race between the old legend, Roland Matthes, and the developing legend, John Naber. Matthes still held the world record, set in the München medley relay, but in 1974 Naber had defeated him, ending his 7-year unbeaten streak in the 100 backstroke. However, Matthes had won the world title in this event in both 1973 and 1975.
The two legends qualified 1-2 in round one, Naber posting 56.80 to lead the preliminary round. Then, in the semi-finals, Naber posted 56.19 to better Matthes’ world record. The final saw Matthes make two false starts but, on the legit start, Naber went out the fastest, leading to the wall in 26.55, well ahead of his semi-final world record pace and almost a full second of Matthews. The pace seemed unsustainable, but sustain it Naber did, finishing in 55.49 for the world record. Behind him, Matthes was unable to keep up with another American, Peter Rocca, who placed second, the bronze going to the East German.
A few days later, Matthes would scratch from the 200 backstroke, which Naber would also win, with Rocca adding another silver medal.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 429 | John Naber |  USA | 56.80 (1 h6) | 56.19 (1 h2) | 55.49 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 431 | Peter Rocca | USA | 58.12 (2 h5) | 56.88 (2 h2) | 56.34 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 148 | Roland Matthes |  GDR | 57.98 (1 h4) | 57.48 (1 h1) | 57.22 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 327 | Carlos Berrocal |  PUR | 58.71 (1 h2) | 57.53 (3 h2) | 57.28 (4) | |||
| 5 | 154 | Lutz Wanja | GDR | 58.38 (1 h1) | 57.50 (2 h1) | 57.49 (5) | |||
| 6 | 423 | Bob Jackson | USA | 58.02 (1 h3) | 57.65 (3 h1) | 57.69 (6) | |||
| 7 | 10 | Mark Kerry |  AUS | 57.99 (1 h5) | 58.04 (4 h2) | 57.94 (7) | |||
| 8 | – | Mark Tonelli | AUS | 58.53 (2 h1) | 58.14 (4 h1) | 58.42 (8) | |||
| 9 | 17 | Glenn Patching | AUS | 59.49 (2 h4) | 58.15 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | 69 | Steve Pickell |  CAN | 59.65 (3 h2) | 58.21 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 11 | 35 | Rômulo Arantes |  BRA | 58.46 (2 h3) | 58.49 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 12 | 223 | Zoltán Verrasztó |  HUN | 59.30 (2 h6) | 58.63 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 13 | 393 | Igor Omelchenk'o |  URS | 59.03 (3 h5) | 58.77 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 14 | 38 | Paul Jouanneau | BRA | 59.35 (2 h2) | 59.59 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 15 | 101 | Santiago Esteva |  ESP | 59.88 (3 h6) | 59.71 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 16 | 321 | Ryszard Żugaj |  POL | 1:00.16 (3 h4) | 59.90 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 17 | 45 | Krasimir Stoykov |  BUL | 1:00.24 (4 h6) | – | – | |||
| 18 | 124 | Jim Carter |  GBR | 1:00.39 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 19 | 362 | Miloslav Roľko |  TCH | 1:00.41 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 20 | 156 | Reinhold Becker |  FRG | 1:00.57 (4 h5) | – | – | |||
| 21 | 219 | Róbert Rudolf | HUN | 1:00.58 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 22 | 120 | Gary Abraham | GBR | 1:00.61 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 23 | 57 | Steve Hardy | CAN | 1:00.69 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 24 | – | Nenad Miloš |  YUG | 1:00.70 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 25 | – | Rob Howard |  IRL | 1:00.77 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 26 | 279 | Ignacio Álvarez |  MEX | 1:00.80 (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| 27 | 295 | José Urueta | MEX | 1:00.85 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 28 | 269 | Tadashi Honda |  JPN | 1:01.00 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| =29 | 354 | Mikael Brandén |  SWE | 1:01.05 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| =29 | 454 | Predrag Miloš | YUG | 1:01.05 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 31 | – | Conrado Porta |  ARG | 1:01.13 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 32 | 442 | Ramón Volcán |  VEN | 1:01.20 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 33 | 247 | Enrico Bisso |  ITA | 1:01.32 (6 h6) | – | – | |||
| 34 | 76 | Mike Scarth | CAN | 1:01.33 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 35 | 109 | Lionel Beylot-Bourcelot |  FRA | 1:01.58 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 36 | 350 | Thomas Hofer |  SUI | 1:01.90 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 37 | 319 | Gerardo Rosario |  PHI | 1:02.08 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 38 | 390 | Ivan Mikolutsky | URS | 1:03.86 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 39 | 322 | António Botelho de Melo |  POR | 1:05.76 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 40 | 277 | Chiang Jin Choon |  MAS | 1:05.86 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 41 | 303 | Frank Richardson |  NCA | 1:12.38 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 336 | Hsu Tung-Hsiung |  TPE | – (DNS h2) | – | – |
| Date | 18 July 1976 — 9:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lutz Wanja | GDR | 58.38 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Mark Tonelli | AUS | 58.53 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Miloslav Roľko | TCH | 1:00.41 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Steve Hardy | CAN | 1:00.69 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Tadashi Honda | JPN | 1:01.00 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Ivan Mikolutsky | URS | 1:03.86 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Frank Richardson | NCA | 1:12.38 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Carlos Berrocal | PUR | 58.71 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Paul Jouanneau | BRA | 59.35 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Steve Pickell | CAN | 59.65 | ||
| 4 | 2 | José Urueta | MEX | 1:00.85 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Mikael Brandén | SWE | 1:01.05 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Chiang Jin Choon | MAS | 1:05.86 | ||
| 7 | Hsu Tung-Hsiung | TPE | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Bob Jackson | USA | 58.02 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Rômulo Arantes | BRA | 58.46 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Jim Carter | GBR | 1:00.39 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Gary Abraham | GBR | 1:00.61 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Rob Howard | IRL | 1:00.77 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Mike Scarth | CAN | 1:01.33 | ||
| 7 | 1 | António Botelho de Melo | POR | 1:05.76 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Roland Matthes | GDR | 57.98 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Glenn Patching | AUS | 59.49 | ||
| 3 | 6 | Ryszard Żugaj | POL | 1:00.16 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Róbert Rudolf | HUN | 1:00.58 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Nenad Miloš | YUG | 1:00.70 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Ramón Volcán | VEN | 1:01.20 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Lionel Beylot-Bourcelot | FRA | 1:01.58 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Mark Kerry | AUS | 57.99 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Peter Rocca | USA | 58.12 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Igor Omelchenk'o | URS | 59.03 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Reinhold Becker | FRG | 1:00.57 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Predrag Miloš | YUG | 1:01.05 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Conrado Porta | ARG | 1:01.13 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Gerardo Rosario | PHI | 1:02.08 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | John Naber | USA | 56.80 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Zoltán Verrasztó | HUN | 59.30 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Santiago Esteva | ESP | 59.88 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Krasimir Stoykov | BUL | 1:00.24 | ||
| 5 | 7 | Ignacio Álvarez | MEX | 1:00.80 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Enrico Bisso | ITA | 1:01.32 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Thomas Hofer | SUI | 1:01.90 |
| Date | 18 July 1976 — 19:15 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | John Naber | USA | 56.19 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Peter Rocca | USA | 56.88 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Roland Matthes | GDR | 57.48 | ||
| 4 | 3 | Lutz Wanja | GDR | 57.50 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Carlos Berrocal | PUR | 57.53 | ||
| 6 | 5 | Bob Jackson | USA | 57.65 | ||
| 7 | 5 | Mark Kerry | AUS | 58.04 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Mark Tonelli | AUS | 58.14 | ||
| 9 | 1 | Glenn Patching | AUS | 58.15 | ||
| 10 | 1 | Steve Pickell | CAN | 58.21 | ||
| 11 | 6 | Rômulo Arantes | BRA | 58.49 | ||
| 12 | 7 | Zoltán Verrasztó | HUN | 58.63 | ||
| 13 | 2 | Igor Omelchenk'o | URS | 58.77 | ||
| 14 | 7 | Paul Jouanneau | BRA | 59.59 | ||
| 15 | 8 | Santiago Esteva | ESP | 59.71 | ||
| 16 | 8 | Ryszard Żugaj | POL | 59.90 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Roland Matthes | GDR | 57.48 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Lutz Wanja | GDR | 57.50 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Bob Jackson | USA | 57.65 | ||
| 4 | 6 | Mark Tonelli | AUS | 58.14 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Steve Pickell | CAN | 58.21 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Igor Omelchenk'o | URS | 58.77 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Paul Jouanneau | BRA | 59.59 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Ryszard Żugaj | POL | 59.90 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | John Naber | USA | 56.19 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Peter Rocca | USA | 56.88 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Carlos Berrocal | PUR | 57.53 | ||
| 4 | 5 | Mark Kerry | AUS | 58.04 | ||
| 5 | 1 | Glenn Patching | AUS | 58.15 | ||
| 6 | 6 | Rômulo Arantes | BRA | 58.49 | ||
| 7 | 7 | Zoltán Verrasztó | HUN | 58.63 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Santiago Esteva | ESP | 59.71 |
| Date | 19 July 1976 — 19:30 |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | John Naber | USA | 55.49 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Peter Rocca | USA | 56.34 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Roland Matthes | GDR | 57.22 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Carlos Berrocal | PUR | 57.28 | ||
| 5 | 6 | Lutz Wanja | GDR | 57.49 | ||
| 6 | 7 | Bob Jackson | USA | 57.69 | ||
| 7 | 1 | Mark Kerry | AUS | 57.94 | ||
| 8 | 8 | Mark Tonelli | AUS | 58.42 |
