| Date | 30 July 1992 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Piscinas Bernat Picornell, Barcelona |
| Participants | 52 from 37 countries |
Swimming rules for backstroke were slightly different in 1992, as no hand touch was required at the turn, a rule put into effect in March 1991. Jeff Rouse was the heavy favorite, having set the world record in August 1991 at the Pan-Pacific meet under the new rule. He was also the 1991 World Champion and had won both backstroke events at the 1991 Pan Pacs.
Rouse qualified fastest, followed by Canada’s Mark Tewksbury, who had been runner-up to him at the 1991 Worlds, but came into Barcelona with a personal best of only 55.19, far from Rouse’s record 53.93. Rouse started fastest and led at the turn, but Tewksbury came back strong and won gold by a hand touch, 0.06 seconds. Rouse knew his win was an upset, stating, “Realistically, on paper, I shouldn’t have been there.”
Rouse would come back a few days later and break his world record on the opening leg of the medley relay final.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | R1 | B Final | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Tewksbury |  CAN | 54.75 (1 h6) | – | 53.98 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Jeff Rouse |  USA | 54.63 (1 h7) | – | 54.04 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Dave Berkoff | USA | 54.84 (2 h6) | – | 54.78 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Martín López-Zubero |  ESP | 55.37 (1 h5) | – | 54.96 (4) | |||
| 5 | Vladimir Selkov |  EUN | 55.72 (2 h5) | – | 55.49 (5) | |||
| 6 | Franck Schott |  FRA | 55.84 (2 h7) | – | 55.72 (6) | |||
| 7 | Rodolfo Falcón |  CUB | 55.99 (3 h7) | – | 55.76 (7) | |||
| 8 | Dirk Richter |  GER | 56.03 (3 h5) | – | 56.26 (8) | |||
| 9 | Yasuhiro Vandewalle |  BEL | 56.20 (5 h5) | 56.36 (1) | – | |||
| 10 | Stefaan Maene | BEL | 56.34 (4 h7) | 56.47 (2) | – | |||
| 11 | Tino Weber | GER | 56.27 (3 h6) | 56.49 (3) | – | |||
| 12 | Hajime Itoi |  JPN | 56.18 (4 h5) | 56.64 (4) | – | |||
| 13 | Tamás Deutsch |  HUN | 56.47 (5 h7) | 56.70 (5) | – | |||
| 14 | Carlos Ventosa | ESP | 56.62 (6 h5) | 56.78 (6) | – | |||
| 15 | Georgi Mihalev |  BUL | 56.59 (1 h3) | 56.85 (7) | – | |||
| 16 | Emanuele Merisi |  ITA | 56.80 (1 h4) | 57.71 (8) | – | |||
| 17 | Manuel Guzmán |  PUR | 56.93 (7 h5) | – | – | |||
| 18 | Raymond Brown | CAN | 56.98 (6 h7) | – | – | |||
| 19 | Tom Stachewicz |  AUS | 57.03 (4 h6) | – | – | |||
| 20 | Ilmar Ojase |  EST | 57.08 (7 h7) | – | – | |||
| 21 | Rogério Romero |  BRA | 57.28 (2 h4) | – | – | |||
| 22 | Derya Büyükuncu |  TUR | 57.38 (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| 23 | Stefano Battistelli | ITA | 57.40 (8 h7) | – | – | |||
| =24 | Rastislav Bizub |  TCH | 57.57 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| =24 | Martin Harris |  GBR | 57.57 (6 h6) | – | – | |||
| 26 | Marcel Blažo | TCH | 57.61 (2 h3) | – | – | |||
| 27 | Keita Soraoka | JPN | 57.64 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 28 | Eran Groumi |  ISR | 57.67 (8 h5) | – | – | |||
| 29 | Alejandro Alvizuri |  PER | 57.72 (1 h2) | – | – | |||
| 30 | Adam Ruckwood | GBR | 57.75 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 31 | Lin Laijiu |  CHN | 57.85 (7 h6) | – | – | |||
| 32 | Seddon Keyter |  RSA | 57.94 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 33 | Simon Percy |  NZL | 57.96 (8 h6) | – | – | |||
| 34 | Dragomir Markov | BUL | 58.17 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 35 | Sebastián Lasave |  ARG | 58.22 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 36 | David Holderbach | FRA | 58.25 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 37 | Rudi Dollmayer |  SWE | 58.26 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 38 | Ricardo Busquets | PUR | 58.42 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 39 | Thomas Sopp |  NOR | 58.45 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 40 | Ji Sang-Jun |  KOR | 58.62 (8 h3) | – | – | |||
| 41 | Olivér Ágh | HUN | 59.02 (2 h2) | – | – | |||
| 42 | Miguel Arrobas |  POR | 59.37 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 43 | Raymond Papa |  PHI | 59.58 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 44 | Leo Najera | PHI | 59.92 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 45 | Toby Haenen | AUS | 1:00.08 (8 h4) | – | – | |||
| 46 | Patrick Sagisi |  GUM | 1:01.84 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 47 | Marcos Prono |  PAR | 1:02.72 (1 h1) | – | – | |||
| 48 | Timothy Eneas |  BAH | 1:03.10 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 49 | Salvador Jiménez |  HON | 1:04.60 (2 h1) | – | – | |||
| 50 | Carl Probert |  FIJ | 1:04.92 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 51 | Jarrah Al-Asmawi |  KUW | 1:05.53 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 52 | Abdullah Sultan |  UAE | 1:08.22 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| Nayef Al-Hasawi | KUW | – (DNS h1) | – | – |
| Date | 30 July 1992 — 12:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Fastest eight advanced to the final. Places 9-16 advanced to the B Final. |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcos Prono | PAR | 1:02.72 | ||
| 2 | Salvador Jiménez | HON | 1:04.60 | ||
| 3 | Carl Probert | FIJ | 1:04.92 | ||
| 4 | Jarrah Al-Asmawi | KUW | 1:05.53 | ||
| 5 | Abdullah Sultan | UAE | 1:08.22 | ||
| Nayef Al-Hasawi | KUW | – |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alejandro Alvizuri | PER | 57.72 | ||
| 2 | Olivér Ágh | HUN | 59.02 | ||
| 3 | Miguel Arrobas | POR | 59.37 | ||
| 4 | Raymond Papa | PHI | 59.58 | ||
| 5 | Leo Najera | PHI | 59.92 | ||
| 6 | Patrick Sagisi | GUM | 1:01.84 | ||
| 7 | Timothy Eneas | BAH | 1:03.10 |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgi Mihalev | BUL | 56.59 | ||
| 2 | Marcel Blažo | TCH | 57.61 | ||
| 3 | Dragomir Markov | BUL | 58.17 | ||
| 4 | Sebastián Lasave | ARG | 58.22 | ||
| 5 | David Holderbach | FRA | 58.25 | ||
| 6 | Rudi Dollmayer | SWE | 58.26 | ||
| 7 | Ricardo Busquets | PUR | 58.42 | ||
| 8 | Ji Sang-Jun | KOR | 58.62 |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emanuele Merisi | ITA | 56.80 | ||
| 2 | Rogério Romero | BRA | 57.28 | ||
| 3 | Rastislav Bizub | TCH | 57.57 | ||
| 4 | Keita Soraoka | JPN | 57.64 | ||
| 5 | Adam Ruckwood | GBR | 57.75 | ||
| 6 | Seddon Keyter | RSA | 57.94 | ||
| 7 | Thomas Sopp | NOR | 58.45 | ||
| 8 | Toby Haenen | AUS | 1:00.08 |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martín López-Zubero | ESP | 55.37 | ||
| 2 | Vladimir Selkov | EUN | 55.72 | ||
| 3 | Dirk Richter | GER | 56.03 | ||
| 4 | Hajime Itoi | JPN | 56.18 | ||
| 5 | Yasuhiro Vandewalle | BEL | 56.20 | ||
| 6 | Carlos Ventosa | ESP | 56.62 | ||
| 7 | Manuel Guzmán | PUR | 56.93 | ||
| 8 | Eran Groumi | ISR | 57.67 |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Tewksbury | CAN | 54.75 | ||
| 2 | Dave Berkoff | USA | 54.84 | ||
| 3 | Tino Weber | GER | 56.27 | ||
| 4 | Tom Stachewicz | AUS | 57.03 | ||
| 5 | Derya Büyükuncu | TUR | 57.38 | ||
| 6 | Martin Harris | GBR | 57.57 | ||
| 7 | Lin Laijiu | CHN | 57.85 | ||
| 8 | Simon Percy | NZL | 57.96 |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Rouse | USA | 54.63 | ||
| 2 | Franck Schott | FRA | 55.84 | ||
| 3 | Rodolfo Falcón | CUB | 55.99 | ||
| 4 | Stefaan Maene | BEL | 56.34 | ||
| 5 | Tamás Deutsch | HUN | 56.47 | ||
| 6 | Raymond Brown | CAN | 56.98 | ||
| 7 | Ilmar Ojase | EST | 57.08 | ||
| 8 | Stefano Battistelli | ITA | 57.40 |
| Date | 30 July 1992 — 20:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yasuhiro Vandewalle | BEL | 56.36 | ||
| 2 | Stefaan Maene | BEL | 56.47 | ||
| 3 | Tino Weber | GER | 56.49 | ||
| 4 | Hajime Itoi | JPN | 56.64 | ||
| 5 | Tamás Deutsch | HUN | 56.70 | ||
| 6 | Carlos Ventosa | ESP | 56.78 | ||
| 7 | Georgi Mihalev | BUL | 56.85 | ||
| 8 | Emanuele Merisi | ITA | 57.71 |
| Date | 30 July 1992 — 20:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Tewksbury | CAN | 53.98 | ||
| 2 | Jeff Rouse | USA | 54.04 | ||
| 3 | Dave Berkoff | USA | 54.78 | ||
| 4 | Martín López-Zubero | ESP | 54.96 | ||
| 5 | Vladimir Selkov | EUN | 55.49 | ||
| 6 | Franck Schott | FRA | 55.72 | ||
| 7 | Rodolfo Falcón | CUB | 55.76 | ||
| 8 | Dirk Richter | GER | 56.26 |
