# Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's 50 metre backstroke

The men's 50 metre backstroke event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place 30–31 July. The heats and the semi were held on 30 July, the final on 31 July.

## Results
### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 25.65 | GR |
| | 6 | Alex Lim | Malaysia | 25.67 | |
| | 3 | Gerhard Zandberg | South Africa | 25.89 | |
| 4 | 5 | Riley Janes | Canada | 26.05 | |
| 5 | 7 | James Veldman | Canada | 26.20 | |
| 6 | 2 | Ethan Rolff | Australia | 26.47 | |
| 7 | 8 | Martin Harris | England | 26.56 | |
| 8 | 1 | Robert van der Zant | Australia | 26.67 | |
Key: WR = World record

### Semifinals

| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 25.86 | Q, GR |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | Riley Janes | Canada | 25.96 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | 5 | Gerhard Zandberg | South Africa | 26.05 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 5 | Alex Lim | Malaysia | 26.20 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | Ethan Rolff | Australia | 26.23 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 2 | James Veldman | Canada | 26.33 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 1 | Robert van der Zant | Australia | 26.45 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | Martin Harris | England | 26.49 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 6 | Gregor Tait | Scotland | 26.52 | |
| 10 | 1 | 6 | Adam Ruckwood | England | 26.54 | |
| 11 | 2 | 7 | Ryan Pini | Papua New Guinea | 26.64 | |
| 12 | 1 | 2 | Simon Burnett | England | 26.78 | |
| 13 | 1 | 1 | Cameron Gibson | New Zealand | 26.97 | |
| 14 | 1 | 7 | Nicholas Neckles | Barbados | 27.12 | |
| 15 | 2 | 8 | Jonathan Winter | New Zealand | 27.43 | |
| 16 | 1 | 8 | Mark Chay | Singapore | 27.50 | |

### Preliminaries

| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | 4 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 26.04 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | Riley Janes | Canada | 26.06 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | 7 | Alex Lim | Malaysia | 26.14 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | 5 | Gerhard Zandberg | South Africa | 26.25 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | 4 | Ethan Rolff | Australia | 26.52 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | 5 | Martin Harris | England | 26.60 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | 3 | Gregor Tait | Scotland | 26.65 | Q |
| 8 | 5 | 2 | Roland Schoeman | South Africa | 26.69 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 3 | Adam Ruckwood | England | 26.70 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 6 | James Veldman | Canada | 26.70 | Q |
| 11 | 4 | 2 | Ryan Pini | Papua New Guinea | 26.75 | Q |
| 11 | 4 | 6 | Simon Burnett | England | 26.75 | Q |
| 13 | 4 | 7 | Nicholas Neckles | Barbados | 26.88 | Q |
| 14 | 3 | 3 | Robert van der Zant | Australia | 26.91 | Q |
| 15 | 3 | 6 | Cameron Gibson | New Zealand | 26.98 | Q |
| 16 | 3 | 7 | Jonathan Winter | New Zealand | 27.46 | Q |
| 17 | 4 | 1 | Mark Chay | Singapore | 27.70 | |
| 18 | 4 | 5 | Tobias Oriwol | Canada | 27.82 | |
| 19 | 3 | 2 | Ramon James | Jamaica | 27.99 | |
| 20 | 5 | 1 | Alexis Militis | Jersey | 28.07 | |
| 21 | 3 | 1 | Dane Harrop | Isle of Man | 28.28 | |
| 22 | 4 | 8 | Andrew Mackay | Cayman Islands | 28.55 | |
| 23 | 5 | 8 | Carl Probert | Fiji | 28.97 | |
| 24 | 3 | 8 | Ian Powel | Guernsey | 29.06 | |
| 25 | 2 | 7 | Folahan Oluwole | Nigeria | 29.26 | |
| 26 | 2 | 5 | Roy-Allan Burch | Bermuda | 29.53 | |
| 27 | 2 | 4 | Mohammad Rubel Rana | Bangladesh | 29.59 | |
| 28 | 1 | 5 | Jonathon Le Noury | Guernsey | 29.68 | |
| 29 | 1 | 4 | Lateef Aliasau | Nigeria | 30.34 | |
| 30 | 2 | 6 | Jamie Zammitt | Gibraltar | 30.37 | |
| 31 | 1 | 3 | Rama Vyombo | Kenya | 30.52 | |
| 32 | 2 | 3 | Kabir Walia | Kenya | 30.79 | |
| 33 | 2 | 2 | Jean Francois Wai Choon | Mauritius | 31.15 | |