# Swimming at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke

The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place between 4 and 6 December. This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.

## Medalists

| Gold | David Theile Australia |
| Silver | John Monckton Australia |
| Bronze | Frank McKinney United States |

## Results
### Heats

Four heats were held; the swimmers with the sixteen fastest times advanced to the Semifinals. The athletes that advanced are highlighted.

#### Heat One

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Robert Christophe | France | 1:04.2 |
| 2 | John Hayres | Australia | 1:04.4 |
| 3 | László Magyar | Hungary | 1:06.1 |
| 4 | Albert Wiggins | United States | 1:06.2 |
| 5 | Haydn Rigby | Great Britain | 1:06.9 |
| 6 | Ahmed Nazir | Pakistan | 1:10.7 |

#### Heat Two

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Graham Sykes | Great Britain | 1:06.2 |
| 2 | Kazuo Tomita | Japan | 1:06.4 |
| 3 | Gilbert Bozon | France | 1:06.4 |
| 4 | Ekkehard Miersch | Germany | 1:07.5 |
| 5 | Lincoln Hurring | New Zealand | 1:07.5 |
| 6 | Pedro Cayco | Philippines | 1:11.6 |

#### Heat Three

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | David Theile | Australia | 1:04.3 |
| 2 | Yoshi Oyakawa | United States | 1:05.2 |
| 3 | Keiji Hase | Japan | 1:06.3 |
| 4 | John Brockway | Great Britain | 1:07.7 |
| 5 | João Gonçalves Filho | Brazil | 1:07.9 |
| 6 | Cheung Kin Man | Hong Kong | 1:14.0 |

#### Heat Four

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | John Monckton | Australia | 1:03.4 |
| 2 | Frank McKinney | United States | 1:06.0 |
| 3 | Dieter Pfeifer | Germany | 1:06.7 |
| 4 | Ladislav Bak | Czechoslovakia | 1:06.9 |
| 5 | Gérard Coignot | France | 1:07.5 |
| 6 | Hideo Ninomiya | Japan | 1:09.2 |
| 7 | Lim Heng Chek | Malaya | 1:12.4 |

### Semifinals

Two heats were held; the swimmers with the eight fastest times advanced to the Finals. The swimmers that advanced are highlighted.

#### Semifinal One

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | John Monckton | Australia | 1:04.1 |
| 2 | David Theile | Australia | 1:04.8 |
| 3 | Yoshi Oyakawa | United States | 1:05.0 |
| 4 | Graham Sykes | Great Britain | 1:06.5 |
| 5 | Kazuo Tomita | Japan | 1:06.5 |
| 6 | Dieter Pfeifer | Germany | 1:07.6 |
| 7 | László Magyar | Hungary | 1:07.6 |
| 8 | Ladislav Bak | Czechoslovakia | 1:07.9 |

#### Semifinal Two

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Robert Christophe | France | 1:04.6 |
| 2 | John Hayres | Australia | 1:05.0 |
| 3 | Frank McKinney | United States | 1:05.3 |
| 4 | Albert Wiggins | United States | 1:06.4 |
| 5 | Gilbert Bozon | France | 1:06.5 |
| 6 | Keiji Hase | Japan | 1:06.5 |
| 7 | Ekkehard Miersch | Germany | 1:06.6 |
| 8 | Haydn Rigby | Great Britain | 1:07.6 |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| | David Theile | Australia | 1:02.2 | WR |
| | John Monckton | Australia | 1:03.2 | |
| | Frank McKinney | United States | 1:04.5 | |
| 4 | Robert Christophe | France | 1:04.9 | |
| 5 | John Hayres | Australia | 1:05.0 | |
| 6 | Graham Sykes | Great Britain | 1:05.6 | |
| 7 | Albert Wiggins | United States | 1:05.8 | |
| 8 | Yoshi Oyakawa | United States | 1:06.9 | |
Key: WR = World record