# Swimming at the 1959 Pan American Games

The Swimming competition at the 3rd Pan American Games was held in Chicago, United States during the Games' run in 1959. It consisted of 16 long course (50 m) events: 8 for males and 8 for females.
In these Games, the U.S. swept all gold medals in swimming.
A world record was broken by the U.S. in the women's 4 × 100 m medley relay, with a time of 4:44.6.

## Results
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100m freestyle details | Jeffrey Farrell USA | 56.3 | Elton Follett USA | 57.2 | William Woolsey USA | 57.6 |
| 400m freestyle details | George Breen USA | 4:31.4 | George Harrison USA | 4:31.8 | Eugene Lenz USA | 4:34.9 |
| 1500m freestyle details | Alan Somers USA | 17:53.2 | George Breen USA | 17:55.0 | Gary Heinrich USA | 18:30.6 |
| 100m backstroke details | Frank McKinney USA | 1:03.6 | Charles Bittick USA | 1:04.2 | Louis Schaeffer USA | 1:05.3 |
| 200m breaststroke details | Bill Mulliken USA | 2:43.1 | Kenneth Nakasone USA | 2:43.2 | Manuel Sanguily Cuba | 2:44.3 |
| 200m butterfly details | Dave Gillanders USA | 2:18.0 | Michael Troy USA | 2:18.3 | Eulalio Ríos Mexico | 2:22.5 |
| 4 × 200 m Free Relay details | United States Dick Blick Peter Sintz John Rounsavelle Frank Winters | 8:22.7 | Mexico Raúl Guzmán Alfredo Guzmán Jorge Escalante Mauricio Ocampo | 8:56.4 | Canada Cameron Grout Edward Cazalet William Campbell Thomas Verth | 9:00.4 |
| 4 × 100 m Medley Relay details | United States Frank McKinney Kenneth Nakasone Mike Troy Jeff Farrell | 4:14.9 | Canada Cameron Grout Bob Wheaton Steve Rabinovitch Peter Fowler | 4:23.3 | Mexico Eulalio Ríos Alejandro Gaxiola Jorge Escalante Roberto Marmolejo | 4:25.0 |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100m freestyle details | Chris von Saltza USA | 1:03.8 | Molly Botkin USA | 1:05.7 | Joan Spillane USA | 1:05.8 |
| 200m freestyle details | Chris von Saltza USA | 2:18.5 | Shirley Stobs USA | 2:22.9 | Joan Spillane USA | 2:23.0 |
| 400m freestyle details | Chris von Saltza USA | 4:55.9 | Sylvia Ruuska USA | 5:03.4 | Donna Graham USA | 5:03.5 |
| 100m backstroke details | Carin Cone USA | 1:12.2 | Sara Barber Canada | 1:12.3 | Christine Kluter USA | 1:12.4 |
| 200m breaststroke details | Anne Warner USA | 2:56.8 | Patty Kemper USA | 3:00.1 | Anne Brancroft USA | 3:01.3 |
| 100m butterfly details | Becky Collins USA | 1:09.5 | Nancy Ramey USA | 1:10.4 | Molly Botkin USA | 1:12.3 |
| 4 × 100 m Free Relay details | United States Molly Botkin Joan Spillane Shirley Stobs Chris von Saltza | 4:17.5 | Canada Margaret Iwasaki Helen Hunt Sara Barber Sandra Scott | 4:31.9 | Mexico Blanca Barrón María Luisa Souza Gloria Botella Rebeca García | 4:37.0 |
| 4 × 100 m Medley Relay details | United States Carin Cone Anne Brancroft Becky Collins Chris von Saltza | 4:44.6 WR | Canada Margaret Iwasaki Janice Shepp Sara Barber Sandra Scott | 4:58.7 | Mexico Blanca Barrón Eulalia Martínez Gloria Botella Rebeca García | 5:18.7 |

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 16 | 11 | 10 | 37 |
| 2 | Canada | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Mexico | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | Cuba | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (4 entries) | Totals (4 entries) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 48 |