# Swimming at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke

The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1968 Olympic Games took place between 21 and 22 October. 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 | Roland Matthes East Germany |
| Silver | Charlie Hickcox United States |
| Bronze | Ronnie Mills United States |

## Results
### Heats

Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Larry Barbiere | United States | 1:01.9 |
| 2 | Franco Chino | Italy | 1:02.0 |
| 3 | Reinhard Blechert | West Germany | 1:02.7 |
| 4 | Luis Angel Acosta | Mexico | 1:06.5 |
| 5 | Friedrich Jokisch | El Salvador | 1:13.7 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Roland Matthes | East Germany | 1:01.0 |
| 2 | Santiago Esteva | Spain | 1:03.0 |
| 3 | Ejvind Pedersen | Denmark | 1:03.5 |
| 4 | Yevgeny Spiridonov | Soviet Union | 1:04.2 |
| 5 | Jesús Cabrera | Spain | 1:04.8 |
| 6 | Eliseo Vidal | Cuba | 1:06.4 |
| 7 | Ronnie Wong | Hong Kong | 1:11.3 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Jim Shaw | Canada | 1:01.8 |
| 2 | Viktor Mazanov | Soviet Union | 1:03.1 |
| 3 | Roddy Jones | Great Britain | 1:04.1 |
| 4 | José Joaquín Santibáñez | Mexico | 1:04.2 |
| 5 | Herman Verbauwen | Belgium | 1:04.6 |
| 6 | Gary Goodner | Puerto Rico | 1:06.3 |
| 7 | Yacoub Masboungi | Lebanon | 1:11.6 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Charlie Hickcox | United States | 1:01.1 |
| 2 | Franco Del Campo | Italy | 1:02.3 |
| 3 | Danijel Vrhovšek | Yugoslavia | 1:02.9 |
| 4 | Joseph Jackson | Great Britain | 1:03.0 |
| 5 | Gerald Evard | Switzerland | 1:05.8 |
| 6 | Arturo Carranza | El Salvador | 1:17.4 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Yuriy Hromak | Soviet Union | 1:03.2 |
| 2 | Leonardo Baremboin | Argentina | 1:04.0 |
| 3 | László Cseh Sr. | Hungary | 1:04.6 |
| 4 | Hans Tegeback | Sweden | 1:05.1 |
| 5 | Jaime Rivera | Mexico | 1:05.1 |
| 6 | Francisco Ramis | Puerto Rico | 1:07.2 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Ronnie Mills | United States | 1:01.8 |
| 2 | Bob Schoutsen | Netherlands | 1:02.8 |
| 3 | Karl Byrom | Australia | 1:03.2 |
| 4 | Kishio Tanaka | Japan | 1:04.0 |
| 5 | César Filardi | Brazil | 1:04.6 |
| 6 | Antonio Cruz | Guatemala | 1:11.8 |

### Semifinals

Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Charlie Hickcox | United States | 1:01.6 |
| 2 | Jim Shaw | Canada | 1:01.9 |
| 3 | Reinhard Blechert | West Germany | 1:02.2 |
| 4 | Yuriy Hromak | Soviet Union | 1:02.4 |
| 5 | Franco Chino | Italy | 1:02.7 |
| 6 | Danijel Vrhovšek | Yugoslavia | 1:02.7 |
| 7 | Joseph Jackson | Great Britain | 1:02.8 |
| 8 | Ejvind Pedersen | Denmark | 1:03.6 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 1 | Roland Matthes | East Germany | 1:01.3 |
| 2 | Larry Barbiere | United States | 1:01.6 |
| 3 | Ronnie Mills | United States | 1:01.8 |
| 4 | Franco Del Campo | Italy | 1:02.1 |
| 5 | Bob Schoutsen | Netherlands | 1:02.1 |
| 6 | Karl Byrom | Australia | 1:02.3 |
| 7 | Santiago Esteva | Spain | 1:02.4 |
| 8 | Viktor Mazanov | Soviet Union | 1:02.5 |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| | Roland Matthes | East Germany | 58.7 | OR |
| | Charlie Hickcox | United States | 1:00.2 | |
| | Ronnie Mills | United States | 1:00.5 | |
| 4 | Larry Barbiere | United States | 1:01.1 | |
| 5 | Jim Shaw | Canada | 1:01.4 | |
| 6 | Bob Schoutsen | Netherlands | 1:01.8 | |
| 7 | Reinhard Blechert | West Germany | 1:01.9 | |
| 8 | Franco Del Campo | Italy | 1:02.0 | |
Key: OR = Olympic record