| Date | 10 – 12 August 1932 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympic Park Swimming Stadium, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 16 from 9 countries |
In no result was the domination of the Japanese men felt more than in the 100 metres backstroke. Amsterdam finalist Toshio Irie and newcomer Masaji Kiyokawa eased into the final by winning their races, and were joined by compatriot Kentaro Kawatsu. The finishing order of the final was Kiyokawa-Irie-Kawatsu, the first time Japan had made a clean sweep of the medals in any Olympic event. The main rival to the Japanese trio should have been Germany’s Ernst Küppers but he committed a false start and, seemingly unnerved by this, he finished in fifth.
Masaji Kiyokawa spent twenty years as a member of the IOC and served as a vice-president of the organization.
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masaji Kiyokawa |  JPN | 1:08.9 (1 h1) | 1:09.0 (1 h1) | 1:08.6 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | Toshio Irie | JPN | 1:11.3 (1 h3) | 1:10.9 (1 h2) | 1:09.8 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | Kentaro Kawatsu | JPN | 1:10.9 (3 h2) | 1:10.2 (3 h1) | 1:10.0 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Dan Zehr |  USA | 1:09.9 (1 h2) | 1:11.6 (2 h2) | 1:10.9 (4) | |||
| 5 | Ernst Küppers |  GER | 1:10.2 (2 h2) | 1:09.8 (2 h1) | 1:11.3 (5) | |||
| 6 | Robert Kerber | USA | 1:13.0 (2 h1) | 1:13.0 (3 h2) | 1:12.8 (6) | |||
| 7 | Gordon Chalmers | USA | 1:17.2 (2 h4) | 1:11.6 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 8 | William Karlsen |  NOR | 1:13.7 (1 h4) | 1:13.3 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 9 | Munroe Bourne |  CAN | 1:14.3 (2 h3) | 1:13.9 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 10 | Willie Francis |  GBR | 1:12.9 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 11 | Robert Hallaran | CAN | 1:14.2 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 12 | Eskil Lundahl |  SWE | 1:16.4 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| =13 | Dennis Walker | CAN | 1:21.0 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| =13 | Benevenuto Nunes |  BRA | 1:21.0 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 15 | Jorge de Paula | BRA | 1:29.2 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| Marcel Noual |  FRA | – (DQ h3) | – | – | ||||
| Roberto Peper |  ARG | – (DNS h1) | – | – | ||||
| Nilo Marques Medeiros | BRA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| Walter Spence | CAN | – (DNS h3) | – | – |
| Date | 10 August 1932 — 11:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Masaji Kiyokawa | JPN | 1:08.9 | ||
| 2 | 5 | Dan Zehr | USA | 1:09.9 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Ernst Küppers | GER | 1:10.2 | ||
| 4 | 4 | Kentaro Kawatsu | JPN | 1:10.9 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Toshio Irie | JPN | 1:11.3 | ||
| 6 | 1 | Willie Francis | GBR | 1:12.9 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Robert Kerber | USA | 1:13.0 | ||
| 8 | 2 | William Karlsen | NOR | 1:13.7 | ||
| 9 | 3 | Robert Hallaran | CAN | 1:14.2 | ||
| 10 | 4 | Munroe Bourne | CAN | 1:14.3 | ||
| 11 | 2 | Eskil Lundahl | SWE | 1:16.4 | ||
| 12 | 3 | Gordon Chalmers | USA | 1:17.2 | ||
| =13 | 3 | Benevenuto Nunes | BRA | 1:21.0 | ||
| =13 | 5 | Dennis Walker | CAN | 1:21.0 | ||
| 15 | 5 | Jorge de Paula | BRA | 1:29.2 | ||
| 3 | Marcel Noual | FRA | – | |||
| 1 | Roberto Peper | ARG | – | |||
| 1 | Walter Spence | CAN | – | |||
| 4 | Nilo Marques Medeiros | BRA | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Masaji Kiyokawa | JPN | 1:08.9 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Robert Kerber | USA | 1:13.0 | ||
| 3 | 3 | Robert Hallaran | CAN | 1:14.2 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Eskil Lundahl | SWE | 1:16.4 | ||
| 1 | Roberto Peper | ARG | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Dan Zehr | USA | 1:09.9 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Ernst Küppers | GER | 1:10.2 | ||
| 3 | 4 | Kentaro Kawatsu | JPN | 1:10.9 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Willie Francis | GBR | 1:12.9 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Benevenuto Nunes | BRA | 1:21.0 |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Toshio Irie | JPN | 1:11.3 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Munroe Bourne | CAN | 1:14.3 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Jorge de Paula | BRA | 1:29.2 | ||
| 3 | Marcel Noual | FRA | – | |||
| 1 | Walter Spence | CAN | – |
| Pos | Lane | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | William Karlsen | NOR | 1:13.7 | ||
| 2 | 3 | Gordon Chalmers | USA | 1:17.2 | ||
| 3 | 5 | Dennis Walker | CAN | 1:21.0 | ||
| 4 | Nilo Marques Medeiros | BRA | – |
| Date | 11 August 1932 — 16:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top three in each heat advanced to the final. |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masaji Kiyokawa | JPN | 1:09.0 | ||
| 2 | Ernst Küppers | GER | 1:09.8 | ||
| 3 | Kentaro Kawatsu | JPN | 1:10.2 | ||
| 4 | Toshio Irie | JPN | 1:10.9 | ||
| =5 | Gordon Chalmers | USA | 1:11.6 | ||
| =5 | Dan Zehr | USA | 1:11.6 | ||
| 7 | Robert Kerber | USA | 1:13.0 | ||
| 8 | William Karlsen | NOR | 1:13.3 | ||
| 9 | Munroe Bourne | CAN | 1:13.9 |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masaji Kiyokawa | JPN | 1:09.0 | ||
| 2 | Ernst Küppers | GER | 1:09.8 | ||
| 3 | Kentaro Kawatsu | JPN | 1:10.2 | ||
| 4 | Gordon Chalmers | USA | 1:11.6 | ||
| 5 | William Karlsen | NOR | 1:13.3 |
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toshio Irie | JPN | 1:10.9 | ||
| 2 | Dan Zehr | USA | 1:11.6 | ||
| 3 | Robert Kerber | USA | 1:13.0 | ||
| 4 | Munroe Bourne | CAN | 1:13.9 |
| Date | 12 August 1932 — 16:20 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masaji Kiyokawa | JPN | 1:08.6 | ||
| 2 | Toshio Irie | JPN | 1:09.8 | ||
| 3 | Kentaro Kawatsu | JPN | 1:10.0 | ||
| 4 | Dan Zehr | USA | 1:10.9 | ||
| 5 | Ernst Küppers | GER | 1:11.3 | ||
| 6 | Robert Kerber | USA | 1:12.8 |
