| | Event type

100 metres Backstroke, Men

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	Swimmer	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)
4 h1 r2/3	Gordon Chalmers	USA	1:17.2 (2 h4)	1:11.6 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	Munroe Bourne	CAN	1:14.3 (2 h3)	1:13.9 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/3	William Karlsen	NOR	1:13.7 (1 h4)	1:13.3 (5 h1)	–
3 h1 r1/3	Robert Hallaran	CAN	1:14.2 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	Jorge de Paula	BRA	1:29.2 (3 h3)	–	–
3 h4 r1/3	Dennis Walker	CAN	1:21.0 (3 h4)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	Eskil Lundahl	SWE	1:16.4 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	Willie Francis	GBR	1:12.9 (4 h2)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	Benevenuto Nunes	BRA	1:21.0 (5 h2)	–	–
AC h3 r1/3	Marcel Noual	FRA	– (DQ h3)	–	–		DQ
DNS	Roberto Peper	ARG	– (DNS h1)	–	–
DNS	Nilo Marques Medeiros	BRA	– (DNS h4)	–	–
DNS	Walter Spence	CAN	– (DNS h3)	–	–

Round One (10 August 1932 — 11:30)

Top two in each heat and the fastest third-place advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	Masaji Kiyokawa	JPN	– (–) –	1:08.9	Q
2	4	Robert Kerber	USA	– (–) –	1:13.0	Q
3	3	Robert Hallaran	CAN	– (–) –	1:14.2
4	2	Eskil Lundahl	SWE	– (–) –	1:16.4
DNS	1	Roberto Peper	ARG	– (–) –	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	5	Dan Zehr	USA	– (–) –	1:09.9	Q
2	2	Ernst Küppers	GER	– (–) –	1:10.2	Q
3	4	Kentaro Kawatsu	JPN	– (–) –	1:10.9	q
4	1	Willie Francis	GBR	– (–) –	1:12.9
5	3	Benevenuto Nunes	BRA	– (–) –	1:21.0

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	Toshio Irie	JPN	– (–) –	1:11.3	Q
2	4	Munroe Bourne	CAN	– (–) –	1:14.3	Q
3	5	Jorge de Paula	BRA	– (–) –	1:29.2
DQ	3	Marcel Noual	FRA	– (–) –	–
DNS	1	Walter Spence	CAN	– (–) –	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	2	William Karlsen	NOR	– (–) –	1:13.7	Q
2	3	Gordon Chalmers	USA	– (–) –	1:17.2	Q
3	5	Dennis Walker	CAN	– (–) –	1:21.0
DNS	4	Nilo Marques Medeiros	BRA	– (–) –	–

Semi-Finals (11 August 1932 — 16:00)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Masaji Kiyokawa	JPN	– (–) –	1:09.0	Q
2	–	Ernst Küppers	GER	– (–) –	1:09.8	Q
3	–	Kentaro Kawatsu	JPN	– (–) –	1:10.2	Q
4	–	Gordon Chalmers	USA	– (–) –	1:11.6
5	–	William Karlsen	NOR	– (–) –	1:13.3

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time
1	–	Toshio Irie	JPN	– (–) –	1:10.9	Q
2	–	Dan Zehr	USA	– (–) –	1:11.6	Q
3	–	Robert Kerber	USA	– (–) –	1:13.0	Q
4	–	Munroe Bourne	CAN	– (–) –	1:13.9

Final (12 August 1932 — 16:20)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	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