Swimming at the 1959 Pan American Games – Men's 100 metre backstroke
The men's 100 metre backstroke competition of the swimming events at the 1959 Pan American Games took place on 1 September and 3 September. The last Pan American Games champion was Frank McKinney of US.
This race consisted of two lengths of the pool, all in backstroke.Results
All times are in minutes and seconds.
| KEY: | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | Q | Qualified | GR | Games record | NR | National record | PB | Personal best | SB | Seasonal best |
Heats
The first round was held on September 1.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Frank McKinney | | 1:03.2 | Q, GR |
| 2 | 1 | Louis Schaeffer | | 1:03.2 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Charles Bittick | | 1:03.7 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Robert Wheaton | | 1:05.3 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Enrique Rabell | | 1:07.2 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Athos de Oliveira | | 1:07.8 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Álvaro Gaxiola | | 1:07.9 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Pedro Diaz | | 1:09.0 | Q |
| - | 3 | João de Almeida | | 1:09.7 | |
Final
The final was held on September 3.
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Frank McKinney | | 1:03.6 | |
| Charles Bittick | | 1:04.2 | |
| Louis Schaeffer | | 1:05.3 | |
| 4 | Robert Wheaton | | 1:05.5 | |
| 5 | Álvaro Gaxiola | | 1:07.5 | |
| 6 | Enrique Rabell | | 1:07.9 | |
| 7 | Athos de Oliveira | | 1:08.4 | |
| 8 | Pedro Diaz | | - | |
