Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre backstroke
Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 3 David Plummer United States 52.50 Q
2 5 Mitch Larkin Australia 52.70 Q
3 4 Camille Lacourt France 52.72 Q
4 2 Robert Glință Romania 53.34 Q , NR
5 7 Grigoriy Tarasevich Russia 53.46
6 8 Jan-Philip Glania Germany 53.94
7 6 Joshua Beaver Australia 53.95
8 1 Guilherme Guido Brazil 54.16
Results -- Semifinals
The men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 7-8 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium. Ryan Murphy continued the streak of American dominance in the sprint backstroke, as he pulled away from the rest of the field to claim his country's sixth straight Olympic title. He fired off a 51.97 to eclipse Matt Grevers' 2012 Olympic record by 0.19 of a second for gold, making him the only second swimmer in the event's history besides Aaron Peirsol to break the 52-second barrier and the fastest of all-time in textile. Meanwhile, China's Xu Jiayu put up a brisk effort to take silver with a 52.31, and spoil the 1-2 finish for the Americans. Murphy's fellowman David Plummer, aged 30, finished with bronze in 52.40 at his maiden Games. Leading the race early on the initial length, Australia's defending world champion Mitch Larkin missed the podium with a fourth-place time in 52.43. France's Camille Lacourt picked up the fifth spot in 52.70, with Russian swimmer and Youth Olympic champion Evgeny Rylov (52.74) trailing him by a 0.04-second margin. Japan's Ryosuke Irie (53.42), the Olympic bronze medalist from London 2012, and Romania's Robert Glință (53.50) rounded out the field. The medals for the competition were presented by Albert II, Prince of Monaco, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Mustapha Larfaoui, FINA honorary life president.