title: Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's 100 metre backstroke
text: # Swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games – Men's 100 metre backstroke
  
  The Men's 100 metre backstroke event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place between 2 August 2002 and 3 August 2002 at Manchester Aquatics Centre.
  
  ## Schedule
  
  All times are Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
  
  | Date | Time | Event |
  | - | - | - |
  | Friday, 2 August 2002 | 11:16 | Heat 1 |
  | Friday, 2 August 2002 | 11:19 | Heat 2 |
  | Friday, 2 August 2002 | 10:23 | Heat 3 |
  | Friday, 2 August 2002 | 10:26 | Heat 4 |
  | Friday, 2 August 2002 | 19:46 | Semifinal 1 |
  | Friday, 2 August 2002 | 19:50 | Semifinal 2 |
  | Saturday, 3 August 2002 | 19:58 | Final |
  
  ## Records
  
  Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.
  
  | | Name | Nation | Time | Location | Date |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | World record | Lenny Krayzelburg | United States | 53.60 | Sydney | 24 August 1999 |
  | Games record | Mark Versfeld | Canada | 55.52 | Kuala Lumpur | 16 September 1998 |
  
  The following new records were set during this competition.
  
  | Date | Event | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 3 August | Final | Matt Welsh | Australia | 54.72 | GR |
  
  ## Results
  
  ### Heats
  
  The heats were held the morning session on 2 August.
  
  | Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | 4 | 4 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 56.35 | Q |
  | 2 | 3 | 4 | Ian Thorpe | Australia | 56.45 | Q |
  | 3 | 3 | 3 | Adam Ruckwood | England | 56.87 | Q |
  | 4 | 4 | 3 | Ethan Rolff | Australia | 57.04 | Q |
  | 5 | 4 | 2 | Martin Harris | England | 57.06 | Q |
  | 6 | 2 | 6 | Gerhard Zandberg | South Africa | 57.09 | Q |
  | 7 | 2 | 4 | Gregor Tait | Scotland | 57.23 | Q |
  | 8 | 3 | 2 | Nicholas Neckles | Barbados | 57.49 | Q |
  | 9 | 2 | 5 | Tobias Oriwol | Canada | 57.70 | Q |
  | 10 | 4 | 6 | Simon Burnett | England | 57.79 | Q |
  | 11 | 3 | 5 | Alex Lim | Malaysia | 57.88 | Q |
  | 12 | 3 | 6 | James Veldman | Canada | 58.20 | Q |
  | 13 | 4 | 5 | Riley Janes | Canada | 58.41 | Q |
  | 14 | 2 | 3 | Cameron Gibson | New Zealand | 58.50 | Q |
  | 15 | 4 | 7 | Andrew Mackay | Cayman Islands | 59.66 | Q |
  | 16 | 3 | 7 | Ramon James | Jamaica | 1:00.29 | Q |
  | 17 | 2 | 2 | Ron Cowen | Bermuda | 1:00.71 | |
  | 17 | 2 | 7 | Dane Harrop | Isle of Man | 1:00.71 | |
  | 19 | 4 | 1 | Ian Powell | Guernsey | 1:01.08 | |
  | 20 | 2 | 8 | Jonathon Le Noury | Guernsey | 1:03.46 | |
  | 21 | 3 | 8 | Folahan Oluwole | Nigeria | 1:04.51 | |
  | 22 | 4 | 8 | Rubel Rana | Bangladesh | 1:05.05 | |
  | 23 | 1 | 5 | Jamie Zammitt | Gibraltar | 1:05.26 | |
  | 24 | 1 | 3 | Jean Francois Wai Choon | Mauritius | 1:05.92 | |
  | 25 | 1 | 4 | Kabir Walia | Kenya | 1:06.07 | |
  | 26 | 2 | 1 | Roy-Allan Burch | Bermuda | 1:06.33 | |
  | 27 | 1 | 6 | Lateef Aliasau | Nigeria | 1:06.78 | |
  | 28 | 1 | 2 | David Korpela | Malawi | 1:14.03 | |
  
  ### Semifinals
  
  The semifinals were held the evening session on 2 August.
  
  | Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | 2 | 4 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 55.91 | Q |
  | 2 | 2 | 7 | Alex Lim | Malaysia | 56.11 | Q |
  | 3 | 2 | 6 | Gregor Tait | Scotland | 56.32 | Q |
  | 4 | 1 | 4 | Ian Thorpe | Australia | 56.49 | Q |
  | 5 | 2 | 5 | Adam Ruckwood | England | 56.61 | Q |
  | 6 | 1 | 5 | Ethan Rolff | Australia | 56.83 | Q |
  | 7 | 1 | 3 | Gerhard Zandberg | South Africa | 57.00 | Q |
  | 8 | 2 | 3 | Martin Harris | England | 57.26 | Q |
  | 9 | 2 | 1 | Riley Janes | Canada | 57.28 | |
  | 10 | 1 | 2 | Simon Burnett | England | 57.34 | |
  | 11 | 2 | 2 | Tobias Oriwol | Canada | 57.47 | |
  | 12 | 1 | 7 | James Veldman | Canada | 57.52 | |
  | 12 | 1 | 1 | Cameron Gibson | New Zealand | 57.62 | |
  | 14 | 1 | 6 | Nicholas Neckles | Barbados | 57.84 | |
  | 15 | 2 | 8 | Andrew Mackay | Cayman Islands | 59.49 | |
  | 16 | 1 | 8 | Ramon James | Jamaica | 1:01.08 | |
  
  ### Final
  
  The final were held the evening session on 3 August.
  
  | Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | 4 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 54.72 | GR |
  | | 6 | Ian Thorpe | Australia | 55.38 | |
  | | 5 | Alex Lim | Malaysia | 55.44 | |
  | 4 | 1 | Gerhard Zandberg | South Africa | 55.98 | |
  | 5 | 3 | Gregor Tait | Scotland | 56.08 | |
  | 6 | 2 | Adam Ruckwood | England | 56.65 | |
  | 7 | 7 | Ethan Rolff | Australia | 56.98 | |
  | 8 | 8 | Martin Harris | England | 58.40 | |
  