Swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metre backstroke
The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between September 1 and 3. This swimming event used backstroke. Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long, this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
Medalists
Results
Heats
Eight fastest swimmers from the heats advanced to the finals.Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Laura Ranwell | 1:12.0 | Q | |
| 2 | Nadine Delache | 1:12.5 | Q | |
| 3 | Larisa Viktorova | 1:12.8 | ||
| 4 | Sara Barber | 1:13.4 | ||
| 5 | Gerganiya Beckitt | 1:13.7 | ||
| 6 | Lynette Cooper | 1:15.8 | ||
| 7 | Anneliese Rockenbach | 1:18.6 | ||
| 8 | Anna Temesvári | 1:21.5 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Lynn Burke | 1:09.4 | Q | |
| 2 | Ethel Ward Petersen | 1:12.6 | ||
| 3 | Ingrid Schmidt | 1:13.1 | ||
| 4 | Marilyn Wilson | 1:13.8 | ||
| 5 | Rini Dobber | 1:14.2 | ||
| 6 | Lyudmila Klipova | 1:14.5 | ||
| 7 | Doris Gontersweiler-Vetterli | 1:19.6 | ||
| 8 | Simone Theis | 1:23.9 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ria van Velsen | 1:11.1 | Q | |
| 2 | Satoko Tanaka | 1:11.5 | Q | |
| 3 | Natalie Steward | 1:12.0 | Q | |
| 4 | Helga Schmidt-Neuber | 1:13.3 | ||
| 5 | Magda Dávid | 1:15.7 | ||
| 6 | Arletta Faidiga | 1:18.5 | ||
| 7 | Anne Van Parijs | 1:20.4 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sylvia Lewis | 1:12.2 | Q | |
| 2 | Rosy Piacentini | 1:12.2 | Q | |
| 3 | Nina Harmer | 1:13.8 | ||
| 4 | Kirsten Michaelsen | 1:14.3 | ||
| 5 | Dorothy Sutcliffe | 1:15.2 | ||
| 6 | Daniela Serpilli | 1:20.3 | ||
| 7 | Lore Trittner | 1:20.8 |
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Lynn Burke | 1:09.3 | OR | ||
| Natalie Steward | 1:10.8 | |||
| Satoko Tanaka | 1:11.4 | |||
| 4 | Laura Ranwell | 1:11.4 | ||
| 5 | Rosy Piacentini | 1:11.4 | ||
| 6 | Sylvia Lewis | 1:11.8 | ||
| 7 | Ria van Velsen | 1:12.1 | ||
| 8 | Nadine Delache | 1:12.4 |
Key: OR = Olympic record