The men's 50 metre freestyle competition of the swimming events at the 2011 Pan American Games took place on October 20 at the Scotiabank Aquatics Center in the municipality of Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico. The defending Pan American Games champion was César Cielo Filho of Brazil.

This race consisted of one length of the pool in freestyle.

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world and Pan American Games records were as follows: World record20.91São Paulo, BrazilDecember 18, 2009Pan American Games record21.84Rio de Janeiro, BrazilJuly 22, 2007

Qualification Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was able to enter up to two entrants providing they had met the A standard (23.1) in the qualifying period (January 1, 2010 to September 4, 2011). NOCs were also permitted to enter one athlete providing they had met the B standard (23.8) in the same qualifying period.

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 October 20.

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 3 4 César Cielo 22.17 QA 2 2 5 Hanser García 22.37 QA 3 2 4 Bruno Fratus 22.44 QA 4 1 5 Brett Fraser 22.73 QA 5 1 4 William Copeland 22.75 QA 6 3 5 Bryan Lundquist 22.77 QA 7 3 6 Federico Grabich 22.87 QA 8 3 3 Roy-Allan Burch 22.96 QA 8 1 6 Gabriel Melconian 22.96 QB 10 1 3 Lucas del Piccolo 23.02 QB 11 2 6 Roberto Gomez 23.11 QB 12 2 3 Elvis Burrows 23.36 QB 13 1 7 Alejandro Escudero 23.48 QB 14 2 2 Perry Lindo 23.60 QB 15 3 2 Rory Biskupski 23.64 QB 16 1 2 Martyn Forde 23.71 QB 17 2 7 Antonio Cisneros 23.72 18 3 7 Oliver Elliot 23.74 19 3 1 Tolga Akcayli 25.65 2 1 Niall Roberts DNS

Swim-off A swim-off was contested between Roy-Allan Burch and Gabriel Melconián to determine who would advance as the eighth seed to the A Final.

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 1 5 Roy-Allan Burch 22.76 QA 2 4 Gabriel Melconian 23.07 QB

B Final The B final was also held on October 20. Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 9 6 Elvis Burrows 23.05 10 5 Lucas del Piccolo 23.07 11 4 Gabriel Melconian 23.10 12 3 Roberto Gomez 23.12 13 1 Rory Biskupski 23.58 14 2 Alejandro Escudero 23.61 15 7 Perry Lindo 23.65 16 8 Martyn Forde 23.67

A Final The A final was also held on October 20. Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes 4 César Cielo 21.58 PR 3 Bruno Fratus 22.05 5 Hanser García 22.15 4 2 William Copeland 22.30 5 6 Brett Fraser 22.60 6 7 Bryan Lundquist 22.67 7 8 Roy-Allan Burch 22.82 8 1 Federico Grabich 22.97

References