The women's 100 metre backstroke event at the 1956 Olympic Games took place on 5 December.
Twenty-three swimmers from 14 countries competed in this swimming event.
Because an Olympic-size swimming pool is 50 metres long,[2] this race consisted of two lengths of the pool.
This was the seventh time that there had been the women's 100-metre backstroke after its debut in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
[3] Eight fastest swimmers advanced to the finals.