The Men's 50m freestyle event at the 2010 South American Games was held on March 28, with the heats at 10:00 and the Final at 18:00.
The IX South American Games was a multi-sport event held between 19–30 March 2010 in Medellín, Colombia. The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR), who awarded the Games to the city with 8 votes over the bid by previous host Santiago, Chile.
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
Crox Acuña  | Nicolas Oliveira  | Federico Grabich  |
| Standing records prior to the 2010 South American Games | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World record | | 20.91 | São Paulo, Brazil | 18 December 2009 |
| Competition Record | | 22.66 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 17 November 2006 |
| South American record | | 20.91 | São Paulo, Brazil | 18 December 2009 |
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Athlete | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | | 23.25 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | 5 | | 23.31 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | | 23.34 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | 5 |  | 23.50 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | 2 | | 23.54 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | 5 |  | 23.67 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | 4 | | 23.69 | Q |
| 8 | 3 | 6 |  | 23.81 | Q |
| 9 | 4 | 6 | | 24.00 | |
| 10 | 3 | 3 | | 24.10 | |
| 10 | 4 | 3 |  | 24.10 | |
| 12 | 2 | 3 | | 24.13 | |
| 13 | 2 | 1 |  | 24.16 | |
| 14 | 3 | 2 | | 24.26 | |
| 15 | 4 | 7 |  | 24.31 | |
| 16 | 2 | 6 | | 24.45 | |
| 17 | 4 | 1 |  | 24.55 | |
| 18 | 3 | 1 |  | 24.70 | |
| 19 | 2 | 2 |  | 24.72 | |
| 20 | 1 | 4 |  | 25.20 | |
| 21 | 3 | 8 |  | 25.38 | |
| 22 | 3 | 7 | | 25.41 | |
| 23 | 1 | 3 | | 25.58 | |
| 24 | 4 | 8 | | 25.91 | |
| 25 | 2 | 8 | | 27.16 | |
| 1 | 5 | | DNS | ||
| 2 | 7 | | DNS | ||
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 5 | | 22.99 | |
 | 3 | | 23.00 | |
 | 4 | | 23.10 | |
| 4 | 1 | | 23.27 | |
| 5 | 6 | | 23.57 | |
| 6 | 2 | | 23.61 | |
| 7 | 8 | | 23.76 | |
| 8 | 7 | | 23.84 | |
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