# Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200 metre breaststroke

The women's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place 25 July. The heats and semifinals took place 24 July, with the final being held on 25 July.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and competition records were as follows:
| World record | Qi Hui (CHN) | 2:22.99 | Hangzhou, China | 13 April 2001 |
| Championship record | Ágnes Kovács (HUN) | 2:25.45 | Perth, Australia | 15 January 1998 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
| 24 July | Semifinal 1 | Beatrice Câșlaru | Romania | 2:25.00 | CR |
| 25 July | Final | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:24.90 | CR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 2:27.40 | Q |
| 2 | Mirna Jukić | Austria | 2:28.53 | Q |
| 3 | Yuko Sakaguchi | Japan | 2:28.85 | Q |
| 4 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:29.04 | Q |
| 5 | Olga Bakaldina | Russia | 2:29.72 | Q |
| 6 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 2:29.85 | Q |
| 7 | Leisel Jones | Australia | 2:30.26 | Q |
| 8 | Elvira Fischer | Austria | 2:30.31 | Q |
| 9 | Simone Weiler | Germany | 2:30.35 | Q |
| 10 | Beatrice Câșlaru | Romania | 2:30.48 | Q |
| 11 | Christin Petelski | Canada | 2:31.01 | Q |
| 11 | Qi Hui | China | 2:31.01 | Q |
| 13 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 2:31.14 | Q |
| 13 | Jaime King | United Kingdom | 2:31.14 | Q |
| 15 | Brooke Hanson | Australia | 2:31.25 | Q |
| 16 | Megan Quann | United States | 2:31.38 | Q |
| 17 | Junko Isoda | Japan | 2:31.39 | |
| 18 | İlkay Dikmen | Turkey | 2:33.29 | |
| 19 | Natalia Hissamutdinova | Estonia | 2:34.66 | |
| 20 | Ku Hyo-Jin | South Korea | 2:35.12 | |
| 21 | Rhiannon Leier | Canada | 2:35.18 | |
| 22 | Anne-Mari Gulbrandsen | Norway | 2:36.23 | |
| 23 | Yi Ting Siow | Malaysia | 2:38.07 | |
| 24 | Agata Czaplicki | Switzerland | 2:40.37 | |
| 25 | Chen Yi-Fan | Chinese Taipei | 2:44.97 | |
| 26 | Shun Kwan Andrea Chum | Macau | 2:46.38 | |
| 27 | Anastasiya Korolyova | Uzbekistan | 2:46.62 | |
| 28 | Beatriz Cordon Towsend | Guatemala | 2:47.50 | |
| 29 | Rebecca Heng | Singapore | 2:48.20 | |
| 30 | Katerine Moreno | Bolivia | 2:51.52 | |
| 31 | Weng Lam Cheong | Macau | 2:51.55 | |
| 32 | Yang Chin-Kuei | Chinese Taipei | 2:54.61 | |
| – | Nicolette Teo | Singapore | DSQ | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Beatrice Câșlaru | Romania | 2:25.00 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:25.83 | Q |
| 3 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 2:26.03 | Q |
| 4 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 2:26.25 | Q |
| 5 | Olga Bakaldina | Russia | 2:26.63 | Q |
| 6 | Qi Hui | China | 2:27.24 | Q |
| 7 | Leisel Jones | Australia | 2:28.11 | Q |
| 8 | Mirna Jukić | Austria | 2:28.41 | Q |
| 9 | Yuko Sakaguchi | Japan | 2:28.50 | |
| 10 | Elvira Fischer | Austria | 2:28.71 | |
| 11 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 2:28.76 | |
| 12 | Megan Quann | United States | 2:29.25 | |
| 13 | Brooke Hanson | Australia | 2:29.40 | |
| 14 | Simone Weiler | Germany | 2:31.13 | |
| 15 | Christin Petelski | Canada | 2:31.73 | |
| 16 | Jaime King | United Kingdom | 2:34.67 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 2:24.90 | CR |
| | Qi Hui | China | 2:25.09 | |
| | Luo Xuejuan | China | 2:25.29 | |
| 4 | Leisel Jones | Australia | 2:25.46 | |
| 5 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 2:25.84 | |
| 6 | Beatrice Câșlaru | Romania | 2:25.92 | |
| 7 | Olga Bakaldina | Russia | 2:26.83 | |
| 8 | Mirna Jukić | Austria | 2:27.96 | |