# Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 50 metre freestyle

The men's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships was held on 22 (heats and semifinals) and 23 July 2001 (final) at the Fukuoka, Japan.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows:
| World record | Alexander Popov (RUS) | 21.64 | Moscow, Russia | 16 June 2000 |
| Championship record | Tom Jager (USA) | 22.16 | Perth, Australia | 12 January 1991 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 22 July | Semifinal 2 | Anthony Ervin | United States | 22.05 | CR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Brett Hawke | Australia | 22.18 | Q, OC |
| 2 | José Meolans | Argentina | 22.31 | Q |
| 3 | Julio Santos | Ecuador | 22.34 | Q, NR |
| 4 | Bartosz Kizierowski | Poland | 22.39 | Q |
| 4 | Roland Schoeman | South Africa | 22.39 | Q |
| 6 | Ashley Callus | Australia | 22.42 | Q |
| 6 | Anthony Ervin | United States | 22.42 | Q |
| 8 | Jason Lezak | United States | 22.45 | Q |
| 9 | Johan Kenkhuis | Netherlands | 22.47 | Q |
| 10 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | Netherlands | 22.48 | Q |
| 10 | Stefan Nystrand | Sweden | 22.48 | Q |
| 12 | Mark Foster | United Kingdom | 22.51 | Q |
| 12 | Vyacheslav Shyrshov | Ukraine | 22.51 | Q |
| 14 | Ricardo Busquets | Puerto Rico | 22.70 | Q |
| 15 | Tomohiro Yamanoi | Japan | 22.75 | Q |
| 16 | Attila Zubor | Hungary | 22.76 | Q |
| 17 | Salim Iles | Algeria | 22.78 | |
| 17 | Edvaldo Valério | Brazil | 22.78 | |
| 19 | Oleksandr Volynets | Ukraine | 22.84 | |
| 20 | Christoph Bühler | Switzerland | 22.89 | |
| 21 | Lorenzo Vismara | Italy | 22.91 | |
| 22 | Karel Novy | Switzerland | 22.94 | |
| 23 | Riley Janes | Canada | 22.95 | |
| 23 | Ravil Nachaev | Uzbekistan | 22.95 | |
| 25 | Marijan Kanjer | Croatia | 22.98 | |
| 25 | Milorad Čavić | Yugoslavia | 22.98 | |
| 27 | Camilo Becerra | Colombia | 22.99 | |
| 27 | Leonid Khokhlov | Russia | 22.99 | |
| 29 | Jere Hård | Finland | 23.00 | |
| 30 | Nicholas Santos | Brazil | 23.04 | |
| 31 | Rolandas Gimbutis | Lithuania | 23.08 | |
| 32 | Nicholas Folker | South Africa | 23.09 | |
| 33 | Peter Mankoč | Slovenia | 23.19 | |
| 34 | Duje Draganja | Croatia | 23.25 | |
| 35 | Eric La Fleur | Sweden | 23.38 | |
| 36 | Kim Min-Seok | South Korea | 23.41 | |
| 37 | Oswaldo Quevedo | Venezuela | 23.47 | |
| 38 | Shunsuke Ito | Japan | 23.60 | |
| 39 | Arwut Chinnapasaen | Thailand | 23.77 | |
| 40 | Brendan Ashby | Zimbabwe | 23.87 | |
| 41 | Wu Nien-Pin | Chinese Taipei | 23.96 | |
| 42 | Jesús González | Mexico | 24.03 | |
| 43 | Carl Probert | Fiji | 24.12 | |
| 44 | Alejandro Siqueiros | Mexico | 24.14 | |
| 45 | Ismael Ortiz | Panama | 24.16 | |
| 46 | Leslie Kwok | Singapore | 24.18 | |
| 47 | Danil Haustov | Estonia | 24.22 | |
| 48 | Harbeth Fu Wing | Hong Kong | 24.32 | |
| 49 | Gustavo Barrios | Panama | 24.33 | |
| 50 | Khuwaiter Saeed Hadi Al Shaleri | United Arab Emirates | 24.34 | |
| 51 | Christophe Lim Wen Ying | Mauritius | 24.36 | |
| 52 | Gregory Arkhurst | Ivory Coast | 24.40 | |
| 53 | Cliff Ansel Matthew Gittens | Barbados | 24.58 | |
| 54 | Ernest Teo | Singapore | 24.59 | |
| 55 | Yu Lung Lubrey Lim | Malaysia | 24.97 | |
| 56 | Chon Kit Alias Joao Tang | Macau | 25.00 | |
| 57 | Nicholas Diaper | Kenya | 25.06 | |
| 58 | Kenny Roberts | Seychelles | 25.09 | |
| 59 | Malick Fall | Senegal | 25.16 | |
| 60 | Graham Smith | Bermuda | 25.27 | |
| 60 | Khaly Ciss | Senegal | 25.27 | |
| 62 | Keng Ip Lou | Macau | 25.29 | |
| 63 | Gael Souci | Mauritius | 25.33 | |
| 64 | Davy Bisslik | Aruba | 25.39 | |
| 65 | João Aguiar | Angola | 25.72 | |
| 66 | Barnsley Albert | Seychelles | 25.75 | |
| 67 | Hamid Nassir | Kenya | 25.79 | |
| 67 | Naji Fesguson | Grenada | 25.79 | |
| 69 | Zieahmed Ouattara | Ivory Coast | 26.02 | |
| 70 | Omar Núñez | Nicaragua | 26.08 | |
| 71 | Kenneth Maronie | Dominica | 26.18 | |
| 72 | Yang Shang-Hsuan | Chinese Taipei | 26.29 | |
| 73 | Le Minh Trong Le | Vietnam | 26.30 | |
| 74 | Loren Lindborg | Marshall Islands | 26.32 | |
| 75 | Onan Orlando Thom | Guyana | 26.37 | |
| 76 | William Kang | Guam | 26.42 | |
| 77 | Sule Cole Shade | Cameroon | 26.51 | |
| 78 | Rainui Teriipaia | Tahiti | 26.60 | |
| 79 | Ganaa Galbadrakh | Mongolia | 26.70 | |
| 80 | Nuno Miguel Cardoso Rola | Angola | 26.87 | |
| 81 | Hesham Shehab | Brunei | 27.05 | |
| 82 | Mark Unpingco | Guam | 27.16 | |
| 83 | Joe Atuhaire | Uganda | 27.81 | |
| 84 | Rony Bakale | Republic of the Congo | 28.55 | |
| 85 | Mahamad Ahmad | Sudan | 28.86 | |
| 86 | Abbas Alneel | Sudan | 29.45 | |
| 87 | Fabrice Ndikumana | Burundi | 30.64 | |
| 88 | Eric Moussambani | Equatorial Guinea | 31.88 | NR |
| 89 | Carlos Notarianni | Marshall Islands | 32.41 | |
| 90 | Joshua Marfleet | Samoa | 34.91 | |
| 91 | Glyn Tonge | Netherlands Antilles | 37.75 | |
| – | Richard Sam Bera | Indonesia | DNS | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Anthony Ervin | United States | 22.05 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | Netherlands | 22.14 | Q |
| 3 | Mark Foster | United Kingdom | 22.19 | Q |
| 4 | Vyacheslav Shyrshov | Ukraine | 22.30 | Q |
| 5 | Stefan Nystrand | Sweden | 22.31 | Q |
| 6 | Roland Schoeman | South Africa | 22.34 | Q |
| 6 | Brett Hawke | Australia | 22.34 | Q |
| 8 | Tomohiro Yamanoi | Japan | 22.37 | Q |
| 9 | Bartosz Kizierowski | Poland | 22.42 | |
| 10 | Jason Lezak | United States | 22.43 | |
| 11 | José Meolans | Argentina | 22.45 | |
| 12 | Ashley Callus | Australia | 22.46 | |
| 13 | Johan Kenkhuis | Netherlands | 22.51 | |
| 14 | Attila Zubor | Hungary | 22.54 | |
| 15 | Julio Santos | Ecuador | 22.64 | |
| 16 | Ricardo Busquets | Puerto Rico | 22.83 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Anthony Ervin | United States | 22.09 |
| | Pieter van den Hoogenband | Netherlands | 22.16 |
| | Tomohiro Yamanoi | Japan | 22.18 |
| | Roland Schoeman | South Africa | 22.18 |
| 5 | Brett Hawke | Australia | 22.39 |
| 6 | Vyacheslav Shyrshov | Ukraine | 22.42 |
| 7 | Stefan Nystrand | Sweden | 22.44 |
| 7 | Mark Foster | United Kingdom | 22.44 |