# Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 100 metre breaststroke

The women's 100 metre breaststroke event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place 23 July. The heats and semifinals took place 22 July, with the final being held on 23 July.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and competition records were as follows:
| World record | Penelope Heyns (RSA) | 1:06.52 | Sydney, Australia | 23 August 1999 |
| Championship record | Samantha Riley (AUS) | 1:07.69 | Rome, Italy | 9 September 1994 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
| 22 July | Semifinal 1 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 1:07.48 | CR |
| 23 July | Final | Luo Xuejuan | China | 1:07.18 | CR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 1:08.71 | Q |
| 2 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 1:08.78 | Q |
| 3 | Leisel Jones | Australia | 1:08.86 | Q |
| 4 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 1:08.98 | Q |
| 5 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 1:09.02 | Q |
| 6 | Rhiannon Leier | Canada | 1:09.40 | Q |
| 7 | Megan Quann | United States | 1:09.71 | Q |
| 8 | Mirna Jukić | Austria | 1:09.85 | Q |
| 9 | Tarnee White | Australia | 1:09.94 | Q |
| 10 | Simone Weiler | Germany | 1:09.96 | Q |
| 11 | Elena Bogomazova | Russia | 1:09.99 | Q |
| 12 | Junko Isoda | Japan | 1:10.45 | Q |
| 13 | Jaime King | United Kingdom | 1:10.85 | Q |
| 14 | Roberta Crescentini | Italy | 1:10.90 | Q |
| 15 | Madelon Baans | Netherlands | 1:11.08 | Q |
| 16 | Elvira Fischer | Austria | 1:11.14 | Q |
| 17 | Emma Igelström | Sweden | 1:11.24 | |
| 18 | Yuko Sakaguchi | Japan | 1:11.27 | |
| 19 | Christin Petelski | Canada | 1:11.42 | |
| 20 | Najken Thorup | Denmark | 1:11.45 | |
| 21 | Maria Östling | Sweden | 1:11.51 | |
| 22 | Emma Robinson | Ireland | 1:11.70 | |
| 23 | Anne-Mari Gulbrandsen | Norway | 1:12.45 | |
| 24 | Natalia Hissamutdinova | Estonia | 1:12.60 | |
| 25 | Carmela Schlegel | Switzerland | 1:13.00 | |
| 26 | Nicolette Teo | Singapore | 1:13.01 | |
| 27 | Ku Hyo-Jin | South Korea | 1:13.20 | |
| 28 | İlkay Dikmen | Turkey | 1:13.34 | |
| 29 | Ziada Jardine | South Africa | 1:14.23 | |
| 30 | Yi Ting Siow | Malaysia | 1:14.47 | |
| 31 | Valeria Silva | Peru | 1:15.57 | |
| 32 | Agata Czaplicki | Switzerland | 1:15.69 | |
| 33 | Chen Yi-Fan | Chinese Taipei | 1:15.93 | |
| 34 | Anastasiya Korolyova | Uzbekistan | 1:17.06 | |
| 35 | Katerine Moreno | Bolivia | 1:17.55 | |
| 36 | Weng Lam Cheong | Macau | 1:17.66 | |
| 37 | Rebecca Heng | Singapore | 1:18.73 | |
| 38 | Beatriz Cordon Towsend | Guatemala | 1:20.07 | |
| 39 | Yang Chin-Kuei | Chinese Taipei | 1:20.88 | |
| 40 | Kwan Andrea Shun Chum | Macau | 1:21.42 | |
| 41 | Xenia Peni | Papua New Guinea | 1:23.64 | |
| 42 | Lkhundev Bilguun | Mongolia | 1:29.95 | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 1:07.48 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 1:08.02 | Q |
| 3 | Leisel Jones | Australia | 1:08.58 | Q |
| 4 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 1:08.98 | Q |
| 5 | Mirna Jukić | Austria | 1:09.31 | Q |
| 6 | Megan Quann | United States | 1:09.32 | Q |
| 7 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 1:09.37 | Q |
| 8 | Rhiannon Leier | Canada | 1:09.69 | Q |
| 9 | Tarnee White | Australia | 1:09.77 | |
| 10 | Elena Bogomazova | Russia | 1:09.92 | |
| 11 | Simone Weiler | Germany | 1:10.44 | |
| 12 | Junko Isoda | Japan | 1:10.79 | |
| 13 | Madelon Baans | Netherlands | 1:10.98 | |
| 14 | Jaime King | United Kingdom | 1:11.04 | |
| 15 | Roberta Crescentini | Italy | 1:11.12 | |
| 16 | Elvira Fischer | Austria | 1:11.18 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Luo Xuejuan | China | 1:07.18 | CR |
| | Leisel Jones | Australia | 1:07.96 | |
| | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 1:08.50 | |
| 4 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 1:08.52 | |
| 5 | Megan Quann | United States | 1:08.80 | |
| 6 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 1:08.92 | |
| 7 | Mirna Jukić | Austria | 1:09.48 | |
| 8 | Rhiannon Leier | Canada | 1:09.90 | |