# Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 50 metre breaststroke

The women's 50 metre breaststroke event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place 27 July. The heats and semifinals took place 26 July, with the final being held on 27 July.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows:
| World record | Penelope Heyns (RSA) | 30.83 | Sydney, Australia | 29 August 1999 |
| Championship record | New event | New event | New event | New event |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
| 26 July 2001 | Heat 5 | Zoë Baker | United Kingdom | 31.23 | CR |
| 26 July 2001 | Semifinal 1 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 31.10 | CR |
| 27 July 2001 | Final | Luo Xuejuan | China | 30.84 | CR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Zoë Baker | United Kingdom | 31.23 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 31.62 | Q |
| 3 | Megan Quann | United States | 31.77 | Q |
| 4 | Brooke Hanson | Australia | 31.96 | Q |
| 5 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 32.05 | Q |
| 5 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 32.05 | Q |
| 7 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 32.09 | Q |
| 8 | Sanae Nawata | Japan | 32.25 | Q |
| 8 | Roberta Crescentini | Italy | 32.25 | Q |
| 10 | Vera Lischka | Austria | 32.31 | Q |
| 11 | Elena Bogomazova | Russia | 32.34 | Q |
| 12 | Simone Karn | Germany | 32.37 | Q |
| 13 | Majken Thorup | Denmark | 32.42 | Q |
| 14 | Madelon Baans | Netherlands | 32.55 | Q |
| 15 | Tarnee White | Australia | 32.62 | Q |
| 16 | Emma Igelström | Sweden | 32.63 | Q |
| 17 | Anne-Mari Gulbrandsen | Norway | 32.72 | |
| 18 | Emma Robinson | Ireland | 32.75 | |
| 19 | Rhiannon Leier | Canada | 32.79 | |
| 20 | Mirna Jukić | Austria | 32.81 | |
| 21 | Maria Östling | Sweden | 32.85 | |
| 22 | Natalia Hissamutdinova | Estonia | 32.96 | |
| 23 | Junko Isoda | Japan | 33.03 | |
| 24 | Ziada Jardine | South Africa | 33.33 | |
| 25 | Carmela Schlegel | Switzerland | 33.36 | |
| 26 | İlkay Dikmen | Turkey | 33.43 | |
| 27 | Nicolette Teo | Singapore | 33.64 | |
| 28 | Christin Petelski | Canada | 33.85 | |
| 29 | Valeria Silva | Peru | 34.01 | |
| 30 | Anastasiya Korolyova | Uzbekistan | 34.76 | |
| 31 | Chen Yi-Fan | Chinese Taipei | 35.43 | |
| 32 | Weng Lam Cheong | Macau | 35.60 | |
| 33 | Ayeisha Collymore | Trinidad and Tobago | 35.73 | |
| 34 | Katerine Moreno | Bolivia | 35.76 | |
| 35 | Rebecca Heng | Singapore | 36.26 | |
| 36 | Yang Chin-Kuei | Chinese Taipei | 36.91 | |
| 37 | Beatriz Cordon Towsend | Guatemala | 37.04 | |
| 38 | Xenia Peni | Papua New Guinea | 37.58 | |
| – | Lasm Quissoh Genevieve Meledje | Ivory Coast | DSQ | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Luo Xuejuan | China | 31.10 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Zoë Baker | United Kingdom | 31.27 | Q |
| 3 | Megan Quann | United States | 31.58 | Q |
| 4 | Kristy Kowal | United States | 31.67 | Q |
| 5 | Brooke Hanson | Australia | 31.71 | Q |
| 6 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 31.88 | Q |
| 7 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 32.02 | Q |
| 8 | Roberta Crescentini | Italy | 32.15 | Q |
| 9 | Tarnee White | Australia | 32.27 | |
| 10 | Emma Igelström | Sweden | 32.43 | |
| 11 | Majken Thorup | Denmark | 32.45 | |
| 12 | Elena Bogomazova | Russia | 32.46 | |
| 13 | Simone Karn | Germany | 32.51 | |
| 14 | Vera Lischka | Austria | 32.56 | |
| 15 | Sanae Nawata | Japan | 32.64 | |
| 16 | Madelon Baans | Netherlands | 32.71 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Luo Xuejuan | China | 30.84 | CR |
| | Kristy Kowal | United States | 31.37 | |
| | Zoë Baker | United Kingdom | 31.40 | |
| 4 | Megan Quann | United States | 31.55 | |
| 5 | Brooke Hanson | Australia | 31.87 | |
| 6 | Roberta Crescentini | Italy | 31.96 | |
| 7 | Sarah Poewe | South Africa | 32.03 | |
| 8 | Ágnes Kovács | Hungary | 32.05 | |