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

The women's 50 metre freestyle event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships was held on 28 (heats and semifinals) and 29 July 2001 (final) at the Fukuoka, Japan.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and competition records were as follows:
| World record | Inge de Bruijn (NED) | 24.13 | Sydney, Australia | 22 September 2000 |
| Championship record | Le Jingyi (CHN) | 24.51 | Rome, Italy | 11 September 1994 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
| 28 July | Semifinal 2 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.45 | CR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.79 | Q |
| 2 | Alison Sheppard | United Kingdom | 25.07 | Q |
| 3 | Tammie Spatz-Stone | United States | 25.11 | Q |
| 4 | Sandra Völker | Germany | 25.37 | Q |
| 5 | Sumika Minamoto | Japan | 25.62 | Q |
| 6 | Olga Mukomol | Ukraine | 25.68 | Q |
| 7 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 25.72 | Q |
| 8 | Katrin Meissner | Germany | 25.79 | Q |
| 9 | Rosalind Brett | United Kingdom | 25.82 | Q |
| 9 | Martina Moravcová | Slovakia | 25.82 | Q |
| 11 | Jana Kolukanova | Estonia | 25.83 | Q |
| 12 | Haley Cope | United States | 25.84 | Q |
| 12 | Alena Popchanka | Belarus | 25.84 | Q |
| 14 | Michelle Engelsman | Australia | 25.87 | Q |
| 15 | Judith Draxler | Austria | 25.92 | Q |
| 16 | Ekaterina Kibalo | Russia | 25.93 | Q |
| 17 | Xue Han | China | 25.95 | |
| 18 | Anna-Karin Kammerling | Sweden | 25.96 | |
| 18 | Laura Nicholls | Canada | 25.96 | |
| 20 | Sarah Ryan | Australia | 25.97 | |
| 21 | Agata Korc | Poland | 26.01 | |
| 22 | Urska Slapsak | Slovenia | 26.06 | |
| 23 | Inna Yaitskaya | Russia | 26.09 | |
| 24 | Cecilia Vianini | Italy | 26.11 | |
| 25 | Vivienne Rignall | New Zealand | 26.14 | |
| 26 | Leah Martindale | Barbados | 26.15 | |
| 27 | Aliaksandra Herasimenia | Belarus | 26.16 | |
| 28 | Cristina Chiuso | Italy | 26.17 | |
| 29 | Hanna-Maria Seppälä | Finland | 26.23 | |
| 30 | Yingwen Zhu | China | 26.30 | |
| 31 | Flavia Delaroli-Cazziolato | Brazil | 26.32 | |
| 31 | Mette Jacobsen | Denmark | 26.32 | |
| 33 | Wilma van Rijn van Hofwegen | Netherlands | 26.35 | |
| 34 | Julie Douglas | Ireland | 26.37 | |
| 35 | Tomoko Nagai | Japan | 26.43 | |
| 36 | Ilona Hlaváčková | Czech Republic | 26.57 | |
| 37 | Dominique Diezi | Switzerland | 26.60 | |
| 38 | Karen Egdal | Denmark | 26.64 | |
| 39 | Florina Herea | Romania | 26.74 | |
| 40 | Nina van Koeckhoven | Belgium | 26.79 | |
| 41 | Anna Gostomelsky | Israel | 26.86 | |
| 42 | Elina Partoka | Estonia | 26.99 | |
| 43 | Jacqueline Lim | Singapore | 27.12 | |
| 44 | Chantal Gibney | Ireland | 27.13 | |
| 45 | Sharntelle McLean | Trinidad and Tobago | 27.21 | |
| 46 | Maria Wong | Peru | 27.68 | |
| 47 | Nicole Hayes | Palau | 27.99 | |
| 48 | Yi Chieh Sung | Chinese Taipei | 28.01 | |
| 49 | Shikha Tandon | India | 28.02 | |
| 50 | Weng Tong Cheong | Macau | 28.09 | |
| 51 | Ayeisha Collymore | Trinidad and Tobago | 28.11 | |
| 52 | Reshma Millet | India | 28.20 | |
| 53 | Wai Man Lam | Macau | 28.51 | |
| 54 | Chin Kuei Lang | Chinese Taipei | 28.68 | |
| 55 | Xenavee Pangelinan | Northern Mariana Islands | 28.78 | |
| 56 | Yuliana Mikheeva | Armenia | 29.15 | |
| 57 | Khadija Ciss | Senegal | 29.37 | |
| 58 | Xenia Peni | Papua New Guinea | 30.65 | |
| 59 | Monika Bakale | Republic of the Congo | 30.78 | |
| 60 | Lasm Quissoh Genevieve Meledje | Ivory Coast | 31.01 | |
| 61 | Miriam Nakolo | Kenya | 31.59 | |
| 62 | Amanda Onyango | Kenya | 31.66 | |
| 63 | Larissa Inangorore | Burundi | 37.02 | |
| 64 | Lkhundev Bilguun | Mongolia | DNS | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.45 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 24.87 | Q |
| 3 | Tammie Spatz-Stone | United States | 25.11 | Q |
| 4 | Alison Sheppard | United Kingdom | 25.13 | Q |
| 5 | Sandra Völker | Germany | 25.20 | Q |
| 6 | Haley Cope | United States | 25.26 | Q |
| 7 | Alena Popchanka | Belarus | 25.45 | Q |
| 8 | Katrin Meissner | Germany | 25.48 | Q |
| 9 | Sumika Minamoto | Japan | 25.49 | |
| 10 | Olga Mukomol | Ukraine | 25.53 | |
| 11 | Ekaterina Kibalo | Russia | 25.64 | |
| 12 | Jana Kolukanova | Estonia | 25.65 | |
| 13 | Michelle Engelsman | Australia | 25.77 | |
| 13 | Martina Moravcová | Slovakia | 25.77 | |
| 15 | Rosalind Brett | United Kingdom | 25.81 | |
| 15 | Judith Draxler | Austria | 25.81 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Inge de Bruijn | Netherlands | 24.47 |
| | Therese Alshammar | Sweden | 24.88 |
| | Sandra Völker | Germany | 24.96 |
| 4 | Alison Sheppard | United Kingdom | 25.00 |
| 5 | Tammie Spatz-Stone | United States | 25.10 |
| 6 | Haley Cope | United States | 25.25 |
| 7 | Katrin Meissner | Germany | 25.40 |
| 7 | Alena Popchanka | Belarus | 25.73 |