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

The men's 50 metre backstroke 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 the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows:
| World record | Lenny Krayzelburg (USA) | 24.99 | Sydney, Australia | 13 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 |
| 24 July 2001 | Heat 8 | Randall Bal | United States | 25.43 | CR |
| 24 July 2001 | Semifinal 2 | Thomas Rupprath | Germany | 25.31 | CR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Randall Bal | United States | 25.43 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Riley Janes | Canada | 25.90 | Q |
| 3 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 25.91 | Q |
| 4 | Thomas Rupprath | Germany | 25.92 | Q |
| 5 | Mariusz Siembida | Poland | 25.93 | Q |
| 6 | Darius Grigalionis | Lithuania | 25.97 | Q |
| 7 | Tomomi Morita | Japan | 26.05 | Q |
| 8 | Vyacheslav Shyrshov | Ukraine | 26.08 | Q |
| 9 | Péter Horváth | Hungary | 26.14 | Q |
| 10 | Neil Walker | United States | 26.17 | Q |
| 11 | Alexandre Massura | Brazil | 26.22 | Q |
| 11 | Stev Theloke | Germany | 26.22 | Q |
| 13 | Pablo Martín Abal | Argentina | 26.23 | Q |
| 14 | Daniel Lönnberg | Sweden | 26.27 | Q |
| 15 | Neil Willey | United Kingdom | 26.33 | QSO |
| 15 | Josh Watson | Australia | 26.33 | QSO |
| 15 | Ante Mašković | Croatia | 26.33 | QSO |
| 18 | Atsushi Nishikori | Japan | 26.34 | |
| 19 | Markus Rogan | Austria | 26.36 | |
| 20 | Rodolfo Falcón | Cuba | 26.44 | |
| 20 | Eduardo Otero | Argentina | 26.44 | |
| 20 | Blaž Medvešek | Slovenia | 26.44 | |
| 23 | Miroslav Machovič | Slovakia | 26.51 | |
| 24 | Vladislav Aminov | Russia | 26.54 | |
| 25 | Peter Mankoč | Slovenia | 26.55 | |
| 26 | Eithan Urbach | Israel | 26.56 | |
| 27 | Pierre Roger | France | 26.57 | |
| 28 | Kim Min-Suk | South Korea | 26.58 | |
| 29 | Mindaugas Špokas | Lithuania | 26.59 | |
| 30 | Sean Sepulis | Canada | 26.62 | |
| 31 | Alex Lim Keng Liat | Malaysia | 26.88 | |
| 32 | Martin Viilep | Estonia | 27.09 | |
| 33 | Mark Chay | Singapore | 27.21 | |
| 34 | Philipp Gilgen | Switzerland | 27.22 | |
| 35 | Diego Gallo | Uruguay | 27.23 | |
| 36 | Mattias Ohlin | Sweden | 27.36 | |
| 37 | Derya Büyükuncu | Turkey | 27.38 | |
| 38 | Gary Tan | Singapore | 27.51 | |
| 39 | Brendan Ashby | Zimbabwe | 28.13 | |
| 40 | Wu Nien-Pin | Chinese Taipei | 28.28 | |
| 41 | Ismael Ortiz | Panama | 28.40 | |
| 42 | Aziz Toumi | Morocco | 28.53 | |
| 43 | Eduardo Gil | El Salvador | 28.74 | |
| 44 | Chi Lon Lei | Macau | 28.86 | |
| 45 | Christopher Backhaus | Dominican Republic | 28.97 | |
| 46 | Wing Cheung Victor Wong | Macau | 30.10 | |
| 47 | Davy Bisslik | Aruba | 30.26 | |
| 48 | Hsu Kuo-Tung | Chinese Taipei | 30.93 | |
| 49 | João Aguiar | Angola | 30.95 | |
| 50 | Rainui Teriipaia | Tahiti | 31.32 | |
| 51 | Nuno Miguel Rola | Angola | 31.55 | |
| 52 | William Kang | Guam | 31.63 | |
| 53 | Hamid Nassir | Kenya | 32.52 | |
| 54 | Fand Bayusuf | Kenya | 33.74 | |
| 55 | Mahamad Ahmad | Sudan | 34.64 | |
| 56 | Hojamamed Hojamamedov | Turkmenistan | 37.41 | |
| 57 | Carlos Notarianni | Marshall Islands | 38.13 | |
| – | Mohammad Nazeri | Iran | DSQ | |
| – | Gregory Arkhurst | Ivory Coast | DNS | |

#### Swim-off

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Neil Willey | United Kingdom | 26.13 | Q |
| 2 | Josh Watson | Australia | 26.16 | Q |
| 3 | Ante Mašković | Croatia | 26.24 | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Thomas Rupprath | Germany | 25.31 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Randall Bal | United States | 25.59 | Q |
| 3 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 25.72 | Q |
| 4 | Mariusz Siembida | Poland | 25.82 | Q |
| 5 | Riley Janes | Canada | 25.83 | Q |
| 6 | Vyacheslav Shyrshov | Ukraine | 25.95 | Q |
| 6 | Josh Watson | Australia | 25.95 | Q |
| 6 | Stev Theloke | Germany | 25.95 | Q |
| 9 | Tomomi Morita | Japan | 25.97 | |
| 10 | Neil Willey | United Kingdom | 25.98 | |
| 11 | Pablo Martín Abal | Argentina | 26.00 | |
| 12 | Darius Grigalionis | Lithuania | 26.08 | |
| 13 | Alexandre Massura | Brazil | 26.12 | |
| 14 | Péter Horváth | Hungary | 26.30 | |
| 15 | Neil Walker | United States | 26.40 | |
| 16 | Daniel Lönnberg | Sweden | 26.48 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Randall Bal | United States | 25.34 |
| | Thomas Rupprath | Germany | 25.44 |
| | Matt Welsh | Australia | 25.49 |
| 4 | Stev Theloke | Germany | 25.69 |
| 5 | Mariusz Siembida | Poland | 25.82 |
| 6 | Riley Janes | Canada | 25.98 |
| 7 | Josh Watson | Australia | 26.05 |
| 8 | Vyacheslav Shyrshov | Ukraine | 26.40 |