# Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay

The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place in Marine Messe in Fukuoka, Japan in 22 July 2001.
Prior to this meet, the United States have never lost this race since the inception of the World Championships in 1973. The final of the relay was notable for Ian Thorpe's swimming the closing leg for Australia with his fastest-ever relay split of 47.87 s, for the 47.02 seconds final leg, the fastest relay leg in history by Pieter van den Hoogenband and for the disqualification after the race of the American team.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and competition records were as follows:
| World Record | Australia (AUS) Michael Klim (48.18) Chris Fydler (48.48) Ashley Callus (48.71) Ian Thorpe (48.30) | 3:13.67 | Sydney, Australia | 16 September 2000 |
| Championship Record | United States (USA) Scott Tucker (49.80) Neil Walker (48.75) Jon Olsen (49.48) Gary Hall, Jr. (48.66) | 3:16.69 | Perth, Australia | 15 January 1998 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Nation | Time | Record |
| 22 July | Final | Australia Michael Klim (49.12) Ashley Callus (48.31) Todd Pearson (48.80) Ian Thorpe (47.87) | 3:14.10 | CR |

## Results
### Heats

| Place | Heat | Lane | Nation | Swimmers (split) | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 4 | United States | Neil Walker (49.73) Scott Tucker (48.39) Gregory Busse (49.38) Daniel Jones (49.61) | 3:17.11 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | Australia | Michael Klim (48.90) David Jenkins (49.93) Adam Pine (49.42) Todd Pearson (49.02) | 3:17.27 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 6 | Netherlands | Mark Veens (49.90) Ewout Holst (49.89) Klaas-Erik Zwering (49.23) Johan Kenkhuis (49.46) | 3:18.48 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | 5 | Germany | Lars Conrad (50.07) Sven Lodziewski (49.84) Stefan Herbst (49.57) Torsten Spanneberg (49.12) | 3:18.60 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | 3 | Sweden | Erik Dorch (51.28) Stefan Nystrand (49.32) Lars Frölander (48.67) Eric la Fleur (49.93) | 3:19.20 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 5 | Italy | Klaus Lanzarini (50.72) Andrea Beccari (50.05) Matteo Pelliciari (49.70) Simone Cercato (49.56) | 3:20.03 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 4 | Brazil | Edvaldo Valério (50.52) Carlos Jayme (50.20) Rodrigo Castro (50.05) Gustavo Borges (50.42) | 3:21.19 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 5 | Russia | Maxim Korchunov (50.81) Igor Marchenko (50.76) Dmitri Talepov (50.36) Dmitry Chernyshov (49.77) | 3:21.70 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | 3 | Japan | Yoshihiro Okumura (50.89) Daisuke Hosokawa (50.09) Shunsuke Ito (50.35) Hideaki Hara (50.68) | 3:22.01 | |
| 10 | 1 | 3 | Switzerland | Christoph Bühler (51.93) Karel Novy (49.32) Philipp Gilgen (51.48) Lorenz Liechti (51.37) | 3:24.10 | |
| 11 | 3 | 2 | Singapore | Fergus Kuek (53.65) Ernest Teo (52.68) Gary Tan (52.09) Mark Chay (52.36) | 3:30.78 | |
| 12 | 3 | 6 | Mexico | Alejandro Siqueiros (51.94) Cesar Uribe (54.04) Juan José Veloz (53.01) Jacob Fraire (53.02) | 3:32.01 | |
| 13 | 1 | 6 | Malaysia | Elvin Chia (52.76) Dieung Manggang (54.57) Yu Lung Lubrey Lim (55.98) Wan Azlan (55.78) | 3:39.09 | |
| 14 | 2 | 2 | Chinese Taipei | Wu Nien-Pin (53.13) Jiang Bing-Ru (54.87) Yang Shang-Hsuan (56.82) Chen Jui-Chen (57.58) | 3:42.40 | |
| 15 | 1 | 2 | Uzbekistan | Ravil Nachaev (52.52) Sergey Voytsekhovich (58.31) Oleg Lyashko (56.96) Aleksey Bortnikov (56.51) | 3:44.30 | |
| 16 | 3 | 7 | Macau | Chon Kit Alias Joao Tang (55.58) Wing Cheung Victor Wong (58.21) Chi Lon Lei (57.87) Keng Ip Lou (57.71) | 3:49.37 | |
| 17 | 2 | 7 | Guam | Daniel Kang (58.67) Kin Duenas (59.43) Mark Unpingco (59.32) William Kang (58.11) | 3:55.53 | |

### Final

| Place | Lane | Nation | Swimmers (split) | Time | Notes |
| | 5 | Australia | Michael Klim (49.12) Ashley Callus (48.31) Todd Pearson (48.80) Ian Thorpe (47.87) | 3:14.10 | CR |
| | 3 | Netherlands | Mark Veens (49.80) Johan Kenkhuis (48.56) Klaas-Erik Zwering (49.18) Pieter van den Hoogenband (47.02) | 3:14.56 | ER |
| | 6 | Germany | Stefan Herbst (50.54) Torsten Spanneberg (48.86) Lars Conrad (49.08) Sven Lodziewski (49.04) | 3:17.52 | |
| 4 | 2 | Sweden | Mattias Ohlin (50.70) Lars Frölander (48.31) Stefan Nystrand (48.79) Eric la Fleur (50.20) | 3:18.00 | |
| 5 | 7 | Italy | Lorenzo Vismara (50.49) Matteo Pelliciari (49.54) Klaus Lanzarini (50.06) Simone Cercato (49.28) | 3:19.37 | |
| 6 | 8 | Russia | Maxim Korchunov (50.92) Leonid Khokhlov (50.38) Dmitri Talepov (50.16) Dmitry Chernyshov (50.17) | 3:21.63 | |
| – | 1 | Brazil | Gustavo Borges Edvaldo Valério Rodrigo Castro Carlos Jayme | DSQ | |
| – | 4 | United States | Scott Tucker Anthony Ervin Gregory Busse Jason Lezak | DSQ | |