# Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Men's 200 metre freestyle

The men's 200-metre freestyle event at the 2001 World Aquatic Championships took place 25 July. The heats and semifinals were on 24 July.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.
| World record | Ian Thorpe (AUS) | 1:44.69 | Hobart, Australia | 27 March 2001 |
| Championship record | Giorgio Lamberti (ITA) | 1:47.27 | Perth, Australia | 7 January 1991 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
| 24 July | Heat 6 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | Netherlands | 1:47.18 | CR |
| 24 July | Semifinal 2 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | Netherlands | 1:45.80 | CR |
| 25 July | Final | Ian Thorpe | Australia | 1:44.06 | WR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | Netherlands | 1:47.18 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Emiliano Brembilla | Italy | 1:47.91 | Q |
| 3 | Ian Thorpe | Australia | 1:47.95 | Q |
| 4 | Bill Kirby | Australia | 1:48.57 | Q |
| 5 | Massimiliano Rosolino | Italy | 1:48.60 | Q |
| 6 | Scott Goldblatt | United States | 1:48.65 | Q |
| 7 | Klete Keller | United States | 1:49.14 | Q |
| 8 | Mark Johnston | Canada | 1:49.38 | Q |
| 9 | Paul Palmer | United Kingdom | 1:49.46 | Q |
| 10 | Stefan Herbst | Germany | 1:49.72 | Q |
| 11 | José Meolans | Argentina | 1:49.86 | Q |
| 12 | Athanasios Oikonomou | Greece | 1:49.90 | Q |
| 13 | Květoslav Svoboda | Czech Republic | 1:50.02 | Q |
| 14 | Rick Say | Canada | 1:50.08 | Q |
| 15 | Stefan Pohl | Germany | 1:50.11 | Q |
| 16 | Jacob Carstensen | Denmark | 1:50.16 | Q |
| 17 | Attila Zubor | Hungary | 1:50.33 | |
| 18 | Daisuke Hosokawa | Japan | 1:50.36 | |
| 19 | Stepan Ganzey | Russia | 1:50.45 | |
| 20 | George Bovell | Trinidad and Tobago | 1:50.72 | |
| 21 | Dmitry Chernyshyov | Russia | 1:50.77 | |
| 22 | Rodrigo Castro | Brazil | 1:51.10 | |
| 23 | Hideaki Hara | Japan | 1:51.23 | |
| 24 | Karel Novy | Switzerland | 1:52.21 | |
| 25 | Saulius Binevičius | Lithuania | 1:52.56 | |
| 26 | Han Kyu-Chul | South Korea | 1:52.69 | |
| 27 | Andriy Serdinov | Ukraine | 1:53.38 | |
| 28 | Javier Díaz | Mexico | 1:53.81 | |
| 29 | Alejandro Siqueiros | Mexico | 1:53.82 | |
| 30 | George Gleason | United States Virgin Islands | 1:54.31 | |
| 31 | Gary Tan | Singapore | 1:54.93 | |
| 32 | Dieung Manggang | Malaysia | 1:55.30 | |
| 33 | Wu Nien-Pin | Chinese Taipei | 1:55.88 | |
| 34 | Victor Rogut | Moldova | 1:56.04 | |
| 35 | Mark Chay | Singapore | 1:56.43 | |
| 36 | Mohammad Naeem Masri | Syria | 1:56.97 | |
| 37 | Ronald Cowen | Bermuda | 1:57.34 | |
| 38 | Jiang Bing-Ru | Chinese Taipei | 1:57.72 | |
| 39 | Thamer Al Shamroukh | Kuwait | 1:59.11 | |
| 40 | Christophee Backisavs | Dominican Republic | 1:59.12 | |
| 41 | Fahad Al Otaibi | Kuwait | 1:59.19 | |
| 42 | Chon Kit Alias Joao Tang | Macau | 1:59.84 | |
| 43 | Vakhtang Beridze | Georgia | 1:59.88 | |
| 44 | Obaid Ahmed Al Jassimi | United Arab Emirates | 2:00.64 | |
| 45 | Ignacio Bengoechea | Chile | 2:00.65 | |
| 46 | Barnsley Albert | Seychelles | 2:03.68 | |
| 47 | Seung Gin Lee | Northern Mariana Islands | 2:05.91 | |
| 48 | Aleksey Bortnikov | Uzbekistan | 2:05.99 | |
| 49 | William Kang | Guam | 2:06.11 | |
| 50 | Mumtaz Ahmad | Pakistan | 2:07.85 | |
| 51 | Dean Palacios | Northern Mariana Islands | 2:08.71 | |
| 52 | Mark Unpingco | Guam | 2:08.98 | |
| 53 | Onan Thom | Guyana | 2:11.35 | |
| 54 | Rony Bakale | Republic of the Congo | 2:12.59 | |
| 55 | Loren Lindborg | Marshall Islands | 2:18.80 | |
| – | Gustavo Borges | Brazil | DNS | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Swimmer | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Pieter van den Hoogenband | Netherlands | 1:45.80 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Ian Thorpe | Australia | 1:47.26 | Q |
| 3 | Klete Keller | United States | 1:47.77 | Q |
| 4 | Emiliano Brembilla | Italy | 1:47.84 | Q |
| 5 | Scott Goldblatt | United States | 1:48.50 | Q |
| 6 | Bill Kirby | Australia | 1:48.88 | Q |
| 7 | Mark Johnston | Canada | 1:48.90 | Q |
| 8 | Jacob Carstensen | Denmark | 1:49.26 | Q |
| 9 | Květoslav Svoboda | Czech Republic | 1:49.30 | |
| 10 | Paul Palmer | United Kingdom | 1:49.32 | |
| 11 | José Meolans | Argentina | 1:49.34 | |
| 12 | Daisuke Hosokawa | Japan | 1:49.73 | |
| 13 | Stefan Herbst | Germany | 1:49.75 | |
| 14 | Stefan Pohl | Germany | 1:49.78 | |
| 15 | Rick Say | Canada | 1:49.80 | |
| 16 | Athanasios Oikonomou | Greece | 1:50.28 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Ian Thorpe | Australia | 1:44.06 | WR |
| | Pieter van den Hoogenband | Netherlands | 1:45.81 | |
| | Klete Keller | United States | 1:47.10 | |
| 4 | Emiliano Brembilla | Italy | 1:47.58 | |
| 5 | William Kirby | Australia | 1:48.11 | |
| 6 | Jacob Carstensen | Denmark | 1:48.86 | |
| 7 | Mark Johnston | Canada | 1:49.39 | |
| 8 | Scott Goldblatt | United States | 1:49.54 | |
Key: WR = World record