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

The men's 200 metre backstroke 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 | Lenny Krayzelburg (USA) | 1:55.87 | Sydney, Australia | 27 August 1999 |
| Championship record | Vladimir Selkov (RUS) | 1:57.42 | Rome, Italy | 7 September 1994 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
| 27 July | Final | Aaron Peirsol | United States | 1:57.13 | CR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Aaron Peirsol | United States | 1:59.79 | Q |
| 2 | Marc Lindsay | United States | 2:00.12 | Q |
| 3 | Viktor Bodrogi | Hungary | 2:00.27 | Q |
| 4 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 2:00.63 | Q |
| 5 | Örn Arnarson | Iceland | 2:00.66 | Q |
| 6 | Yoav Gath | Israel | 2:00.72 | Q |
| 7 | Emanuele Merisi | Italy | 2:00.82 | Q |
| 8 | Marko Strahija | Croatia | 2:00.97 | Q |
| 9 | Gordan Kožulj | Croatia | 2:01.19 | Q |
| 10 | Rogerio Romero | Brazil | 2:01.30 | Q |
| 11 | Markus Rogan | Austria | 2:01.35 | Q |
| 12 | Klaas-Erik Zwering | Netherlands | 2:01.36 | Q, WD |
| 13 | Pierre Roger | France | 2:01.41 | Q |
| 14 | Raymond Hass | Australia | 2:01.42 | Q |
| 15 | Tobias Oriwol | Canada | 2:01.57 | Q |
| 16 | Kozan Hashimoto | Japan | 2:01.61 | Q |
| 17 | Steffen Driesen | Germany | 2:02.40 | Q |
| 18 | Haruki Takeuchi | Japan | 2:02.43 | |
| 19 | Miroslav Machovič | Slovakia | 2:02.48 | |
| 20 | Péter Horváth | Hungary | 2:02.74 | |
| 21 | Keng Liat Lim | Malaysia | 2:03.17 | |
| 22 | Blaž Medvešek | Slovenia | 2:03.45 | |
| 23 | Eduardo Germán Otero | Argentina | 2:03.81 | |
| 24 | Ioannis Kokkodis | Greece | 2:04.82 | |
| 25 | Zheng Shibin | China | 2:04.94 | |
| 26 | Martin Viilep | Estonia | 2:05.19 | |
| 27 | George Gleason | United States Virgin Islands | 2:05.21 | |
| 28 | Philipp Gilgen | Switzerland | 2:05.23 | |
| 29 | Diego Urreta | Mexico | 2:06.04 | |
| 30 | Gary Tan | Singapore | 2:06.45 | |
| 31 | Juan Carlos Rodela | Mexico | 2:07.90 | |
| 32 | Gerald Koh | Singapore | 2:08.30 | |
| 33 | Sergio Cabrera | Paraguay | 2:09.43 | |
| 34 | Ignacio Bengoechea | Chile | 2:11.27 | |
| 35 | Christophee Backisavs | Dominican Republic | 2:14.50 | |
| 36 | Eduardo Gil | El Salvador | 2:14.63 | |
| 37 | Wu Nien-Pin | Chinese Taipei | 2:14.71 | |
| 38 | Hsu Kuo-Tung | Chinese Taipei | 2:18.03 | |
| 39 | Chi Lon Lei | Macau | 2:19.12 | |
| 40 | Mohammad Nazeri | Iran | 2:19.91 | |
| 41 | Rony Bakale | Republic of the Congo | 2:26.44 | |
| – | Hojamammed Hojamammedou | Turkmenistan | DSQ | |
| – | George Bovell | Trinidad and Tobago | DNS | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Aaron Peirsol | United States | 1:58.12 | Q |
| 2 | Markus Rogan | Austria | 1:58.91 | Q |
| 3 | Viktor Bodrogi | Hungary | 1:59.24 | Q |
| 4 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 1:59.34 | Q |
| 5 | Yoav Gath | Israel | 1:59.39 | Q |
| 6 | Örn Arnarson | Iceland | 1:59.75 | Q |
| 7 | Gordan Kožulj | Croatia | 1:59.80 | Q |
| 8 | Emanuele Merisi | Italy | 1:59.98 | Q |
| 9 | Raymond Hass | Australia | 1:59.99 | |
| 10 | Marc Lindsay | United States | 2:00.72 | |
| 11 | Marko Strahija | Croatia | 2:00.98 | |
| 12 | Rogerio Romero | Brazil | 2:01.05 | |
| 13 | Tobias Oriwol | Canada | 2:01.33 | |
| 14 | Kozan Hashimoto | Japan | 2:01.34 | |
| 15 | Steffen Driesen | Germany | 2:01.54 | |
| 16 | Pierre Roger | France | 2:02.98 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Aaron Peirsol | United States | 1:57.13 | CR |
| | Markus Rogan | Austria | 1:58.07 | |
| | Örn Arnarson | Iceland | 1:58.37 | |
| 4 | Matt Welsh | Australia | 1:58.80 | |
| 5 | Gordan Kožulj | Croatia | 1:59.23 | |
| 6 | Viktor Bodrogi | Hungary | 1:59.74 | |
| 7 | Emanuele Merisi | Italy | 1:59.83 | |
| 8 | Yoav Gath | Israel | 2:00.09 | |