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

The men's 200 metre breaststroke event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place 26 July. The heats and semifinals took place on 25 July, with the final being held on 26 July.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows:
| World record | Mike Barrowman (USA) | 2:10.16 | Barcelona, Spain | 29 July 1992 |
| Championship record | Mike Barrowman (USA) | 2:11.23 | Perth, Australia | 11 January 1991 |
The following record was established during the competition:
| Date | Round | Name | Nation | Time | Record |
| 26 July 2001 | Final | Brendan Hansen | United States | 2:10.69 | CR |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Maxim Podoprigora | Austria | 2:12.26 | Q |
| 2 | Brendan Hansen | United States | 2:13.35 | Q |
| 3 | Regan Harrison | Australia | 2:13.50 | Q |
| 4 | Kosuke Kitajima | Japan | 2:13.56 | Q |
| 5 | Ed Moses | United States | 2:13.58 | Q |
| 6 | Dmitri Komornikov | Russia | 2:13.73 | Q |
| 7 | Davide Rummolo | Italy | 2:14.33 | Q |
| 8 | Martin Gustafsson | Sweden | 2:14.72 | Q |
| 9 | Domenico Fioravanti | Italy | 2:15.09 | Q |
| 10 | Morgan Knabe | Canada | 2:15.62 | Q |
| 11 | Daniel Málek | Czech Republic | 2:15.64 | Q |
| 12 | Ian Edmond | United Kingdom | 2:15.84 | Q |
| 13 | José Couto | Portugal | 2:15.95 | Q |
| 14 | Hugues Duboscq | France | 2:16.51 | Q |
| 15 | Yoshiaki Okita | Japan | 2:16.80 | Q |
| 16 | Jakob Jóhann Sveinsson | Iceland | 2:17.09 | Q |
| 17 | Simon Cowley | Australia | 2:17.35 | |
| 18 | Elvin Chia | Malaysia | 2:17.91 | |
| 19 | Vladimir Labzin | Estonia | 2:18.73 | |
| 20 | Jarno Pihlava | Finland | 2:18.90 | |
| 21 | Valērijs Kalmikovs | Latvia | 2:19.23 | |
| 22 | Tam Chi Kin | Hong Kong | 2:19.78 | |
| 23 | Michael Williamson | Ireland | 2:20.09 | |
| 24 | Dov Malnik | Israel | 2:20.52 | |
| 25 | Wickus Nienaber | Eswatini | 2:21.85 | |
| 26 | Yang Shang-Hsuan | Chinese Taipei | 2:22.42 | |
| 27 | Chen Cho-Yi | Chinese Taipei | 2:22.51 | |
| 28 | Álvaro Fortuny | Guatemala | 2:22.94 | |
| 29 | Sergey Voytsekhovich | Uzbekistan | 2:23.71 | |
| 30 | Ansel Tjin A Tam | Suriname | 2:24.76 | |
| 31 | Malick Fall | Senegal | 2:26.70 | |
| 32 | Guillermo Henriquez | Dominican Republic | 2:27.29 | |
| 33 | Jean Luc Razakarivony | Madagascar | 2:27.52 | |
| 34 | Graham Smith | Bermuda | 2:28.72 | |
| 35 | Baktash Gheidi | Iran | 2:31.01 | |
| 36 | Abdul Hafiz Salleh | Malaysia | 2:33.60 | |
| 37 | Rainui Teriipaia | Tahiti | 2:34.76 | |
| 38 | Chan Wai Ma | Macau | 2:36.06 | |
| 39 | Oday Mohammad | Iraq | 2:54.23 | |
| 40 | Iyad Housheya | Palestine | 2:54.65 | |
| – | Juan José Madrigal | Costa Rica | DNS | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Maxim Podoprigora | Austria | 2:11.65 | Q |
| 2 | Kosuke Kitajima | Japan | 2:12.21 | Q |
| 3 | Regan Harrison | Australia | 2:12.34 | Q |
| 4 | Domenico Fioravanti | Italy | 2:12.70 | Q |
| 5 | Brendan Hansen | United States | 2:13.13 | Q |
| 6 | Ed Moses | United States | 2:13.27 | Q |
| 7 | Davide Rummolo | Italy | 2:13.40 | Q |
| 8 | Daniel Málek | Czech Republic | 2:13.75 | Q |
| 9 | Morgan Knabe | Canada | 2:14.11 | |
| 10 | José Couto | Portugal | 2:15.27 | |
| 11 | Martin Gustafsson | Sweden | 2:15.32 | |
| 12 | Hugues Duboscq | France | 2:15.87 | |
| 13 | Jakob Jóhann Sveinsson | Iceland | 2:16.61 | |
| 14 | Yoshiaki Okita | Japan | 2:17.02 | |
| – | Dmitri Komornikov | Russia | DSQ | |
| – | Ian Edmond | United Kingdom | DSQ | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Brendan Hansen | United States | 2:10.69 | CR |
| | Maxim Podoprigora | Austria | 2:11.09 | |
| | Kosuke Kitajima | Japan | 2:11.21 | |
| 4 | Domenico Fioravanti | Italy | 2:11.31 | |
| 5 | Ed Moses | United States | 2:11.38 | |
| 6 | Regan Harrison | Australia | 2:11.51 | |
| 7 | Davide Rummolo | Italy | 2:12.89 | |
| 8 | Daniel Málek | Czech Republic | 2:13.19 | |