The women's 100 metre freestyle event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place 25 July. The heats and semifinals were held on 24 July.

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world and competition records were as follows: World record 53.77 Sydney, Australia 20 September 2000Championship record 54.01 Rome, Italy 5 September 1994

Results

Heats Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes 1 Johanna Sjöberg 55.44 Q 1 Yanwei Xu 55.44 Q 3 Katrin Meissner 55.51 Q 4 Sarah Ryan 55.55 Q 5 Alena Popchanka 55.63 Q 6 Inge de Bruijn 55.65 Q 7 Martina Moravcová 55.72 Q 8 Cecilia Vianini 55.80 Q 9 Sandra Völker 55.89 Q 10 Mette Jacobsen 56.03 Q 11 Sumika Minamoto 56.08 Q 12 Maritza Correia 56.13 Q 13 Laura Nicholls 56.17 Q 14 Otylia Jędrzejczak 56.24 Q 15 Luisa Striani 56.36 Q 16 Colleen Lanne 56.38 Q 17 Olga Mukomol 56.39 17 Hanna-Maria Seppälä 56.39 19 Lori Munz 56.44 20 Inna Yaitskaya 56.47 21 Marianne Limpert 56.55 22 Natallia Hadjiloizou 56.56 23 Elina Partoka 56.65 24 Jana Kolukanova 56.73 25 Tomoko Nagai 56.75 26 Florencia Szigeti 56.91 27 Leah Martindale 56.93 28 Anna Gostomelsky 57.07 29 Xue Han 57.11 30 Ekaterina Kibalo 57.31 31 Nicole Zahnd 57.33 32 Dominique Diezi 57.50 32 Wilma van Hofwegen 57.50 34 Nina van Koeckhoven 57.53 35 Vivienne Rignall 57.59 36 Chantal Gibney 57.65 37 Judith Draxler 57.77 38 Florina Herea 57.83 39 Julie Douglas 58.02 40 Agata Korc 58.44 41 Flavia Delaroli-Cazziolato 58.65 42 Jacqueline Lim 59.17 43 Lára Hrund Bjargardóttir 59.36 44 Sung Yi-chieh 59.62 45 Maria Wong 59.84 46 Shikha Tandon 59.96 47 Sharntelle McLean 1:00.33 48 Nicole Hayes 1:00.40 49 Reshma Millet 1:00.65 50 Huei-Yun Lee 1:01.42 51 Xenavee Pangelinan 1:01.57 52 Weng Tong Cheong 1:01.69 53 Khadija Ciss 1:02.54 54 Yuliana Mikheeva 1:05.64 55 Miriam Nakolo 1:06.75 56 Lasm Quissoh Genevieve Meledje 1:07.21 57 Myagmarsuren Delgermaa 1:08.43 58 Monika Bakale 1:10.38 59 Amanda Onyango 1:11.86 – Therese Alshammar DNS – Ayeisha Collymore DSQ

Semifinals Rank Swimmer Nation Time Notes 1 Inge de Bruijn 54.47 Q 2 Katrin Meissner 55.15 Q 3 Martina Moravcová 55.19 Q 3 Alena Popchanka 55.19 Q 5 Sandra Völker 55.28 Q 6 Yanwei Xu 55.33 Q 7 Sarah Ryan 55.37 Q 8 Johanna Sjöberg 55.43 Q 9 Maritza Correia 55.60 10 Cecilia Vianini 55.80 11 Sumika Minamoto 55.90 12 Otylia Jędrzejczak 55.97 13 Colleen Lanne 55.98 14 Laura Nicholls 56.23 15 Mette Jacobsen 56.30 16 Luisa Striani 56.33

Final

Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Inge de Bruijn 54.18 Katrin Meissner 55.07 Sandra Völker 55.11 4 Martina Moravcová 55.12 5 Alena Popchanka 55.19 6 Yanwei Xu 55.38 7 Johanna Sjöberg 55.42 8 Sarah Ryan 55.53

References