The men's 1500 metre freestyle event at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships took place 29 July. The heats took place 28 July,[1] while the final was held on 29 July.[2]
In the final, Australian swimmer Grant Hackett broke the world record with a time of 14:34.56, bettering the previous record held by his compatriot Kieren Perkins by seven seconds.[3] This record would stand for a decade until Chinese swimmer Sun Yang broke it at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships and at the time, it was the oldest world record in swimming.[4]
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows:
