| Final | time | | 1. Snezana Pajkic |  Yugoslavia | 4:08.12 | | 2. Ellen Kiessling |  East Germany | 4:08.67 | | 3. Sandra Gasser |  Switzerland | 4:08.89 | | 4. Lyudmila Rogachova |  Soviet Union | 4:10.06 | | 5. Elena Fidatov |  Romania | 4:10.87 | | 6. Doina Melinte | Romania | 4:10.91 | | 7. Yvonne Mai | East Germany | 4:10.99 | | 8. Jana Kucerikova |  Czechoslovakia | 4:11.67 | | 9. Natalya Artymova | Soviet Union | 4:12.16 | | 10.Christina Cahill |  Great Britain | 4:14.48 | | 11.Teena Colebrook | Great Britain | 4:15.22 | | 12.Violeta Beclea | Romania | 4:16.45 |
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| Heat 1 | time | | 1. Sandra Gasser | Switzerland | 4:08.24 | | 2. Lyudmila Rogachova | Soviet Union | 4:08.30 | | 3. Yvonne Mai | East Germany | 4:08.50 | | 4. Ellen Kiessling | East Germany | 4:08.70 | | 5. Doina Melinte | Romania | 4:08.80 | | 6. Jana Kucerikova | Czechoslovakia | 4:09.52 | | 7. Snezana Pajkic | Yugoslavia | 4:09.53 | | 8. Teena Colebrook | Great Britain | 4:10.93 |
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| Heat 2 | time | | 1. Christina Cahill | Great Britain | 4:12.00 | | 2. Natalya Artyomova | Soviet Union | 4:12.06 | | 3. Elena Fidatov | Romania | 4:12.35 | | 4. Violeta Beclea | Romania | 4:13.50 | | 5. Irene Theodoridou |  Greece | 4:14.40 | | 6. Montserrat Pujol |  Spain | 4:15.72 | | 7. Beverley Nicholson | Great Britain | 4:23.80 |
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