| 1. Doina Melinte |  Romania | 4:09.73 | | | 2. Sandra Gasser |  Switzerland | 4:10.13 | | | 3. Violeta Beclea | Romania | 4:10.44 | | | 4. Natalya Artyomova |  Soviet Union | 4:11.09 | | | 5. Lyudmila Rogachova | Soviet Union | 4:11.87 | | | 6. Veronique Pongérard |  France | 4:19.36 | | | 7. Diane Edwards |  Great Britain | 4:21.27 | | | 8. Montserrat Pujol |  Spain | 4:33.87 | |
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| | | First - from each Heat and next Best - advanced to Final. |
| 1. Doina Melinte | Romania | 4:09.95 | Q | | 2. Sandra Gasser | Switzerland | 4:10.93 | Q | | 3. Lyudmila Rogachova | Soviet Union | 4:11.17 | Q | | 4. Montserrat Pujol | Spain | 4:14.51 | q | | 5. Veronique Pongérard | France | 4:15.23 | q | | 10.Lynne MacIntyre | Great Britain | 4:22.79 | |
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| 6. Violeta Beclea | Romania | 4:20.58 | Q | | 7. Diane Edwards | Great Britain | 4:20.77 | Q | | 8. Natalya Artyomova | Soviet Union | 4:21.45 | Q | | 9. Małgorzata Rydz |  Poland | 4:22.75 | | | 11.Irene Theodoridou |  Greece | 4:26.55 | | | -. Róisín Smyth |  Ireland | DNS | | | -. Elly van Hulst |  Netherlands | DNS | |
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