| Final | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Jim Montgomery | USA | 49.99s | 8. 1. | | 2. Jack Babashoff | USA | 50.81s | 3. 3. | | 3. Peter Nocke | FRG | 51.31s | 5. 5. | | 4. Klaus Steinbach | FRG | 51.68s | 1. 4. | | 5. Marcello Guarducci | ITA | 51.70s | 4. 2. | | 6. Joe Bottom | USA | 51.79s | 1. 6. | | 7. Vladimir Bure | URS | 52.03s | 6. 7. | | 8. Andrey Krylov | URS | 52.15s | 7. 8. |
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| Semi 1 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Jim Montgomery | USA | 50.39s | 1. | | 2. Marcello Guarducci | ITA | 51.35s | 2. | | 3. Klaus Steinbach | FRG | 51.62s | 4. | | 4. Vladimir Bure | URS | 51.93s | 7. | | 5. Roberto Pangaro | ITA | 52.68s | 10 | | 6. Stephen Pickell | CAN | 52.89s | 11 | | 7. René Écuyer | FRA | 52.92s | 12 | | 8. Andrey Bogdanov | URS | 53.05s | 14 |
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| Semi 2 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Jack Babashoff | USA | 51.46s | 3. | | 2. Peter Nocke | FRG | 51.83s | 5. | | 3. Joe Bottom | USA | 51.92s | 6. | | 4. Andrey Krylov | URS | 52.32s | 8. | | 5. Michel Rousseau | FRA | 52.36s | 9. | | 6. Gary MacDonald | CAN | 52.96s | 13 | | 7. Martin Smith | GBR | 53.11s | 15 | | 8. Svante Rasmuson | SWE | 53.34s | 16 |
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| Heat 6 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Jim Montgomery | USA | 52.13s | 8. | | 2. Michel Rousseau | FRA | 52.43s | 9. | | 3. Roberto Pangaro | ITA | 53.05s | 12. | | 4. Kevin Burns | GBR | 53.23s | 16. | | 5. Fritz Warncke | NOR | 53.55s | 22. | | 6. Fernando Cañales | PUR | 55.31s | 35. | | 7. José Pereira | POR | 55.46s | 37. | | 8. Sigurður Ólafsson | ISL | 56.01s | 40. |
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| Heat 5 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Joe Bottom | USA | 51.47s | 1. | | 2. Peter Nocke | FRG | 51.59s | 5. | | 3. Bruce Robertson | CAN | 53.37s | 19. | | 4. Peter Coughlan | AUS | 53.49s | 20. | | 5. Dan Larsson | SWE | 53.81s | 23. | | 6. Gianni Versari | PAN | 54.11s | 30. | | 7. Steven Newkirk | USV | 55.43s | 36. |
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| Heat 4 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Vladimir Bure | URS | 51.81s | 6. | | 2. Andrey Krylov | URS | 52.02s | 7. | | 3. Gary MacDonald | CAN | 52.91s | 11. | | 4. Svante Rasmuson | SWE | 53.20s | 14. | | 5. Glenn Patching | AUS | 53.29s | 18. | | 6. Gerardo Rosario | PHI | 56.00s | 39. |
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| Heat 3 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Klaus Steinbach | FRG | 51.47s | 1. | | 2. Jack Babashoff | USA | 51.53s | 3. | | 3. Jorge Delgado, Jr. | ECU | 53.91s | 25. | | 4. Neil Rogers | AUS | 53.96s | 27. | | 5. Paul Jouanneau | BRA | 54.49s | 32. | | 6. Campari Knoepffler | NIC | 58.48s | 41. |
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| Heat 2 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Marcello Guarducci | ITA | 51.57s | 4. | | 2. Stephen Pickell | CAN | 52.65s | 10. | | 3. Martin Smith | GBR | 53.17s | 13. | | 4. René Écuyer | FRA | 53.20s | 14. | | 5. Ramón Volcan | VEN | 53.53s | 21. | | 6. Helmut Levy | COL | 54.60s | 33. | | 7. Kris Sumono | INA | 55.50s | 38. |
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| Heat 1 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Andrey Bogdanov | URS | 53.23s | 16. | | 2. Stefan Georgiev | BUL | 53.85s | 24. | | 3. Roger Pyttel | GDR | 53.93s | 26. | | 4. Dirk Braunleder | FRG | 54.04s | 28. | | 5. Jorge Comas | ESP | 54.05s | 29. | | 6. Mark Crocker | HKG | 54.14s | 31. | | 7. Kozo Higuchi | JPN | 54.67s | 34. |
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