| Final | Team | time | Rk.  |  | 1. Andrea Pollack | GDR | 2:11.41 | 1.  |  | 2. Ulrike Tauber | GDR | 2:12.50 | 3.  |  | 3. Rosemarie Kother-Gabriel | GDR | 2:12.86 | 2.  |  | 4. Karen Moe-Thornton | USA | 2:12.90 | 6.  |  | 5. Wendy Quirk | CAN | 2:13.68 | 4.  |  | 6. Cheryl Gibson | CAN | 2:13.91 | 8.  |  | 7. Tamara Shelofastova | URS | 2:14.26 | 5.  |  | 8. Nataliya Popova | URS | 2:14.50 | 7.  |   
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| Heat 5 | Team | time | Rk.  |  | 1. Rosemarie Kother-Gabriel | GDR | 2:12.93 | 2. |  | 2. Camille Wright | USA | 2:14.77 | 9. |  | 3. Michelle Ford | AUS | 2:18.24 | 16.  |  | 4. Kuniko Banno | JPN | 2:21.68 | 19.  |  | 5. José Damen | NED | 2:21.73 | 20.  |  | 6. Rossana Juncos | ARG | 2:28.81 | 31.  |   
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| Heat 4 | Team | time | Rk.  |  | 1. Ulrike Tauber | GDR | 2:13.50 | 3. |  | 2. Wendy Quirk | CAN | 2:14.30 | 4. |  | 3. Cheryl Gibson | CAN | 2:14.65 | 8. |  | 4. Donatella Talpo-Schiavon | ITA | 2:21.88 | 21.  |  | 5. María Paris | CRC | 2:23.52 | 24.  |  | 6. María Hung | VEN | 2:23.64 | 25.  |  | 7. Jane Alexander | GBR | 2:26.61 | 30.  |   
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| Heat 3 | Team | time | Rk.  |  | 1. Andrea Pollack | GDR | 2:11.56 | 1. |  | 2. Nataliya Popova | URS | 2:14.65 | 7. |  | 3. Lynne Rowe | NZL | 2:17.89 | 13.  |  | 4. Yasue Hatsuda | JPN | 2:18.03 | 14.  |  | 5. Anne Adams | GBR | 2:22.62 | 23.  |  | 6. Chantal Grimard | BEL | 2:26.04 | 29.  |   
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| Heat 2 | Team | time | Rk.  |  | 1. Tamara Shelofastova | URS | 2:14.39 | 5. |  | 2. Donna Lee Wennerstrom | USA | 2:15.56 | 10.  |  | 3. Linda Hanel | AUS | 2:17.66 | 12.  |  | 4. Beate Jasch | FRG | 2:19.19 | 17.  |  | 5. Joanne Atkinson | GBR | 2:21.23 | 18.  |  | 6. Miriam Hopkins | IRE | 2:24.96 | 28.  |  | 7. Alfreðsdóttir Þórunn | ISL | 2:29.22 | 32.  |   
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| Heat 1 | Team | time | Rk.  |  | 1. Karen Moe-Thornton | USA | 2:14.53 | 6. |  | 2. Becky Smith | CAN | 2:15.79 | 11.  |  | 3. Judith Hudson | AUS | 2:18.12 | 15.  |  | 4. Gunilla Andersson | SWE | 2:22.04 | 22.  |  | 5. María Mock | PUR | 2:23.71 | 26.  |  | 6. Rosemary Ribeiro | BRA | 2:23.79 | 27.  |   
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