| Final A | Team | time | Rk. |  | 1. Kyoko Iwasaki |  JPN | 2:26.65 | 2.  |  | 2. Lin Li |  CHN | 2:26.85 | 6.  |  | 3. Anita Nall |  USA | 2:26.88 | 1.  |  | 4. Yelena Rudkovskaya |  URS | 2:28.47 | 3.  |  | 5. Guylaine Cloutier |  CAN | 2:29.88 | 4.  |  | 6. Nathalie Giguère |  CAN | 2:30.11 | 5.  |  | 7. Manuela Dalla Valle |  ITA | 2:31.21 | 7.  |  | 8. Alicja Pęczak |  POL | 2:31.76 | 8.  |   
| Final B | Team | time | Rk. |  | 9. Gabriella Csépe |  HUN | 2:31.15 | 10.  |  | 10.Daniela Brendel |  GER | 2:32.05 | 11.  |  | 11.Audrey Guérit |  FRA | 2:32.10 | 13.  |  | 12.Sam Riley |  AUS | 2:32.63 | 11.  |  | 13.Kyoko Kasuya |  JPN | 2:32.97 | 15.  |  | 14.Jill Johnson |  USA | 2:33.89 | 9.  |  | 15.Magdalena Kupiec |  POL | 2:35.74 | 16.  |  | 16.Yelena Volkova |  URS | 2:37.65 | 14.  |   
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| Heat 5 | Team | time | Rk. |  | 1. Anita Nall |  USA | 2:27.77 | 1. |  | 2. Kyoko Iwasaki |  JPN | 2:27.78 | 2. |  | 3. Guylaine Cloutier |  CAN | 2:29.01 | 4. |  | 4. Nathalie Giguère |  CAN | 2:29.71 | 5. |  | 5. Lin Li |  CHN | 2:29.99 | 6. |  | 6. Gabriella Csépe |  HUN | 2:32.04 | 10. |  | 7. Elena Donati |  ITA | 2:36.42 | 24. |  | 8. Lu Di |  CHN | 2:38.63 | 29. |   
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| Heat 4 | Team | time | Rk. |  | 1. Alicja Pęczak |  POL | 2:30.78 | 8. |  | 2. Jill Johnson |  USA | 2:30.80 | 9. |  | 3. Daniela Brendel |  GER | 2:32.09 | 11. |  | 4. Audrey Guérit |  FRA | 2:32.33 | 13. |  | 5. Linley Frame |  AUS | 2:34.73 | 19. |  | 6. Beatrice Coadă-Căşlaru |  ROU | 2:34.97 | 20. |  | 7. Susannah Brownsdon |  GBR | 2:35.28 | 21. |  | 8. Park Mi-Yeong |  KOR | 2:35.33 | 23. |   
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| Heat 3 | Team | time | Rk. |  | 1. Yelena Rudkovskaya |  URS | 2:28.24 | 3. |  | 2. Manuela Dalla Valle |  ITA | 2:30.75 | 7. |  | 3. Sam Riley |  AUS | 2:32.09 | 11. |  | 4. Yelena Volkova |  URS | 2:32.39 | 14. |  | 5. Kyoko Kasuya |  JPN | 2:32.55 | 15. |  | 6. Magdalena Kupiec |  POL | 2:33.92 | 16. |  | 7. Brigitte Becue |  BEL | 2:34.11 | 17. |  | 8. Jana Dörries |  GER | 2:34.58 | 18. |   
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| Heat 2 | Team | time | Rk. |  | 1. Britta Vestergaard |  DEN | 2:35.28 | 21. |  | 2. Kira Bulten |  NED | 2:37.09 | 26. |  | 3. Ragnheiður Runólfsdóttir |  ISL | 2:37.42 | 27. |  | 4. Lourdes Becerra |  ESP | 2:37.69 | 28. |  | 5. Phuvichit Sornsawan |  THA | 2:41.20 | 30. |  | 6. Martine Janssen |  NED | 2:41.48 | 31. |  | 7. Jaime King |  GBR | 2:44.49 | 33. |  | 8. Penny Heyns |  RSA | 2:45.04 | 34. |   
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| Heat 1 | Team | time | Rk. |  | 1. Martina Nemec |  AUT | 2:36.65 | 25. |  | 2. Jenny Smatt |  BER | 2:42.25 | 32. |  | 3. Priscilla Madera |  ECU | 2:46.79 | 35. |  | 4. Barbara Pexa |  GUM | 2:47.27 | 36. |  | 5. Claudia Velásquez |  PER | 2:47.31 | 37. |  | 6. Nguyễn Thị Phương |  VIE | 2:57.71 | 38. |  | 7. Elke Talma |  SEY | 3:12.13 | 39. |   
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