| | Final 20:38 | time | gap | L | Rc | | | 1. |  China | 4:01.67 | WR | 3 | - | | | Cihong He 1:00.16 WR, Guohong Dai 17 2:09.20, Limin Liu 18 3:07.86, Jingyi Le 19 4:01.67 | | 2. |  United States | 4:06.53 | +4.86s | 4 | - | | | Lea Loveless 1:01.96, Kristine Quance 2:12.37, Amy Van Dyken 3:11.83, Jenny Thompson 4:06.53 | | 3. |  Russia | 4:06.70 | +5.03s | 5 | - | | | Nina Zhivanevskaya 1:01.52, Olga Prokhorova 2:11.78, Svetlana Pozdeyeva 3:11.80, Natalia Meshcheryakova 4:06.70 | | 4. |  Australia | 4:06.95 | +5.28s | 6 | - | | | Elli Overton 1:02.72, Sam Riley 2:11.23, Petria Thomas 3:11.30, Susie O'neill 4:06.95 | | 5. |  Japan | 4:11.18 | +9.51s | 7 | - | | | Mai Nakamura 1:03.40, Masami Tanaka 2:13.64, Tomoko Kunimitsu 3:16.08, Suzu Chiba 4:11.18 | | 6. |  Italy | 4:12.41 | +10.74s | 2 | - | | | Lorenza Vigarani 1:02.96, Manuela Dalla Valle 2:13.64, Ilaria Tocchini 3:14.58, Cecilia Vianini 4:12.41 | | 7. |  Canada | 4:14.05 | +12.38s | 1 | - | | | Beth Hazel 20 1:04.88, Lisa Flood 23 2:15.35, Jessica Amey 17 3:17.96, Shannon Shakespeare 17 4:14.05 | | 8. |  France | 4:14.11 | +12.44s | 8 | - | | | Roxana Maracineanu 1:04.16, Karine Bremond 2:15.33, Cecile Jeanson 3:16.58, Julie Blaise 4:14.11 |
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Heats - Saturday, 10th September 11:20 | | Best 8 times advanced to Final. |
| | Heat 3 | time | gap | L | Rc | | | 3. | China | 4:12.72 | +1.35s | 4 | - | | | Cihong He 1:03.44, Yuan Yuan 2:15.19, Yun Qu 3:18.53, Ying Shan 4:12.72 | | 4. | Australia | 4:12.91 | +1.54s | 5 | - | | | Nicole Stevenson 1:03.84, Rebecca Brown 2:14.99, Petria Thomas 3:15.88, Sarah Ryan 4:12.91 | | 5. | Italy | 4:14.16 | +2.79s | 6 | - | | | Lorenza Vigarani 1:03.19, Manuela Dalla Valle 2:14.50, Ilaria Tocchini 3:16.24, Cecilia Vianini 4:14.16 | | 6. | Japan | 4:14.47 | +3.10s | 3 | - | | | Mai Nakamura 1:03.95, Masami Tanaka 2:15.85, Tomoko Kunimitsu 3:18.34, Suzu Chiba 4:14.47 | | 14. |  Romania | 4:22.93 | +11.56s | 2 | - | | | Claudia Stanescu 1:04.77, Adriana Enache 2:18.48, Liliana Dobrescu 3:24.15, Lorena Diaconescu 4:22.93 | | 16. |  Chinese Taipei | 4:36.95 | +25.58s | 7 | - | | | Chi-Chan Lin 1:10.87, Hsin Mou 2:29.28, Fu-Jen KUO 3:34.28, Shu-Min Tsai 4:36.95 |
| | Heat 2 | time | gap | L | Rc | | | 2. | Russia | 4:12.11 | +0.74s | 5 | - | | | Nina Zhivanevskaya 1:02.22, Olga Prokhorova 2:13.06, Svetlana Pozdeyeva 3:14.46, Natalia Meshcheryakova 4:12.11 | | 9. |  Germany | 4:15.64 | +4.27s | 4 | - | | | Sandra Volker 20 1:02.82, Jana Dorries 18 2:15.87, Katrin Jaeke 3:18.85, Katrin Meissner 21 4:15.64 | | 10. |  Spain | 4:17.70 | +6.33s | 6 | - | | | Nuria Castello 1:06.24, Maria Olay 2:17.97, Maria Pelaez 3:21.10, Claudia Franco 4:17.70 | | 11. |  South Africa | 4:18.65 | +7.28s | 3 | - | | | Marianne Kriel 23 1:05.07, Penny Heyns 19 2:16.96, Amanda Loots 16 3:19.51, Karen Allers 4:18.65 | | 13. |  Portugal | 4:22.03 | +10.66s | 2 | - | | | Petra Chaves 1:05.20, Joana Soutinho 2:18.83, Joana Arantes 3:23.02, Ana Alegria 4:22.03 | | 17. |  Macau | 4:58.99 | +47.62s | 7 | - | | | Keng Man Lei 1:16.02, Weng Kei Kou 2:40.00, Ka Leong Chio 3:55.09, Wai Man Lam 4:58.99 |
| | Heat 1 11:20 | time | gap | L | Rc | | | 1. | United States | 4:11.37 | - | 4 | - | | | Lea Loveless 1:02.44, Kristine Quance 2:13.19, Whitney Phelps 3:15.67, Angel Martino 4:11.37 | | 7. | Canada | 4:14.65 | +3.28s | 3 | - | | | Beth Hazel 1:05.06, Lisa Flood 2:15.97, Jessica Amey 3:19.29, Shannon Shakespeare 4:14.65 | | 8. | France | 4:15.63 | +4.26s | 5 | - | | | Roxana Maracineanu 1:04.24, Karine Bremond 2:16.70, Cecile Jeanson 3:18.02, Julie Blaise 4:15.63 | | 12. |  Sweden | 4:19.17 | +7.80s | 6 | - | | | Therese Alshammar 1:04.95, Hanna Jaltner 2:17.90, Louise JŶ"hncke 3:21.57, Ellenor Svensson 4:19.17 | | 15. |  Argentina | 4:29.78 | +18.41s | 2 | - | | | Valera Luciana Alvarez 1:06.75, Maria Carolina Santa Cruz 2:23.88, Maria Pereyra 3:30.21, Maria Virginia Garrone 4:29.78 |
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