| Final | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Mark Spitz | USA | 51.22s | 3. 3. | | 2. Jerry Heidenreich | USA | 51.65s | 2. 1. | | 3. Vladimir Bure | URS | 51.77s | 4. 5. | | 4. John Murphy | USA | 52.08s | 7. 8. | | 5. Mike Wenden | AUS | 52.41s | 1. 2. | | 6. Igor Grivennikov | URS | 52.44s | 8. 4. | | 7. Michel Rousseau | FRA | 52.90s | 6. 6. | | 8. Klaus Steinbach | FRG | 52.92s | 5. 7. |
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| Semi 1 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Jerry Heidenreich | USA | 52.31s | 1. | | 2. Igor Grivennikov | URS | 52.55s | 4. | | 3. Vladimir Bure | URS | 52.60s | 5. | | 4. Michel Rousseau | FRA | 52.82s | 6. | | 5. José Roberto Aranha | BRA | 53.47s | 9. | | 6. Brian Phillips | CAN | 53.73s | 12. | | 7. Peter Bruch | GDR | 53.97s | 14. | | 8. Karsten Meier | FRG | 54.35s | 16. |
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| Semi 2 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Mike Wenden | AUS | 52.32s | 2. | | 2. Mark Spitz | USA | 52.43s | 3. | | 3. Klaus Steinbach | FRG | 52.87s | 7. | | 4. John Murphy | USA | 53.17s | 8. | | 5. Bob Kasting | CAN | 53.62s | 10. | | 6. Georgijs Kuļikovs | URS | 53.68s | 11. | | 7. Jorge Comas | ESP | 53.92s | 13. | | 8. Greg Rogers | AUS | 54.26s | 15. |
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| Heat 1 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Rui Oliveira | BRA | 54.26s | 17. | | 2. Gilles Vigne | FRA | 54.34s | 19. | | 3. Wilfried Hartung | GDR | 54.37s | 21. | | 4. Malcolm Windeatt | GBR | 54.70s | 25. | | 5. Geoffrey Ferreira | TRT | 56.27s | 38. | | 6. Roberto Strauss | MEX | 56.78s | 41. |
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| Heat 2 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Igor Grivennikov | URS | 53.64s | 8. | | 2. Colin Herring | NZL | 54.41s | 22. | | 3. Alain Hermitte | FRA | 54.57s | 24. | | 4. István Szentirmay | HUN | 54.71s | 26. | | 5. Antonio Ferracuti | ESA | 56.69s | 40. | | 6. Sandro Rudan | YUG | 56.91s | 42. | | 7. Bruno Bassoul | LEB | 1:00.08 | 47. |
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| Heat 3 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Vladimir Bure | URS | 52.87s | 4. | | 2. Jorge Comas | ESP | 53.70s | 9. | | 3. José Roberto Aranha | BRA | 54.06s | 14. | | 4. Hanspeter Würmli | SUI | 55.08s | 31. | | 5. Neil Rogers | AUS | 55.32s | 32. | | 6. Samnang Prak | CAM | 59.18s | 45. |
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| Heat 4 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Michel Rousseau | FRA | 52.93s | 6. | | 2. Karsten Meier | FRG | 53.96s | 12. | | 3. Greg Rogers | AUS | 53.98s | 13. | | 4. Hartmut Flöckner | GDR | 54.36s | 20. | | 5. Bruce Robertson | CAN | 54.76s | 28. | | 6. Feridun Aybars | TUR | 59.32s | 46. |
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| Heat 5 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. John Murphy | USA | 53.07s | 7. | | 2. Georgijs Kuļikovs | URS | 53.78s | 11. | | 3. Peter Bruch | GDR | 54.25s | 16. | | 4. Paulo Zanetti | BRA | 54.97s | 29. | | 5. Brian Brinkley | GBR | 55.06s | 30. | | 6. Zbigniew Pacelt | POL | 55.97s | 36. | | 7. Andrew Hunter | IRE | 56.09s | 37. | | 8. Abdullah Zeyab | KUW | 1:03.94 | 48. |
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| Heat 6 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Jerry Heidenreich | USA | 52.38s | 2. | | 2. Brian Phillips | CAN | 53.75s | 10. | | 3. Bob Kasting | CAN | 54.07s | 15. | | 4. Gerhard Schiller | FRG | 54.28s | 18. | | 5. Attila Császári | HUN | 55.37s | 34. | | 6. Finnur Garðarsson | ISL | 55.53s | 35. | | 7. Salvador Vilanova | ESA | 56.57s | 39. | | 8. Wong Man Chiu | HKG | 57.53s | 44. |
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| Heat 7 | Team | time | Rk. | | 1. Mike Wenden | AUS | 52.34s | 1. | | 2. Mark Spitz | USA | 52.46s | 3. | | 3. Klaus Steinbach | FRG | 52.91s | 5. | | 4. Fritz Warncke | NOR | 54.41s | 22. | | 5. Roberto Pangaro | ITA | 54.74s | 27. | | 6. Marian Slavic | ROU | 55.35s | 33. | | 7. Jorge van Balen | VEN | 57.20s | 43. |
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