| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time behind | Notes |
| - | 4 | United States | Amy Van Dyken (55.08) Dara Torres (53.51) Courtney Shealy (54.40) Jenny Thompson (53.62) | 3:36.61 | - | WR |
| - | 5 | Netherlands | Manon van Rooijen (56.35) Wilma van Rijn (55.19) Thamar Henneken (54.88) Inge de Bruijn (53.41) | 3:39.83 | 3.22 | EU |
| - | 7 | Sweden | Louise Jöhncke (55.93) Therese Alshammar (53.78) Johanna Sjöberg (55.06) Anna-Karin Kammerling (55.53) | 3:40.30 | 3.69 | NR |
| 4 | 6 | Germany | Antje Buschschulte (55.67) Katrin Meissner (54.92) Franziska van Almsick (55.02) Sandra Völker (54.70) | 3:40.31 | 3.70 | NR |
| 5 | 3 | Great Britain | Karen Pickering (56.01) Alison Sheppard (54.95) Rosalind Brett (54.92) Sue Rolph (54.66) | 3:40.54 | 3.93 | - |
| 6 | 2 | Australia | Susie O'Neill (54.79) Sarah Ryan (54.80) Elka Graham (55.57) Giaan Rooney (55.75) | 3:40.91 | 4.30 | - |
| 7 | 1 | Canada | Marianne Limpert (56.32) Shannon Shakespeare (55.10) Laura Nicholls (55.30) Jessica Deglau (56.20) | 3:42.92 | 6.31 | - |
| 8 | 8 | Italy | Cecilia Vianini (55.96) Luisa Striani (56.22) Sara Parise (55.88) Cristina Chiuso (56.43) | 3:44.49 | 7.88 | - |