The women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place August 30.[1] The relay featured teams of four swimmers each swimming two lengths of the 50 m pool freestyle.
Shirley Babashoff Jane Barkman Jenny Kemp Sandy Neilson | Andrea Eife Kornelia Ender Elke Sehmisch Gabriele Wetzko | Gudrun Beckmann Heidemarie Reineck Angela Steinbach Jutta Weber |
Heat 1
| Place | width=620 | Swimmers | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:58.11 | |||||
| 2 | 4:02.70 | |||||
| 3 | 4:05.44 | |||||
| 4 | 4:05.95 | |||||
| 5 | 4:07.55 | |||||
| 6 | 4:08.82 | |||||
| 7 | 4:14.95 | |||||
| 8 | 4:26.34 |
Heat 2
| Place | width=620 | Swimmers | width=90 | Time | width=90 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:58.93 | |||||
| 2 | 4:01.63 | |||||
| 3 | 4:03.99 | |||||
| 4 | 4:04.29 | |||||
| 5 | 4:08.34 | NR | ||||
| 6 | 4:09.51 | |||||
| 7 | 4:10.70 | |||||
| 8 | 4:10.73 |
| Rank | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandra Neilson (58.98) Jennifer Kemp (58.99) Jane Barkman (59.03) Shirley Babashoff (58.18) | 3:55.19 | ||||
| Gabriele Wetzko (59.23) Andrea Eife (58.96) Elke Sehmisch (59.08) Kornelia Ender (58.27) | 3:55.55 | ER | |||
| Jutta Weber (59.84) Heidemarie Reineck (59.02) Gudrun Beckmann (59.99) Angela Steinbach (59.07) | 3:57.93 | NR | |||
| 4 | Andrea Gyarmati (59.32) Judit Turóczy (1:00.88) Edit Kovács (1:01.12) Magdolna Patóh (59.06) | 4:00.39 | |||
| 5 | Enith Brigitha (59.46) Anke Rijnders (1:00.85) Hansje Bunschoten (59.93) Josien Elzerman (1:01.24) | 4:01.49 | |||
| 6 | Anita Zarnowiecki (1:01.16) Eva Andersson (1:00.25) Diana Olsson (1:00.30) Irwi Johansson (1:00.97) | 4:02.69 | |||
| 7 | Wendy Cook (1:00.98) Judy Wright (1:01.06) Mary Beth Rondeau (1:01.37) Leslie Cliff (1:00.41) | 4:03.83 | |||
| 8 | Deborah Palmer (1:02.02) Leanne Francis (1:01.09) Sharon Booth (1:00.70) Shane Gould (1:01.00) | 4:04.82 |