| 1. Rosemarie Kother |  East Germany | 1:01.99 | WR | | - | | 2. Anne-Kathrin Leucht | East Germany | 1:03.63 | | +1.64s | - | | 3. Gunilla Andersson |  Sweden | 1:04.67 | | +2.68s | - | | 4. Beate Jasch |  West Germany | 1:05.06 | | +3.07s | - | | 5. Joanne Atkinson |  Great Britain | 1:05.48 | | +3.49s | - | | 6. Yolanda Aggenbach |  Netherlands | 1:05.55 | | +3.56s | - | | 7. Gudrun Beckmann | West Germany | 1:05.64 | | +3.65s | - | | 8. Alekszandra Meerzon |  Soviet Union | 1:05.70 | | +3.71s | - |
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| | Best 8 times advanced to Final. |
| Heat 4 | | time | | gap | L | Rk | | 1. Rosemarie Kother | East Germany | 1:02.09 | Q, WR | | - | 1. | | 7. Alekszandra Meerzon | Soviet Union | 1:05.76 | Q | -.--s | - | 7. | | 8. Joanne Atkinson | Great Britain | 1:05.86 | Q | -.--s | - | 8. | | 12.Marina Corsi |  Italy | 1:06.56 | | -.--s | - | 12. | | 15.Kim Wickham | Great Britain | 1:07.64 | | -.--s | - | 15. | | 16.Ann Pistre |  France | 1:07.67 | | -.--s | - | 16. | | 17.Małgorzata Wieczorek |  Poland | 1:07.94 | | -.--s | - | 17. |
| Heat 3 | | time | | gap | L | Rk | | 2. Anne-Kathrin Leucht | East Germany | 1:03.70 | Q, ECR | -.--s | - | 2. | | 9. Donatella Talpo | Italy | 1:06.09 | | -.--s | - | 9. | | 11.Tamara Selofasztova | Soviet Union | 1:06.32 | | -.--s | - | 11. | | 13.Eva-Lotta Kihlberg | Sweden | 1:06.92 | | -.--s | - | 13. | | 22.Birgit Rasmussen |  Denmark | 1:10.06 | | -.--s | - | 22. | | 23.Anasztaszia Konsztandinidu |  Greece | 1:11.26 | | -.--s | - | 23. |
| Heat 2 | | time | | gap | L | Rk | | 3. Gunilla Andersson | Sweden | 1:04.63 | Q, ECR | -.--s | - | 3. | | 6. Gudrun Beckmann | West Germany | 1:05.60 | Q | -.--s | - | 6. | | 10.Trine Krogh |  Norway | 1:06.19 | | -.--s | - | 10. | | 14.Martine Verbreyt |  Belgium | 1:07.25 | | -.--s | - | 14. | | 20.Eva Sigg |  Finland | 1:09.38 | | -.--s | - | 20. | | 24.Alfreðsdóttir Þórunn |  Iceland | 1:11.67 | | -.--s | - | 24. |
| Heat 1 | | time | | gap | L | Rk | | 4. Beate Jasch | West Germany | 1:04.94 | Q, ECR | -.--s | - | 4. | | 5. Yolanda Aggenbach | Netherlands | 1:05.23 | Q | -.--s | - | 5. | | 18.Corinne Frisque | Belgium | 1:08.59 | | -.--s | - | 18. | | 19.Eva Majnarić |  Yugoslávia | 1:09.29 | | -.--s | - | 19. | | 21.Grethe Nielsen | Denmark | 1:09.80 | | -.--s | - | 21. |
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