Notable swimmers missed out the top 8 final, featuring Germany's Antje Buschschulte, a pre-Olympic medal contender; South Africa's Charlene Wittstock, who eventually married to Albert II, Prince of Monaco in 2010; and Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who later emerged as one of the world's top backstroke swimmers in her decade.
Meanwhile, Sweden's Louise Jöhncke (55.93), Therese Alshammar (53.78), Johanna Sjöberg (55.06), and Anna-Karin Kammerling (55.58) came up with a spectacular swim to grab a bronze in 3:40.30, a national record, holding off a sprint battle from the fast-pacing German team of Antje Buschschulte (55.67), Katrin Meißner (54.92), Franziska van Almsick (55.02), and Sandra Völker (54.70) by a hundredth of a second.