| Rank | Heat | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | | Tatyana Chebykina, Svetlana Goncharenko, Tatyana Zakharova, Yelena Andreyeva | 3:22.24 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | | Kim Graham, Rochelle Stevens, Nicole Green, Camara Jones | 3:23.29 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | | Claudine Williams, Merlene Frazer, Revoli Campbell, Sandie Richards | 3:23.29 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | | Linda Kisabaka, Karin Janke, Sandra Kuschmann, Uta Rohländer | 3:23.84 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | | Falilat Ogunkoya, Olabisi Afolabi, Omolade Akinremi, Fatima Yusuf | 3:25.42 | q |
| 6 | 2 | | Melanie Neef, Stephanie Llewellyn, Lorraine Hanson, Georgina Oladapo | 3:25.50 | q |
| 7 | 1 | | Lee Naylor, Renee Poetschka, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Cathy Freeman | 3:26.08 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | | Naděžda Koštovalová, Hana Benešová, Ludmila Formanová, Helena Dziurová-Fuchsová | 3:26.27 | |
| 9 | 1 | | Surella Morales, Nancy McLeón, Idalmis Bonne, Julia Duporty | 3:26.32 | Q |
| 10 | 1 | | Viktoriya Fomenko, Olga Moroz, Irina Lenskaya, Yelena Rurak | 3:26.43 | |
| 11 | 1 | | Marie-Louise Bevis, Viviane Dorsile-El Haddad, Evelyne Elien, Marie-José Pérec | 3:27.11 | |
| 12 | 2 | | Francesca Carbone, Patrizia Spuri, Danielle Perpoli, Virna de Angeli | 3:30.88 | |
| 13 | 1 | | Esther Lahoz, Sandra Myers, Miriam Bravo, Yolanda Reyes | 3:31.71 | |
| 1 | | Patricia Rodríguez, Elia Manuela Mera, Mirtha Brock, Norfalia Carabali | | |
