Swimming at the 1981 Summer Universiade
The swimming competition at the 1981 Summer Universiade took place in Bucharest, Romania.
Men's events
Legend:Women's events
Legend:; Men's 100 m freestyle
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Kris Kirschner | 51.39 | |||
| Serhiy Krasyuk | 51.86 | |||
| Jorge Fernandes | 52.06 | |||
| 4 | Jerry Spencer | 52.17 | ||
| 5 | Yuri Prisekin | 52.38 | ||
| 6 | Gerd Kohlat | 53.63 | ||
| 7 | Per-Alvar Magnusson | 53.71 | ||
| 8 | Graeme Brewer | 53.73 |
; Men's 200 m freestyle
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Andy Schmidt | 1:52.62 | GR | ||
| Jorge Fernandes | 1:52.92 | |||
| Djan Madruga | 1:53.00 | |||
| 4 | Yuri Logvin | 1:53.01 | ||
| 5 | Yuri Prisekin | 1:53.93 | ||
| 6 | Daniel Machek | 1:54.93 | ||
| 7 | Dennis Corcoran | 1:55.82 | ||
| 8 | Hiroshi Sakamoto | 1:56.39 |
; Men's 400 m freestyle
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Daniel Machek | 3:58.08 | |||
| Djan Madruga | 3:58.54 | |||
| Sergey Kalashnikov | 4:00.95 | |||
| 4 | Graeme Brewer | 4:04.03 | ||
| 5 | James Lee | 4:04.95 | ||
| 6 | Ron McKeon | 4:05.85 | ||
| 7 | Eugene Gyorfi | 4:08.71 | ||
| 8 | Marcelo Jucá | 4:08.88 |
; Men's 1500 m freestyle
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Aleksandr Chayev | 15:22.25 | GR | ||
| Sergey Kalashnikov | 15:40.62 | |||
| Monte Brown | 15:48.70 | |||
| 4 | Marcelo Jucá | 15:57.80 | ||
| 5 | Eugene Gyorfi | 16:04.58 | ||
| 6 | Robert Bylis | 16:09.41 | ||
| 7 | Hiroaki Kaneko | 16:11.22 | ||
| 8 | Tizoc Guemez | 16:31.89 |
; Men's 100 m backstroke
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Sergei Zabolotnov | 58.09 | |||
| Vladimir Dolgov | 58.19 | |||
| Rômulo Arantes | 58.24 | |||
| 4 | Dave Wilson | 58.69 | ||
| 5 | Zbigniew Januszkiewicz | 59.56 | ||
| 6 | Clay Britt | 59.63 | ||
| 7 | Miloslav Rolko | 59.76 | ||
| 8 | Hidetoshi Takahashi | 1:00.01 |
; Men's 200 m backstroke
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Sergei Zabolotnov | 2:03.65 | |||
| Djan Madruga | 2:03.73 | |||
| Zbigniew Januszkiewicz | 2:05.37 | |||
| 4 | Vladimir Dolgov | 2:05.97 | ||
| 5 | Hidetoshi Takahashi | 2:07.07 | ||
| 6 | James Fowler | 2:09.10 | ||
| 7 | Josef Kuf | 2:09.40 | ||
| 8 | Mihai Mandache | 2:10.12 |
; Men's 100 m breaststroke
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Nicholas Nevid | 1:04.33 | |||
| Peter Lang | 1:05.06 | |||
| Arsens Miskarovs | 1:05.41 | |||
| 4 | Robert Jackson | 1:05.70 | ||
| 5 | Wang Lin | 1:06.09 | ||
| 6 | Aleksandr Fedorovsky | 1:06.13 | ||
| 7 | Marco Veilleux | 1:06.64 | ||
| 8 | Tatsuo Abe | 1:07.72 |
; Men's 200 m breaststroke
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Arsens Miskarovs | 2:19.42 | GR | ||
| Nicholas Nevid | 2:21.47 | |||
| Aleksandr Fedorovsky | 2:23.62 | |||
| 4 | Wang Lin | 2:24.39 | ||
| 5 | Asao Aoki | 2:25.24 | ||
| 6 | Marco Veilleux | 2:25.49 |
; Men's 100 m butterfly
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| William Paulus | 55.41 | |||
| Robert Placak | 55.41 | |||
| Sergei Kiselyov | 56.29 | |||
| 4 | Kenji Izumi | 57.07 | ||
| 5 | Per-Alvar Magnusson | 57.70 | ||
| 6 | Marcus Mattioli | 57.71 | ||
| 7 | Luo Zhaoying | 57.79 | ||
| 7 | Levente Mady | 57.79 |
; Men's 200 m butterfly
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Sergey Fesenko, Sr. | 2:01.86 | |||
| Levente Mady | 2:04.75 | |||
| Sergei Kiselyov | 2:04.85 | |||
| 4 | Yoshinobu Shidara | 2:05.04 | ||
| 5 | Shinsuke Kayama | 2:05.14 | ||
| 6 | Juan Carlos Fontoura | 2:06.16 | ||
| 7 | Gérard de Kort | 2:07.27 | ||
| 8 | Flavius Vişan | 2:09.41 |
; Men's 200 m individual medley
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Sergey Fesenko, Sr. | 2:06.34 | GR | ||
| Aleksey Markovsky | 2:08.34 | |||
| Alan Swanston | 2:09.48 | |||
| 4 | Dawei Feng | 2:10.24 | ||
| 5 | Bob Rives | 2:10.99 | ||
| 6 | Dave Town | 2:11.34 | ||
| 7 | Kozo Tatsumi | 2:11.57 | ||
| 8 | Stefan Mitu | 2:12.08 |
; Men's 400 m individual medley
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Sergey Fesenko, Sr. | 4:25.53 | |||
| Peter Dobson | 4:31.65 | |||
| Daniel Machek | 4:32.16 | |||
| 4 | Monte Brown | 4:38.08 | ||
| 5 | Kozo Tatsumi | 4:39.36 | ||
| 6 | Tizoc Guemez | 4:39.43 | ||
| 7 | Gérard de Kort | 4:42.19 | ||
| 8 | Jeffrey Riddle | 4:42.59 |
; Men's 4×100 m freestyle relay
| Rank | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| Jerry Spencer Andy Schmidt Paul Goodridge Kris Kirschner | 3:27.84 | |||
| Yuri Prisekin Alexey Filonov Aleksey Markovsky Serhiy Krasyuk | 3:28.09 | |||
| Jorge Fernandes Marcus Mattioli Ronald Menezes Djan Madruga | 3:32.42 | |||
| 4 | 3:33.54 | |||
| 5 | 3:35.96 | |||
| 6 | 3:37.75 | |||
| 7 | 3:39.17 | |||
| 8 | 3:45.83 |
; Men's 4×200 m freestyle relay
| Rank | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| 7:33.96 | GR | |||
| Andy Schmidt Jimmy Lee B. McCarthy Kris Kirschner | 7:34.11 | |||
| 7:38.32 | ||||
| 4 | 7:39.88 | |||
| 5 | 7:49.08 | |||
| 6 | 7:52.96 | |||
| 7 | 7:53.78 | |||
| 8 | 7:59.43 |
; Men's 4×100 m medley relay
| Rank | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| Sergey Zabolotnov Arsens Miskarovs Sergei Kiselyov Serhiy Krasyuk | 3:48.75 | |||
| Dave Wilson Nicholas Nevid Robert Placak Kris Kirchner | 3:49.55 | |||
| Rômulo Arantes Luiz Carvalho Marcus Mattioli Jorge Fernandes | 3:55.10 | |||
| 4 | 3:56.18 | |||
| 5 | 3:56.48 | |||
| 6 | 3:59.79 | |||
| 7 | 4:03.15 | |||
| 8 | 4:07.29 |
; Women's 100 m freestyle
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Jill Sterkel | 57.17 | |||
| Barbara Major | 58.28 | |||
| Olga Klevakina | 58.65 | |||
| 4 | Kelly Neuber | 59.38 | ||
| 5 | Carole Amoric | 59.51 | ||
| 6 | Radosveta Chinkova | 1:00.05 | ||
| 7 | Olga Eliseeva | 1:00.06 | ||
| 8 | Kateřina Machková | 1:00.72 |
; Women's 200 m freestyle
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Jill Sterkel | 2:03.97 | |||
| Olga Klevakina | 2:04.58 | |||
| Irina Laricheva | 2:05.38 | |||
| 4 | Tracy Spalding | 2:05.58 | ||
| 5 | Véronique Stéphan | 2:07.67 | ||
| 6 | Kelly Neuber | 2:09.04 | ||
| 7 | Leslie Brafield | 2:09.32 | ||
| 8 | Iwona Wejksza | 2:10.51 |
; Women's 400 m freestyle
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Kim Linehan | 4:15.26 | |||
| Irina Laricheva | 4:15.50 | |||
| Sherri Hanna | 4:21.01 | |||
| 4 | Renata Janik | 4:31.46 | ||
| 5 | Leslie Brafield | 4:34.07 | ||
| 6 | Carmen Mihăilă | 4:37.94 | ||
| 7 | Kelly Neuber | 4:39.98 | ||
| 8 | Xu Yan | 4:40.79 |
; Women's 800 m freestyle
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Kim Linehan | 8:37.50 | GR | ||
| Irina Laricheva | 8:45.01 | |||
| Sherri Hanna | 8:46.57 | |||
| 4 | Renata Janik | 9:19.83 | ||
| 5 | Carmen Mihăilă | 9:24.22 | ||
| 6 | Xu Yan | 9:34.01 | ||
| 7 | Anna Michalak | 9:41.18 | ||
| 8 | Alejandra Colin | 10:00.89 |
; Women's 100 m backstroke
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Carmen Bunaciu | 1:02.47 | GR | ||
| Kim Carlisle | 1:04.53 | |||
| Susan Walsh | 1:04.74 | |||
| 4 | Irina Orliuk | 1:06.21 | ||
| 5 | Valerie Whyte | 1:07.32 | ||
| 6 | Heike John | 1:07.51 | ||
| 7 | Daphne Demuth | 1:08.91 | ||
| 8 | Lisa Dixon | 1:09.29 |
; Women's 200 m backstroke
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Carmen Bunaciu | 2:13.21 | |||
| Kim Carlisle | 2:19.02 | |||
| Susan Walsh | 2:19.11 | |||
| 4 | Irina Orliuk | 2:19.92 | ||
| 5 | Daphne Demuth | 2:22.13 | ||
| 6 | Lisa Dixon | 2:24.26 | ||
| 7 | Mihăilescu | 2:26.17 | ||
| 8 | Valerie Whyte | 2:29.92 |
; Women's 100 m breaststroke
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Angelika Knipping | 1:14.20 | |||
| Liang Weifen | 1:14.48 | |||
| Lina Kačiušytė | 1:14.54 | |||
| 4 | Hong Shad | 1:14.82 | ||
| 5 | Brigitte Prass | 1:14.86 | ||
| 6 | Patricia Waters | 1:15.47 | ||
| 7 | Christine Seidl | 1:15.72 | ||
| 8 | Irena Fleissnerová | 1:16.13 |
; Women's 200 m breaststroke
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Lina Kačiušytė | 2:35.85 | GR | ||
| Irena Fleissnerová | 2:38.64 | |||
| Cindy Tuttle | 2:41.66 | |||
| 4 | Diane Johnson | 2:42.09 | ||
| 5 | Brigitte Prass | 2:44.49 | ||
| 6 | Joanne Chevalier | 2:45.94 | ||
| 7 | Claire Lemaire | 2:46.78 | ||
| 8 | Ma Guadalupe | 2:48.58 |
; Women's 100 m butterfly
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Jill Sterkel | 1:01.91 | GR | ||
| Carol Borgmann | 1:02.42 | |||
| Carmen Bunaciu | 1:02.98 | |||
| 4 | Susie Woodhouse | 1:03.17 | ||
| 5 | Valerie Whyte | 1:05.88 | ||
| 6 | Lisa Burnes | 1:05.94 | ||
| 7 | Susan Jenner | 1:05.98 | ||
| 8 | Hansie Geijssen | 1:06.32 |
; Women's 200 m butterfly
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Kim Karlisle | 2:15.71 | |||
| Susie Woodhouse | 2:15.97 | |||
| Mayumi Yokoyama | 2:17.52 | |||
| 4 | Lisa Burnes | 2:18.27 | ||
| 5 | Malgorzata Rozycka | 2:21.89 | ||
| 6 | Susan Jenner | 2:22.56 | ||
| 7 | Gizella Szlavitsek | 2:23.42 | ||
| 8 | Valerie Whyte | 2:25.76 |
; Women's 200 m individual medley
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Kim Carlisle | 2:20.43 | GR | ||
| Olga Klevakina | 2:20.81 | |||
| Barbara Selter | 2:24.17 | |||
| 4 | Diane Johnson | 2:24.63 | ||
| 5 | Irinel Pănulescu | 2:25.51 | ||
| 6 | Mariana Paraschiv | 2:25.84 | ||
| 7 | Lisa Dixon | 2:26.55 | ||
| 8 | Katy Archer | 2:27.48 |
; Women's 400 m individual medley
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| Mayumi Yokoyama | 4:55.45 | GR | ||
| Irinel Pănulescu | 5:03.78 | |||
| Malgorzata Rozycka | 5:07.49 | |||
| 4 | Mariana Paraschiv | 5:12.58 | ||
| Anne Tweedy | 4:57.68 | DSQ | ||
| Lisa Dixon | 5:05.74 | DSQ | ||
| Barbara Selter | 5:06.56 | DSQ | ||
| Daphne Demuth | DNS |
; Women's 4×100 m freestyle relay
| Rank | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| Annie Lett Carol Borgmann Barbara Major Jill Sterkel | 3:55.05 | |||
| Irina Laricheva Olga Eliseeva Irina Orliuk Olga Klevakina | 3:57.64 | |||
| Kelly Neuber Leslie Brafield Sylvie Kennedy Valerie Whyte | 4:00.59 | |||
| 4 | 4:01.43 | |||
| 5 | 4:02.97 | |||
| 6 | 4:10.47 | |||
| 7 | 4:13.91 |
; Women's 4×100 m medley relay
| Rank | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| Kim Carlisle Patricia Waters Jill Sterkel Barbara Major | 4:18.84 | |||
| Carmen Bunaciu Brigitte Prass Mariana Paraschiv Irinel Pănulescu | 4:22.14 | |||
| Irina Orliuk Lina Kačiušytė Olga Klevakina Irina Laricheva | 4:25.96 | |||
| 4 | 4:33.06 | |||
| 5 | 4:33.25 | |||
| 6 | 4:37.94 | |||
| 7 | 4:41.52 |