| Date | 12 August 1932 — 16:35 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Olympic Park Swimming Stadium, Los Angeles, California | |
| Participants | 20 from 5 countries | |
| Format | Final only. | |
Only five countries sent relay teams to Los Angeles, so only a straight final was required. The American team was far superior to the other four, winning by ten seconds, although the Dutch team also dipped below the existing world record. Two members of the US team, Helene Madison and Josephine McKim, went on to brief careers in Hollywood, although neither made more than a handful of movies.
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States |  USA | 4:38.0 | Gold | ||
| Lead-off | Josephine McKim | – | ||||
| 2nd Leg | Helen Johns | – | ||||
| 3rd Leg | Eleanor Garatti-Saville | – | ||||
| Anchor | Helene Madison | – | ||||
| 2 | Netherlands |  NED | 4:47.5 | Silver | ||
| Lead-off | Rie Vierdag | – | ||||
| 2nd Leg | Puck Oversloot | – | ||||
| 3rd Leg | Corrie Laddé | – | ||||
| Anchor | Willy den Ouden | – | ||||
| 3 | Great Britain |  GBR | 4:52.4 | Bronze | ||
| Lead-off | Valerie Davies | – | ||||
| 2nd Leg | Helen Varcoe | – | ||||
| 3rd Leg | Joyce Cooper | – | ||||
| Anchor | Edna Hughes | – | ||||
| Mary Kenyon DNS | – | |||||
| 4 | Canada |  CAN | 5:05.7 | |||
| Lead-off | Irene Pirie | – | ||||
| 2nd Leg | Irene Mullen | – | ||||
| 3rd Leg | Ruth Kerr | – | ||||
| Anchor | Betty Edwards | – | ||||
| 5 | Japan |  JPN | 5:06.7 | |||
| Lead-off | Kazue Kojima | – | ||||
| 2nd Leg | Hatsuko Morioka | – | ||||
| 3rd Leg | Misao Yokota | – | ||||
| Anchor | Yukie Arata | – |
