# Swimming at the 1978 World Aquatics Championships

These are the results (medal winners) of the swimming competition at the 1978 World Aquatics Championships held in the city of West Berlin between August 20 and August 28.

## Medal table

* Host nation (West Germany)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 20 | 12 | 4 | 36 |
| 2 | Soviet Union (URS) | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
| 3 | Australia (AUS) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 7 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | West Germany (FRG)* | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Canada (CAN) | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 7 | New Zealand (NZL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Norway (NOR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Yugoslavia (YUG) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Hungary (HUN) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (14 entries) | Totals (14 entries) | 29 | 29 | 29 | 87 |
* Record(*)

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 m freestyle details | David McCagg (USA) | 50.24 CR | Jim Montgomery (USA) | 50.73 | Klaus Steinbach (FRG) | 50.79 |
| 200 m freestyle details | Bill Forrester (USA) | 1:51.02 CR | Rowdy Gaines (USA) | 1:51.10 | Sergey Kopliakov (URS) | 1:51.33 |
| 400 m freestyle details | Vladimir Salnikov (URS) | 3:51.94 CR | Jeff Float (USA) | 3:53.42 | Bill Forrester (USA) | 3:53.97 |
| 1500 m freestyle details | Vladimir Salnikov (URS) | 15:03.99 CR | Borut Petrič (YUG) | 15:20.77 | Bobby Hackett (USA) | 15:23.38 |
| 100 m backstroke details | Bob Jackson (USA) | 56.36 CR | Peter Rocca (USA) | 56.69 | Romulo Arantes (BRA) | 58.01 |
| 200 m backstroke details | Jesse Vassallo (USA) | 2:02.16 | Gary Hurring (NZL) | 2:03.71 | Zoltán Verrasztó (HUN) | 2:03.90 |
| 100 m breaststroke details | Walter Kusch (FRG) | 1:03.56 CR | Graham Smith (CAN) | 1:03.60 | Gerald Mörken (FRG) | 1:03.62 |
| 200 m breaststroke details | Nick Nevid (USA) | 2:18.37 | Arsens Miskarovs (URS) | 2:18.42 | Walter Kusch (FRG) | 2:20.16 |
| 100 m butterfly details | Joe Bottom (USA) | 54.30 | Greg Jagenburg (USA) | 55.26 | Pär Arvidsson (SWE) | 55.38 |
| 200 m butterfly details | Mike Bruner (USA) | 1:59.38 CR | Steve Gregg (USA) | 1:59.80 | Roger Pyttel (GDR) | 2:01.33 |
| 200 m individual medley details | Graham Smith (CAN) | 2:03.65 WR | Jesse Vassallo (USA) | 2:04.99 | Aleksandr Sidorenko (URS) | 2:05.29 |
| 400 m individual medley details | Jesse Vassallo (USA) | 4:20.05 WR | Sergey Fesenko (URS) | 4:22.29 | András Hargitay (HUN) | 4:27.04 |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay details | United States (USA) Jack Babashoff Rowdy Gaines Jim Montgomery David McCagg | 3:19.74 WR | West Germany (FRG) Andreas Schmidt Ulrich Temps Peter Knust Klaus Steinbach | 3:26.65 | Sweden (SWE) Per Holmertz Dan Larsson Per-Ola Quist Per-Alvar Magnusson | 3:26.95 |
| 4 × 200 m freestyle relay details | United States (USA) Bruce Furniss Bill Forrester Bobby Hackett Rowdy Gaines | 7:20.82 WR | Soviet Union (URS) Sergey Rusin Andrey Krylov Vladimir Salnikov Sergey Kopliakov | 7:28.41 | West Germany (FRG) Andreas Schmidt Peter Knust Karsken Lippmann Frank Wennmann | 7:33.29 |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay details | United States (USA) Bob Jackson Nick Nevid Joe Bottom David McCagg | 3:44.63 CR | West Germany (FRG) Klaus Steinbach Walter Kusch Michael Kraus Andreas Schmidt | 3:48.58 | Great Britain (GBR) Gary Abraham Duncan Goodhew John Mills Martin Smith | 3:49.06 |
Legend: WR – World record; CR – Championship record

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 m freestyle details | Barbara Krause (GDR) | 55.68 CR | Lene Jenssen (NOR) | 56.82 | Larisa Tsaryova (URS) | 56.85 |
| 200 m freestyle details | Cynthia Woodhead (USA) | 1:58.53 WR | Barbara Krause (GDR) | 1:59.78 | Larisa Tsaryova (URS) | 2:01.76 |
| 400 m freestyle details | Tracey Wickham (AUS) | 4:06.28 WR | Cynthia Woodhead (USA) | 4:07.15 | Kim Linehan (USA) | 4:07.73 |
| 800 m freestyle details | Tracey Wickham (AUS) | 8:24.94 CR | Cynthia Woodhead (USA) | 8:29.35 | Kim Linehan (USA) | 8:32.60 |
| 100 m backstroke details | Linda Jezek (USA) | 1:02.55 CR | Birgit Treiber (GDR) | 1:03.18 | Cheryl Gibson (CAN) | 1:03.43 |
| 200 m backstroke details | Linda Jezek (USA) | 2:11.93 WR | Birgit Treiber (GDR) | 2:14.07 | Cheryl Gibson (CAN) | 2:14.23 |
| 100 m breaststroke details | Yuliya Bogdanova (URS) | 1:10.31 WR | Tracy Caulkins (USA) | 1:10.77 | Margaret Kelly (GBR) | 1:11.99 |
| 200 m breaststroke details | Lina Kačiušytė (URS) | 2:31.42 WR | Yuliya Bogdanova (URS) | 2:32.69 | Susanne Nielsson (DEN) | 2:33.60 |
| 100 m butterfly details | Joan Pennington (USA) | 1:00.20 CR | Andrea Pollack (GDR) | 1:00.26 | Wendy Quirk (CAN) | 1:01.82 |
| 200 m butterfly details | Tracy Caulkins (USA) | 2:09.87 WR | Nancy Hogshead (USA) | 2:11.30 | Andrea Pollack (GDR) | 2:12.63 |
| 200 m individual medley details | Tracy Caulkins (USA) | 2:14.07 WR | Joan Pennington (USA) | 2:14.98 | Ulrike Tauber (GDR) | 2:15.99 |
| 400 m individual medley details | Tracy Caulkins (USA) | 4:40.83 WR | Ulrike Tauber (GDR) | 4:47.52 | Petra Schneider (GDR) | 4:48.56 |
| 4 × 100 m freestyle relay details | United States (USA) Tracy Caulkins Stephanie Elkins Jill Sterkel Cynthia Woodhead | 3:43.43 WR | East Germany (GDR) Heike Witt Caren Metschuck Barbara Krause Petra Priemer | 3:47.37 | Canada (CAN) Gail Amundrud Nancy Garapick Sue Sloan Wendy Quirk | 3:49.59 |
| 4 × 100 m medley relay details | United States (USA) Linda Jezek Tracy Caulkins Joan Pennington Cynthia Woodhead | 4:08.21 CR | East Germany (GDR) Birgit Treiber Ramona Reinke Andrea Pollack Barbara Krause | 4:09.13 | Soviet Union (URS) Elena Kruglova Yuliya Bogdanova Irina Aksenova Larisa Tsaryova | 4:14.91 |
Legend: WR – World record; CR – Championship record