# Rowing at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's single sculls

The women's single sculls competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place at took place at Han River Regatta Course, South Korea.

## Competition format

The competition consisted of three main rounds (heats, semifinals, and finals) as well as a repechage. The 13 boats were divided into three heats for the first round, with 4 or 5 boats in each heat. The top three boats in each heat (9 boats total) advanced directly to the semifinals. The remaining 4 boats were placed in the repechage. The repechage featured a single heat. The top three boats in each repechage heat advanced to the semifinals, with only the last-place boat eliminated (13th place overall). The 12 semifinalist boats were divided into two heats of 6 boats each. The top three boats in each semifinal (6 boats total) advanced to the "A" final to compete for medals and 4th through 6th place; the bottom three boats in each semifinal were sent to the "B" final for 7th through 12th.
All races were over a 2000 metre course, unlike previous Games in which women used a 1000 metre course.

## Results
### Heats
#### Heat 1

| Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Anne Marden | United States | 8:01.55 | Q |
| 2 | Inger Pors Olsen | Denmark | 8:09.55 | Q |
| 3 | Heather Hattin | Canada | 8:15.04 | Q |
| 4 | Michaela Burešová-Loukotová | Czechoslovakia | 8:17.80 | R |
| 5 | Annelie Larsson | Sweden | 8:29.70 | R |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jutta Behrendt | East Germany | 7:51.44 | Q |
| 2 | Marioara Popescu-Ciobanu | Romania | 7:53.75 | Q |
| 3 | Harriet van Ettekoven | Netherlands | 7:56.80 | Q |
| 4 | Nataliya Kvasha | Soviet Union | 7:59.95 | R |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Magdalena Georgieva | Bulgaria | 7:50.64 | Q |
| 2 | Rita Defauw | Belgium | 8:09.25 | Q |
| 3 | Tonia Svaier | Greece | 8:12.13 | Q |
| 4 | Lydie Dubedat-Briero | France | 8:28.75 | R |

### Repechage

| Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Nataliya Kvasha | Soviet Union | 8:06.11 | Q |
| 2 | Michaela Burešová-Loukotová | Czechoslovakia | 8:15.63 | Q |
| 3 | Annelie Larsson | Sweden | 8:20.20 | Q |
| 4 | Lydie Dubedat-Briero | France | 8:26.86 | |

### Semifinals
#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jutta Behrendt | East Germany | 7:37.69 | QA |
| 2 | Anne Marden | United States | 7:40.51 | QA |
| 3 | Harriet van Ettekoven | Netherlands | 7:48.84 | QA |
| 4 | Heather Hattin | Canada | 7:56.97 | QB |
| 5 | Rita Defauw | Belgium | 8:07.95 | QB |
| 6 | Annelie Larsson | Sweden | 8:11.21 | QB |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Magdalena Georgieva | Bulgaria | 7:35.47 | QA |
| 2 | Marioara Popescu-Ciobanu | Romania | 7:39.93 | QA |
| 3 | Inger Pors Olsen | Denmark | 7:42.76 | QA |
| 4 | Nataliya Kvasha | Soviet Union | 7:45.50 | QB |
| 5 | Tonia Svaier | Greece | 7:49.15 | QB |
| 6 | Michaela Burešová-Loukotová | Czechoslovakia | 8:08.04 | QB |

### Finals
#### Final B

| Rank | Rower | Nation | Time |
| 7 | Tonia Svaier | Greece | 7:57.73 |
| 8 | Nataliya Kvasha | Soviet Union | 8:00.73 |
| 9 | Rita Defauw | Belgium | 8:04.90 |
| 10 | Heather Hattin | Canada | 8:08.69 |
| 11 | Annelie Larsson | Sweden | 8:11.69 |
| 12 | Michaela Burešová-Loukotová | Czechoslovakia | 8:14.02 |

#### Final A

| Rank | Rower | Nation | Time |
| | Jutta Behrendt | East Germany | 7:47.19 |
| | Anne Marden | United States | 7:50.28 |
| | Magdalena Georgieva | Bulgaria | 7:53.65 |
| 4 | Harriet van Ettekoven | Netherlands | 7:57.29 |
| 5 | Marioara Popescu-Ciobanu | Romania | 7:59.44 |
| 6 | Inger Pors Olsen | Denmark | 7:59.77 |

## Final classification

| Rank | Rower | Country |
| | Jutta Behrendt | East Germany |
| | Anne Marden | United States |
| | Magdalena Georgieva | Bulgaria |
| 4 | Harriet van Ettekoven | Netherlands |
| 5 | Marioara Popescu-Ciobanu | Romania |
| 6 | Inger Pors Olsen | Denmark |
| 7 | Tonia Svaier | Greece |
| 8 | Nataliya Kvasha | Soviet Union |
| 9 | Rita Defauw | Belgium |
| 10 | Heather Hattin | Canada |
| 11 | Annelie Larsson | Sweden |
| 12 | Michaela Burešová-Loukotová | Czechoslovakia |
| 13 | Lydie Dubedat-Briero | France |