# Rowing at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's single sculls

The Women's single sculls competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Lanier, Atlanta, United States of America. The event was held from 21 to 27 July 1996.

## Heats

The winner in each heat advanced directly to the semi-finals. The remaining rowers must compete in the repechage for the remaining spots in semi-finals.

### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Maria Brandin | Sweden (SWE) | 8:00.70 | SF |
| 2 | Rumyana Neykova | Bulgaria (BUL) | 8:12.85 | R |
| 3 | Tonia Svaier | Greece (GRE) | 8:17.49 | R |
| 4 | Birutė Šakickienė | Lithuania (LTU) | 8:21.78 | R |
| 5 | Meike Evers | Germany (GER) | 8:24.14 | R |
| 6 | Ana Urbano | Argentina (ARG) | 8:42.59 | R |

### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ekaterina Khodotovich | Belarus (BLR) | 8:03.73 | SF |
| 2 | Annelies Bredael | Belgium (BEL) | 8:08.40 | R |
| 3 | Ruth Davidon | United States (USA) | 8:09.78 | R |
| 4 | Céline Garcia | France (FRA) | 8:10.22 | R |
| 5 | Elisabeta Lipă | Romania (ROM) | 8:22.92 | R |
| 6 | Samia Hireche | Algeria (ALG) | 9:08.31 | R |

### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Trine Hansen | Denmark (DEN) | 8:02.06 | SF |
| 2 | Silken Laumann | Canada (CAN) | 8:10.57 | R |
| 3 | Liu Xiaochun | China (CHN) | 8:12.82 | R |
| 4 | Guin Batten | Great Britain (GBR) | 8:54.05 | R |
| 5 | Laila Finska-Bezerra | Finland (FIN) | 8:31.56 | R |

## Repechage

First three rowers in each race advanced to Semifinal 1 or 2, the rest went to Final C.

### Repechage 1

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ruth Davidon | United States (USA) | 8:33.73 | S |
| 2 | Rumyana Neykova | Bulgaria (BUL) | 8:41.37 | S |
| 3 | Guin Batten | Great Britain (GBR) | 8:44.73 | S |
| 4 | Meike Evers | Germany (GER) | 8:54.05 | FC |
| 5 | Samia Hireche | Algeria (ALG) | 9:28.41 | FC |

### Repechage 2

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Elisabeta Lipă | Romania (ROM) | 8:30.97 | S |
| 2 | Annelies Bredael | Belgium (BEL) | 8:33.72 | S |
| 3 | Liu Xiaochun | China (CHN) | 8:37.01 | S |
| 4 | Birutė Šakickienė | Lithuania (LTU) | 8:41.08 | FC |

### Repechage 3

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Silken Laumann | Canada (CAN) | 8:28.88 | S |
| 2 | Céline Garcia | France (FRA) | 8:32.58 | S |
| 3 | Laila Finska-Bezerra | Finland (FIN) | 8:35.72 | S |
| 4 | Tonia Svaier | Greece (GRE) | 8:49.44 | FC |
| 5 | Ana Urbano | Argentina (ARG) | 9:04.66 | FC |

## Semifinal

First three rowers from each semifinal advanced to Final A, while the others advanced to Final B.

### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Silken Laumann | Canada (CAN) | 7:57.68 | FA |
| 2 | Ekaterina Khodotovich | Belarus (BLR) | 8:00.02 | FA |
| 3 | Maria Brandin | Sweden (SWE) | 8:01.55 | FA |
| 4 | Annelies Bredael | Belgium (BEL) | 8:05.78 | FB |
| 5 | Rumyana Neykova | Bulgaria (BUL) | 8:15.63 | FB |
| 6 | Laila Finska-Bezerra | Finland (FIN) | 8:25.00 | FB |

### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Trine Hansen | Denmark (DEN) | 7:53.45 | FA |
| 2 | Ruth Davidon | United States (USA) | 7:54.97 | FA |
| 3 | Guin Batten | Great Britain (GBR) | 7:56.61 | FA |
| 4 | Elisabeta Lipă | Romania (ROM) | 8:01.84 | FB |
| 5 | Céline Garcia | France (FRA) | 8:13.37 | FB |
| 6 | Liu Xiaochun | China (CHN) | 8:15.83 | FB |

## Final
### Final C

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time |
| 13 | Meike Evers | Germany (GER) | 8:16.51 |
| 14 | Birutė Šakickienė | Lithuania (LTU) | 8:17.80 |
| 15 | Tonia Svaier | Greece (GRE) | 8:25.83 |
| 16 | Ana Urbano | Argentina (ARG) | 8:41.51 |
| 17 | Samia Hireche | Algeria (ALG) | 9:09.92 |

### Final B

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time |
| 7 | Annelies Bredael | Belgium (BEL) | 7:25.83 |
| 8 | Rumyana Neykova | Bulgaria (BUL) | 7:27.77 |
| 9 | Elisabeta Lipă | Romania (ROM) | 7:28.79 |
| 10 | Céline Garcia | France (FRA) | 7:33.30 |
| 11 | Liu Xiaochun | China (CHN) | 7:33.67 |
| 12 | Laila Finska-Bezerra | Finland (FIN) | 7:34.85 |

### Final A

| Rank | Athlete Name | Country | Time |
| | Ekaterina Khodotovich | Belarus (BLR) | 7:32.31 |
| | Silken Laumann | Canada (CAN) | 7:35.15 |
| | Trine Hansen | Denmark (DEN) | 7:37.20 |
| 4 | Maria Brandin | Sweden (SWE) | 7:42.58 |
| 5 | Guin Batten | Great Britain (GBR) | 7:45.08 |
| 6 | Ruth Davidon | United States (USA) | 7:46.47 |