# Rowing at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's single sculls

The women's single sculls (W1x) rowing competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Casitas in Ventura County, California, United States. It was held from 30 July to 4 August.

## Background

Like some other rowing events at the 1984 Summer Olympics, the women's single sculls event was influenced by the absence of strong competitors due to the Soviet Bloc boycott. The last two world champions from the Soviet Union and East Germany were absent; Irina Fetisova of the Soviet Union had won the 1982 World Rowing Championships in Switzerland, and East German Jutta Behrendt had become world champion in 1983. Sanda Toma, the winner of the 1980 Olympic event and 1981 world champion, had since retired. World championship medallists competing in this event were Beryl Mitchell from Great Britain, who had come second in 1981, and Valeria Răcilă of Romania and Stephanie Foster of New Zealand, who had won silver and bronze in 1982, respectively. Of all those, the Romanian was regarded as the favourite. Another competitor to be regarded as one of the favourites was María Fernanda de la Fuente of Mexico, who had come second in the 1983 Pan American Games.

### Previous W1x competitions

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1980 Summer Olympics | Romania Sanda Toma | Soviet Union Antonina Makhina | East Germany Martina Schröter |
| 1981 World Rowing Championships | Romania Sanda Toma | Great Britain Beryl Mitchell | Soviet Union Irina Fetisova |
| 1982 World Rowing Championships | Soviet Union Irina Fetisova | Romania Valeria Răcilă | New Zealand Stephanie Foster |
| 1983 World Rowing Championships | East Germany Jutta Behrendt | Soviet Union Irina Fetisova | United States Virginia Gilder |

## Results
### Heats

The winner of each heat advanced to the semi-finals. All others went to the repechage. The heats were raced on 30 July.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charlotte Geer | United States | 3:45.05 | SF |
| 2 | Andrea Schreiner | Canada | 3:48.20 | R |
| 3 | Jos Compaan | Netherlands | 3:54.70 | R |
| 4 | Astrid Unger | Austria | 3:54.96 | R |
| 5 | Ursula Brauch | West Germany | 3:59.67 | R |
| 6 | Jacqui Marshall | Australia | 4:07.06 | R |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Beryl Mitchell | Great Britain | 3:45.18 | SF |
| 2 | Ann Haesebrouck | Belgium | 3:45.67 | R |
| 3 | Lise Justesen | Denmark | 3:50.15 | R |
| 4 | Antonella Corazza | Italy | 3:55.17 | R |
| 5 | Annelie Larsson | Sweden | 3:56.73 | R |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Valeria Răcilă | Romania | 3:44.22 | SF |
| 2 | Stephanie Foster | New Zealand | 3:51.86 | R |
| 3 | María Fernanda de la Fuente | Mexico | 3:55.60 | R |
| 4 | Lisa Scheibert | Norway | 3:55.80 | R |
| 5 | Laurence Hourdel | France | 4:00.27 | R |

### Repechage

The first three of each heat advanced to the semi-final. The remaining rowers were eliminated from the competition. The repechages were raced on 1 August. The Italian rower, Antonella Corazza, did not compete in the repechage, but replaced Paola Grizzetti in the quadruple sculls team instead (in both the repechage on 1 August, and the final on 4 August).

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ann Haesebrouck | Belgium | 3:48.57 | SF |
| 2 | Annelie Larsson | Sweden | 3:50.60 | SF |
| 3 | Jos Compaan | Netherlands | 3:59.29 | SF |
| 4 | Jacqui Marshall | Australia | 4:04.08 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Andrea Schreiner | Canada | 3:52.10 | SF |
| 2 | María Fernanda de la Fuente | Mexico | 3:54.01 | SF |
| 3 | Lisa Scheibert | Norway | 3:56.31 | SF |
| 4 | Ursula Brauch | West Germany | 4:00.20 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Lise Justesen | Denmark | 3:47.60 | SF |
| 2 | Stephanie Foster | New Zealand | 3:51.19 | SF |
| 3 | Astrid Unger | Austria | 3:52.70 | SF |
| 4 | Laurence Hourdel | France | 3:59.60 | |

### Semi-finals

The top three from each heat advanced to the A final. The others advanced to the B final. The semi-finals were raced on 2 August.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Valeria Răcilă | Romania | 3:54.55 | FA |
| 2 | Charlotte Geer | United States | 3:57.93 | FA |
| 3 | Andrea Schreiner | Canada | 3:59.02 | FA |
| 4 | Stephanie Foster | New Zealand | 4:02.29 | FB |
| 5 | Lisa Scheibert | Norway | 4:04.62 | FB |
| 6 | Annelie Larsson | Sweden | 4:08.39 | FB |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Lise Justesen | Denmark | 3:55.34 | FA |
| 2 | Ann Haesebrouck | Belgium | 3:56.45 | FA |
| 3 | Beryl Mitchell | Great Britain | 3:56.59 | FA |
| 4 | Astrid Unger | Austria | 3:59.52 | FB |
| 5 | María Fernanda de la Fuente | Mexico | 4:01.77 | FB |
| 6 | Jos Compaan | Netherlands | 4:06.39 | FB |

### Finals
#### B final

The B final was raced on 3 August.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
| 7 | Stephanie Foster | New Zealand | 3:52.20 |
| 8 | Jos Compaan | Netherlands | 3:52.80 |
| 9 | Astrid Unger | Austria | 3:53.08 |
| 10 | Annelie Larsson | Sweden | 3:53.39 |
| 11 | María Fernanda de la Fuente | Mexico | 3:57.93 |
| 12 | Lisa Scheibert | Norway | 4:00.70 |

#### A final

The A final was raced on 4 August.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
| | Valeria Răcilă | Romania | 3:40.68 |
| | Charlotte Geer | United States | 3:43.89 |
| | Ann Haesebrouck | Belgium | 3:45.72 |
| 4 | Andrea Schreiner | Canada | 3:45.97 |
| 5 | Lise Justesen | Denmark | 3:47.79 |
| 6 | Beryl Mitchell | Great Britain | 3:51.20 |