# Rowing at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's eight

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

## Competition format

The competition consisted of two main rounds (heats and a final) as well as a repechage. The 7 boats were divided into two heats for the first round, with 4 boats in one heat and 3 boats in the other. The winner of each heat (2 boats total) advanced directly to the final (for 1st through 6th place). The remaining 5 boats were placed in the repechage. The repechage featured a single heat. The top four boats advanced to the final; only the last-place boat in the repechage was eliminated (and took 7th place overall, with no need for a "B" final because only one boat did not reach the "A" final).
All races were over a 2000 metre course, unlike previous Games in which women used a 1000 metre course.

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

| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Herta AnitașRodica ArbaMihaela ArmășescuAdriana BazonOlga HomeghiVeronica NeculaDoina Șnep-BălanMarioara Trașcă | Ecaterina Oancia | Romania | 6:15.65 | Q |
| 2 | Ramona BalthasarKathrin HaackerAnja KlugeUte SchellBeatrix SchröerAnnegret StrauchUte WildJudith Zeidler | Daniela Neunast | East Germany | 6:16.29 | R |
| 3 | Inge Althoff-SchwerzmannMeike HolländerElke MarkwortGabriele MehlCerstin PetersmannKatrin PetersmannKerstin RehdersAnja Schäfer | Kerstin Peters | West Germany | 6:38.31 | R |
| 4 | Nevyana IvanovaDaniela OronovaOlya StoichkovaMariana StoyanovaRita TodorovaTodorka VasilevaTeodora ZarevaVioleta Zareva | Greta Georgieva | Bulgaria | 6:47.99 | R |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Lidiya AveryanovaSandra BrazauskaitėNataliya FedorenkoOlena PukhaievaNadezhda SugakoMargarita TeselkoSariya ZakyrovaMarina Znak | Aušra Gudeliūnaitė | Soviet Union | 6:20.90 | Q |
| 2 | Han YaqinHe YanwenHu YadongYang XiaoZhang XianghuaZhang YaliZhou ShouyingZhou Xiuhua | Li Ronghua | China | 6:23.33 | R |
| 3 | Susan BroomeChristine CampbellPeg MalleryStephanie Maxwell-PiersonAbby PeckAnna SeatonAlison TownleyJuliet Thompson | Betsy Beard | United States | 6:24.55 | R |

### Repechage

| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ramona BalthasarKathrin HaackerAnja KlugeUte SchellBeatrix SchröerAnnegret StrauchUte WildJudith Zeidler | Daniela Neunast | East Germany | 6:05.50 | Q |
| 2 | Nevyana IvanovaDaniela OronovaOlya StoichkovaMariana StoyanovaRita TodorovaTodorka VasilevaTeodora ZarevaVioleta Zareva | Greta Georgieva | Bulgaria | 6:08.26 | Q |
| 3 | Han YaqinHe YanwenHu YadongYang XiaoZhang XianghuaZhang YaliZhou ShouyingZhou Xiuhua | Li Ronghua | China | 6:08.64 | Q |
| 4 | Susan BroomeChristine CampbellPeg MalleryStephanie Maxwell-PiersonAbby PeckAnna SeatonAlison TownleyJuliet Thompson | Betsy Beard | United States | 6:10.82 | Q |
| 5 | Inge Althoff-SchwerzmannMeike HolländerElke MarkwortGabriele MehlCerstin PetersmannKatrin PetersmannKerstin RehdersAnja Schäfer | Kerstin Peters | West Germany | 6:12.70 | |

### Final

| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time |
| | Ramona BalthasarKathrin HaackerAnja KlugeUte SchellBeatrix SchröerAnnegret StrauchUte WildJudith Zeidler | Daniela Neunast | East Germany | 6:15.17 |
| | Herta AnitașRodica ArbaMihaela ArmășescuAdriana BazonOlga HomeghiVeronica NeculaDoina Șnep-BălanMarioara Trașcă | Ecaterina Oancia | Romania | 6:17.44 |
| | Han YaqinHe YanwenHu YadongYang XiaoZhang XianghuaZhang YaliZhou ShouyingZhou Xiuhua | Li Ronghua | China | 6:21.83 |
| 4 | Lidiya AveryanovaSandra BrazauskaitėNataliya FedorenkoOlena PukhaievaNadezhda SugakoMargarita TeselkoSariya ZakyrovaMarina Znak | Aušra Gudeliūnaitė | Soviet Union | 6:22.35 |
| 5 | Nevyana IvanovaDaniela OronovaOlya StoichkovaMariana StoyanovaRita TodorovaTodorka VasilevaTeodora ZarevaVioleta Zareva | Greta Georgieva | Bulgaria | 6:25.02 |
| 6 | Susan BroomeChristine CampbellPeg MalleryStephanie Maxwell-PiersonAbby PeckAnna SeatonAlison TownleyJuliet Thompson | Betsy Beard | United States | 6:26.66 |

## Final classification

| Rank | Rowers | Nation |
| | Annegret Strauch Judith Zeidler Kathrin Haacker Ute Wild Anja Kluge Beatrix Schröer Ramona Balthasar Ute Stange Daniela Neunast | East Germany |
| | Doina Șnep-Bălan Veronica Necula Herta Anitaș Marioara Trașcă Adriana Bazon Mihaela Armășescu Rodica Arba Olga Homeghi Ecaterina Oancia | Romania |
| | Zhou Xiuhua Zhang Yali He Yanwen Han Yaqin Zhang Xianghua Zhou Shouying Yang Xiao Hu Yadong Li Ronghua | China |
| 4 | Margarita Teselko Marina Znak Nadezhda Sugako Sandra Brazauskaitė Olena Pukhaieva Sariya Zakyrova Nataliya Fedorenko Lidiya Averyanova Aušra Gudeliūnaitė | Soviet Union |
| 5 | Teodora Zareva Violeta Zareva Nevyana Ivanova Olya Stoichkova Todorka Vasileva Rita Todorova Mariana Stoyanova Daniela Oronova Greta Georgieva | Bulgaria |
| 6 | Juliet Thompson Christine Campbell Abby Peck Peg Mallery Susan Broome Stephanie Maxwell-Pierson Anna Seaton Alison Townley Betsy Beard | United States |
| 7 | Inge Althoff-Schwerzmann Meike Holländer Elke Markwort Gabriele Mehl Kerstin Peters Cerstin Petersmann Katrin Petersmann Kerstin Rehders Anja Schäfer | West Germany |