# Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's double sculls

Women's double sculls competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held between August 9 and 16 at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
This rowing event is a double scull event, meaning that each boat is propelled by a pair of rowers. The "scull" portion means that each rower uses two oars, one on each side of the boat; this contrasts with sweep rowing in which each rower has one oar and rows on only one side. The competition consists of multiple rounds. Finals were held to determine the placing of each boat; these finals were given letters with those nearer to the beginning of the alphabet meaning a better ranking.
During the first round two heats were held. The top boat in each heat advanced directly to the A final, with all others going to the repechage. The two repechage heats filled out the rest of the finals, with the best two boats in each repechage heat advancing to the A final and the remaining two boats in each repechage going to the B final.
Each final determined a set of rankings. The A final determined the medals, along with the rest of the places through 6th. The B final gave the rest of the rankings, through 10th place.
In the A Final, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand defended their double sculls gold medal from the 2004 Summer Olympics in a highly competitive race which saw them beat the German crew by just 1/100 of a second (7:07.32 versus 7:07.33), and the third-placing British crew by just 0.23 seconds. This was the first time in Olympic history that the Women's Double Sculls title had been successfully defended.

## Schedule

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Saturday, August 9, 2008 | 16:40-17:00 | Heats |
| Monday, August 11, 2008 | 17:00-17:20 | Repechages |
| Friday, August 15, 2008 | 17:30-17:40 | Final B |
| Saturday, August 16, 2008 | 16:50-17:00 | Final A |

## Results
### Heats

* Qualification Rules: 1->FA, 2..->R

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Rowers | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Georgina Evers-Swindell, Caroline Evers-Swindell | New Zealand | 7:03.92 | FA |
| 2 | Annekatrin Thiele, Christiane Huth | Germany | 7:09.06 | R |
| 3 | Megan Kalmoe, Ellen Tomek | United States | 7:11.17 | R |
| 4 | Ionelia Neacsu, Roxana Gabriela Cogianu | Romania | 7:12.17 | R |
| 5 | Kateryna Tarasenko, Yana Dementyeva | Ukraine | 7:25.03 | R |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Rowers | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Li Qin, Tian Liang | China | 7:03.13 | FA |
| 2 | Jitka Antošová, Gabriela Vařeková | Czech Republic | 7:04.23 | R |
| 3 | Elise Laverick, Anna Bebington | Great Britain | 7:08.65 | R |
| 4 | Catriona Sens, Sonia Mills | Australia | 7:13.25 | R |
| 5 | Laura Schiavone, Elisabetta Sancassani | Italy | 7:30.25 | R |

### Repechages

* Qualification Rules: 1-2>FA, 3..->FB

#### Repechage 1

| Rank | Rowers | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Elise Laverick, Anna Bebington | Great Britain | 6:54.92 | FA |
| 2 | Annekatrin Thiele, Christiane Huth | Germany | 6:55.96 | FA |
| 3 | Ionelia Neacsu, Roxana Gabriela Cogianu | Romania | 7:01.69 | FB |
| 4 | Laura Schiavone, Elisabetta Sancassani | Italy | 7:08.00 | FB |

#### Repechage 2

| Rank | Rowers | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Megan Kalmoe, Ellen Tomek | United States | 6:58.84 | FA |
| 2 | Jitka Antošová, Gabriela Vařeková | Czech Republic | 7:00.75 | FA |
| 3 | Catriona Sens, Sonia Mills | Australia | 7:04.30 | FB |
| 4 | Kateryna Tarasenko, Yana Dementyeva | Ukraine | 7:06.77 | FB |

### Final B

| Rank | Rowers | Country | Time |
| 1 | Kateryna Tarasenko, Yana Dementyeva | Ukraine | 7:17.82 |
| 2 | Catriona Sens, Sonia Mills | Australia | 7:19.73 |
| 3 | Ionelia Neacsu, Roxana Gabriela Cogianu | Romania | 7:20.99 |
| 4 | Laura Schiavone, Elisabetta Sancassani | Italy | 7:29.22 |

### Final A

| Rank | Rowers | Country | Time |
| | Georgina Evers-Swindell, Caroline Evers-Swindell | New Zealand | 7:07.32 |
| | Annekatrin Thiele, Christiane Huth | Germany | 7:07.33 |
| | Elise Laverick, Anna Bebington | Great Britain | 7:07.55 |
| 4 | Li Qin, Tian Liang | China | 7:15.85 |
| 5 | Megan Kalmoe, Ellen Tomek | United States | 7:17.53 |
| 6 | Miroslava Knapková, Gabriela Vařeková | Czech Republic | 7:25.09 |