Axel Mitbauer

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Axel Mitbauer (* 3. March 1950 in Leipzig ) is a former German competitive sport - swimmer and current swimming coach. In 1969 he fled the GDR , swimming 22 km from Boltenhagen to Lübeck through the Baltic Sea to the Federal Republic of Germany .

Life

Success in GDR swimming

At the age of eight, Axel Mitbauer was discovered by a talent scout during a children's sports festival in Leipzig . At the age of twelve he was accepted into the national team of the GDR . Mitbauer was twice GDR champion over 400 meters freestyle . In 1968, during a competition in Budapest , he asked a West German swimmer and his coach how to get to the Federal Republic. A little later, Mitbauer was arrested by the Ministry for State Security (MfS) and taken to the central remand prison in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen . After seven weeks of solitary confinement, he was released again and banned from starting and playing sports facilities for life. Since then he has also been under special observation by the Stasi ; he was forbidden to study.

Escape to the Federal Republic

At the beginning of August 1969, Mitbauer went to the Baltic Sea. To shake off the accompanying Stasi companions, he jumped off the moving train near Schwerin and camped unannounced on a campsite. On August 17, 1969 at around 9 p.m. he went into the Baltic Sea near Boltenhagen - the westernmost seaside resort in the GDR. Without knowing the place or the weather, he swam 22 km to the west, orienting himself on the stars. Around midnight he reached the light buoy 2a in the Lübeck Bay , where he stayed until morning. At 7:14 am, the captain of the passenger ferry “Nordland” discovered him and took him on board. He sold the story of his escape to Stern magazine for DM 10,000 . His mother, who remained in the GDR, lost her job because she refused to sign, never having had a son. She was allowed to leave the GDR six years after he fled the GDR. After his successful escape, the MfS tightened the monitoring of top athletes in order to avoid future escapes in advance.

Life in the Federal Republic

At the European Championships in 1970, Axel Mitbauer won gold for the Federal Republic of Germany with the 4 × 200 meter freestyle relay. But after this European championship title in the relay, Axel Mitbauer did not achieve any further great sporting successes. In the qualifying race for the 1972 Olympic Games , he could not take part due to an injury. He completed an apprenticeship as a qualified sports scientist in Cologne and accepted a job as a junior coach. In the 1980s he worked in Sardinia for seven years . From January 2006 to July 2013 he trained the SGR Karlsruhe ; previously he was head coach at SV Basel . In September 2017 he celebrated his return to swimming and has been training at ST Luzern since then. Axel Mitbauer is married and has two children.

literature

  • Bodo Müller: The fascination of freedom. The most spectacular escape stories . Ch. Links Verlag, 6th extended edition, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-861-53751-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Swim Team Lucerne. Retrieved September 9, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Co-builder, Axel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German swimmer and swimming coach
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig