Gisela Schöbel-Graß

Gisela Schöbel-Graß (born June 18, 1926 in Leipzig as Eva Maria Gisela Graß) was one of the best swimmers in the world in the 1940s.

On May 9, 1943 , she set a world record over 100 m breasts with a time of 1:19,80 minutes , which lasted for more than 3 years. This made her the first woman ever to break the sound barrier of 01: 20.00 minutes in this discipline. Many years later, she successfully continued her sporting career in the field of popular sports for seniors. To this day she has won numerous titles in numerous international swimming competitions and holds several world records in various senior age categories.

childhood

Eva Maria Gisela was the only child of Karl Franz August Graß (1887–1949) and Sarah Helene Graß, née Wolfram (1890–1971), on June 18, 1926 in Leipzig. As the daughter of a businessman and a nurse, she grew up in a simple family. Gisela Graß only started swimming at the age of 14 with her hometown club Poseidon Leipzig . After a short time her obvious talent was discovered by her swimming coach, who consistently promoted her. Despite the adverse conditions that prevailed during the Second World War , Gisela Graß achieved enormous increases in performance within a very short time. Not only poor nutrition and insecure living conditions were limits that prevented her from exercising undisturbed. In addition, she was forced to complete her practice units during the normal swimming hours of her home swimming pool, which resulted in additional difficulties as she had neither the peace nor the space to optimally develop her talent.

Success in sport during the war

The beginning of the Second World War in 1939 did not mean the end of civil life in the German Reich, so that Gisela Graß was able to celebrate her greatest sporting successes in the early 1940s. At the age of 15, on May 10, 1942, she achieved her first German record in her special discipline of 100 m breasts, which she completed in 1: 21.80 minutes. With this time stylized to the top favorite, she surprisingly did not take part in the German swimming championships in 1942 . A year later, however, she took her chance. At the German Swimming Championships in 1943 , she competed for her home club Poseidon Leipzig and won the title over 200 m breaststroke. Her parade route 100 m chest was not part of the program of the German Championships from 1928 to 1946, which prevented her from any further success. Since these national championships at the latest, Gisela Graß has been considered the best German swimmer, as she also achieved best times in the freestyle and back positions in addition to the chest stretch, which was not reflected in other German championship titles.

On May 9, 1943, Gisela Graß, just 16 years old, set a new world record over 100 m breasts. Her time of 01: 19.80 minutes represents a breakthrough in the history of swimming. She is the first woman who managed to beat the sound barrier of 1:20 minutes in this discipline. In the process, she improved Hanni Hölzner's seven-year-old best time by four tenths of a second. In addition, she is still one of the youngest world record holders in swimming. This world record was only broken after more than 3 years by the later Olympic champion Nel van Vliet on July 29, 1946.
The following year Gisela Graß managed to improve her own world record by achieving a time of 1: 19.30 minutes on April 24, 1944 over the 100 m breaststroke. Part of the tragedy of this top sporting performance, however, is the fact that due to a lack of international controls - after all, the German Reich was at this time in total war with almost all other European countries - recognition of the record was denied. This is why this time is not included in the official lists of world records held by the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur).
Despite this waste, Gisela Graß proved her unique position over 100 m chest. She was one of the world's best female athletes on this route and began to dominate her competition. Since she set a new world record in 1943 at the age of 16, a career as an internationally successful swimmer seemed ahead of her. However, the turmoil of the Second World War prevented the implementation of almost all international sports competitions, so that Gisela Graß never had the opportunity to face international competition during her strongest performance phase. For example, the European Swimming Championships from 1939 to 1948 were canceled. The failure of the 1944 Summer Olympics , which were supposed to take place in London , is particularly tragic . As a world record holder, Gisela Graß was the big favorite for victory among experts, as her special discipline 100 m breaststroke was part of the Olympic program and she was undefeated on this route for years.

The time after the war

Just one year after the end of the Second World War, Gisela Graß took part again regularly in national competitions and continued her track record from 1942 to 1944 unhindered. At a sporting event in Berlin on November 24, 1946, she won three national titles and was undefeated. She achieved the best time of the year over 200 m breaststroke, which she swam in a time of 3: 07.00 minutes. In addition, Gisela Graß always shone more and more as a tactically very well adjusted swimmer, as she was able to win tight competitions due to her good division of the races. Among other things, she succeeded in triumphing over Editha Busse from Berlin , who was actually slightly favored over the 200-meter distance, as she not only enjoyed the home advantage, but also better training conditions. Gisela Graß continued in good shape in 1947. She not only set annual world bests over 100 m chest and 200 m chest, but also won the interzonal championships of the Soviet occupation zone . Due to the rigorous attitude of other European countries to exclude German athletes from international competitions, Gisela Graß only remained present at the national level in the period after the war. German athletes were not invited
to the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, which is why Gisela Graß was denied participation in the Olympic Games because the 1944 Games were canceled and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki , as German athletes, were again invited by the IOC took place after Gisela Graß 'resignation from active competitive sport. This meant that her sporting career remained uncrowned, at least at the Olympic level. In 1948 Gisela Graß continued to achieve remarkable results in swimming. So she took part in the German championships in Rheydt in 1948 , which were attended by athletes from all 4 occupation zones, and took 2nd place over 100 m breaststroke behind Inge Schmidt from Hamburg , who finished just 4 tenths of a second ahead of Leipzig. Gisela Graß dominated the swimming championships of the Soviet occupation zone, which are also considered to be the first championships in the GDR, in the usual way and remained unbeaten in 3 starts over 100 m and 200 m chest and 100 m back. In 1949, the second GDR swimming championships took place in Erfurt , in which Gisela Graß took part for the last time and was able to win the 200 m chest again.
At the World Youth Festival in Budapest in 1949, the swimmers of the GDR were not allowed to start because the FINA did not recognize them. Therefore, Gisela Graß could not take part in an international competition again and thus experienced disadvantages in the various political systems that significantly influenced her career as an athlete.

In the same year Gisela Graß withdrew from competitive sports and from now on devoted her time to her own family, which was founded on December 17, 1949 through her marriage to Edmund Gustav Robert Schöbel.

Continuation of the sporting career in the senior sector

In the first years after 1949 Gisela Graß withdrew completely from the public and pursued her profession, which she practiced as a technical draftsman in Leipzig. She also raised her two daughters and only gradually found her way back to swimming. From now on, Gisela Graß entered national and international competitions with her new name, as Gisela Schöbel. In addition, she also uses the double name Gisela Schöbel-Graß to this day, as she became famous in swimming with her birth name.

In the field of senior sports, Gisela Schöbel-Graß is still a successful swimmer, who competes in numerous international and national Masters events and sets new records. She holds numerous German and European records.

meaning

Gisela Graß was one of the most successful and best German swimmers in the 1940s. For almost an entire decade, she managed to underpin her special position, especially in the breaststroke discipline. Her world record, which resembled a historic breakthrough, caused a sensation, at least in the professional world, as she was still very young at the time and undercut old records with almost no effort. Despite the worst possible circumstances, poor nutrition and the turmoil of the war, Gisela Graß distinguished herself as a capable athlete. Although she was never allowed to take part in the Olympic Games, she managed an extraordinary sporting career, during which she duped the competition at times. It is inextricably linked to the history of swimming and belongs to the ranks of successful female swimmers from Leipzig who also achieved top international performances in the decades that followed.

Web links

• http://schwimmen.dsv.de/Modules/Results/Individual1.aspx?SwimmerID=194691
• http://www.sport-komplett.de/sport-komplett/sportarten/s/schwimmen/hst/86.html

Bibliography

• District board Leipzig of the DTSB of the GDR and sports editor of the "Leipziger Volkszeitung" (ed.): Master stories. Handbook of Sports in the Leipzig District. Portrait of 31 Leipzig athletes from three decades. DTSB board members, specialist committees, sports communities, sections. Leipziger Volkszeitung et al., Leipzig et al. 1979.
• Klaus M. Fiedler: Swimming. From bathing fun to world record. Sportverlag, Berlin 1985.
• Martina Güldemann: That was the 20th century in Leipzig. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 1999, ISBN 3-86134-524-2 .
• Herbert Günther: Record, record. Fact reports of top sporting performances. People and Book, Leipzig 1950.
• Walter Umminger: Sports Chronicle. 5000 years of sports history. Alinea, Munich 2000.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See: "Der Tagesspiegel" edition of November 26, 1946
2. ↑ See on this: "Der Kurier", edition of November 26, 1946
3. ↑ See on this: "Telegraf", edition of November 26, 1946
4. ↑ See on this: "Sport-Echo", edition of August 16, 1948
5. ↑ See: "Daily Review", edition of September 14, 1948