Gisela White
Gisela Weiß (born October 16, 1943 in Böhmisch Kamnitz ), after marriage Gisela Engelhardt is a former German swimmer who competed for the GDR and the all-German team .
The mother of Gisela Weiß, a Leipzig native, gave birth to her daughter when she was evacuated to the Sudetenland during the Second World War. Gisela's father died on the Eastern Front during the war. After the war, mother and daughter returned to Leipzig. Gisela Weiß began swimming at an early age and was particularly encouraged by the Dutch trainer Johann van Hemsbergen. The swimmer from SC DHfK Leipzig improved the GDR record for the 400 meter freestyle five times in 1959 and 1960, her record of 5: 01.5 minutes was only improved in 1963 by Helga Zimmermann . In 1959, white took second place behind Christel Steffin and in 1960 behind Helga Zimmermann at the GDR championships over 400 meters, in 1961 she won the title. From 1959 to 1961 Gisela Weiß belonged to the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay and the 4 x 100 meter individual relay relay, which were victorious in the GDR championships.
In qualifying for the all-German team at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome , Gisela Weiß came second over 400 meters behind the West German swimmer Ursel Brunner . In addition, she managed to qualify for the freestyle relay. While she was eliminated over 400 meters in the preliminary run, the German relay managed third place in the final behind the swimmers from the United States and Australia. With Christel Steffin, Heidi Pechstein and Gisela Weiß, three swimmers from the GDR belonged to the German relay, with Ursel Brunner at the end of the season. Two years after Rome, Gisela Weiss was again part of the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay at the 1962 European Championships in Leipzig. The relay from the GDR took fifth place.
Gisela Weiß ended her active career in 1963 and began studying medicine. In 1964 she married the multiple GDR master Karl-Heinz Engelhardt . Until the fall of the Berlin Wall, Gisela Engelhardt was the division manager at the children's and youth sports school in Leipzig and also looked after athletes from the SC DHfK. After reunification she worked in a rehab clinic until 2003.
literature
- Volker Kluge : Lexicon athletes in the GDR. New Life Publishing House, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-355-01759-6 .
Web links
- Gisela Weiß in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
- GDR Freestyle Swimming Championships
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | White, Gisela |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Engelhardt, Gisela |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German swimmer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 16, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bohemian Kamnitz |