Viola Poley

Viola Poley , after marriage Viola Kowalschek , (born April 13, 1955 in Berlin ) is a former rowing woman from the German Democratic Republic , who was Olympic and world champion in quadruples .

Poley started out as a touring rower and then joined the BSG Empor Brandenburger Tor . After her talent was recognized, she was delegated to SC Berlin-Grünau . In 1974 she finished second with the double scull in the GDR championship, in 1975 she was second again, this time together with Sybille Tietze in the double scull . In 1976 she moved up to the double fours before the Olympic Games in Montreal and replaced the two-time world champion Ursula Unger . Together with Anke Borchmann , Jutta Lau , Roswietha Zobelt and helmsman Liane Weigelt , she won in Montreal in front of the boats from the USSR and Romania. For this victory she was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver.

After marrying the rower Günter Kowalschek, she won her only GDR championship title in 1977. For the world championship, Sybille Tietze came on board compared to the GDR championship. In the line-up of Sabine Gust , Petra Boesler , Viola Kowalschek, Sybille Tietze and helmsman Elke Rost , the quadruple won the world championship ahead of the boats from Romania and Bulgaria. After that, she ended her career.

After completing training as a clerk, she studied engineering economics in construction. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall , she was employed by the council of the city district of Köpenick, later she switched to car insurance.

literature

Volker Kluge : Lexicon athletes in the GDR. New life, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-355-01759-6 .

Web links

Viola Poley in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
German successes at world championships

Individual evidence

↑ About the honor for the Olympic team of the GDR. Awarded high government awards. Patriotic Order of Merit in silver. In: New Germany . ZEFYS newspaper portal of the Berlin State Library , September 10, 1976, p. 4 , accessed on April 10, 2018 (free registration required).

personal data
SURNAME	Poley, viola
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Kowalschek, viola
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German rower
DATE OF BIRTH	April 13, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH	Berlin

[1] About the honor for the Olympic team of the GDR. Awarded high government awards. Patriotic Order of Merit in silver. In: New Germany . ZEFYS newspaper portal of the Berlin State Library , September 10, 1976, p. 4 , accessed on April 10, 2018 (free registration required).