Wolfram Gottfried
Wolfram Gottfried (born August 27, 1931 in Leipzig ) is a former swimming athlete who mainly did competitive sports in the GDR in the 1950s .
Athletic career
As a 16-year-old Gottfried was already able to shine in school sports with good swimming performances and began regular training in 1947. After graduating from high school in 1948, he appeared in national results for the first time at the age of 18 with a victory at the Dessau Swimming Festival in 1949 over 100 m breasts. At an international swimming festival in East Berlin in 1950, he was already a member of the GDR national team. At the first GDR indoor swimming championships in 1950, he swam over 400 m, the GDR record. At that time he was a member of the Betriebsportgemeinschaft (BSG) Stahl Nord Leipzig, but in 1952 he switched to the Leipzig BSG Motor Gohlis-Nord . In February 1952 he swam over 200 m butterfly GDR record, but was stamped as the eternal runner-up at the GDR championships in 1952.
The 1953 swimming season was Gottfried's most successful year. He started in March with two new GDR records over 200 m freestyle in the individual and the relay. At the GDR championships he set another GDR record over 200 m medley and won four championship titles in the 200 m individual medley as well as in the relay competitions 4 × 100 m back, 4 × 100 m medley, 4 × 200 m freestyle. In addition, he completed his studies as a civil engineer for steel construction with an engineering degree. The year ended for Gottfried, however, with the suspension together with two other swimmers from the national team, as he had not performed as expected in the swimming competitions at the World Youth Festival in Bucharest.
After Gottfried drew attention to himself again in 1954 with another GDR record over 400 m individual medley and again became champion in 4 × 200 m freestyle swimming with the layer relay of BSG Motor Gohlis-Nord, he was taken over by the newly founded SC Rotation Leipzig in 1955 . At this point, however, he had already passed his performance peak. In 1957 he was able to win a medal again with the runner-up in the 4 × 200 m freestyle. In the same year he left the GDR illegally with his future wife Helga Barth, also a top swimmer, and settled in Hamburg .
Gottfried first ended his sporting career and only returned to swimming in 1985 as a member of SV Norderstedt. When he later moved to Hamburger SV Poseidon , he demonstrated his old qualities with a European record over 100 m medley and two world records over 100 m freestyle and 100 m butterfly in age group 70.
literature
- Deutsches Sportecho , issue of January 20, 1958, report on escape from the GDR
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gottfried, Wolfram |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German swimming athlete |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 27, 1931 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Leipzig |