Ralf Braun (born 24 January 1973 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) is a retired

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, who competed for his native country at two consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, starting in 1996 (

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia). A member of

Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 The Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 is a swimming club in Spandau, Berlin, Germany. The club is known for the professional water polo team, which has won a record number of German championships with 39, as well as German Cups (33) and Super Cups (17). ...

he is best known for winning the gold medal at the 1999 European Swimming Championships in the men's 200 m backstroke event. He also claimed the silver medal in the 4×100 m medley relay, two years earlier, alongside

Jens Kruppa Jens Kruppa (born 3 June 1976 in Freital) is an international breaststroke swimmer from Germany, who won the silver medal in the 4×100 metres medley relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics. See also * List of German records in swimming Below is a ...

Thomas Rupprath Thomas Rupprath (born 16 March 1977 in Neuss) is an Olympic Games, Olympic swimmer from Germany, who is nicknamed Michael Groß, "The New Albatross". Biography He held the world record for the 50 m backstroke (Short course (swimming), shor ...

and

Christian Tröger Christian-Alexander Tröger (born 6 October 1969 in Munich, Bavaria) is a former swimmer from Germany, who won a total number of three bronze medals as a relay member at the Summer Olympics. He first did so in 1992 alongside Mark Pinger, Dirk Ri ...

References

sports-reference
1973 births Living people German male backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for Germany Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Berlin World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming 20th-century German sportsmen 21st-century German sportsmen {{Germany-swimming-bio-stub