Kathleen Nord (later Schwartz, 26 December 1965 – 24 February 2022) was a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group compris ...

and

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music * Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People * Medley (surname), list of people with this n ...

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

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

. She won the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

and finished fifth in the 400 m individual medley. Between 1982 and 1989 she won six gold, two silver and three bronze medals in individual medley and butterfly events at European and world championships. She missed the 1984 Summer Olympics due to their boycott by East Germany and competed at the

Friendship Games The Friendship Games, or Friendship-84 (russian: Дружба-84, ''Druzhba-84''), was an international multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many differ ...

instead, winning a silver medal in the 400 m individual medley. She started swimming aged six, had her first international competition at age 13, her first medal at world championships at 16, and retired at 25 in 1990, though she briefly resumed competing in 1995–1996 in the United States. In the early 1990s she studied law at a university, but when the courses were halted in 1992 as a result of the unification of East and West Germany she went to the Palm Beach Community College in Florida. Nord died on 24 February 2022, at the age of 56.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nord, Kathleen 1965 births 2022 deaths Sportspeople from Magdeburg Olympic swimmers of East Germany East German female medley swimmers East German female butterfly swimmers Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists in swimming