Anke Borchmann ( Grünberg; born 23 June 1954) is a rower who competed for East Germany in the 1970s.

Early life

Grünberg was born in

Neukalen Neukalen is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated 19 km southwest of Demmin. History (Old) Kalen was first mentioned in a document of 1174. After 1236, Kalen, now call ...

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...

, East Germany in 1954.

Rowing career

Grünberg competed for

SC Dynamo Berlin The Sports Club Dynamo Berlin was an East German sports club that existed from 1954 to 1991. It was the largest sports club of SV Dynamo, the sports association of the security agencies. The club was reformed after German reunification and succe ...

. Under her maiden name, she came third at the 1971 East German national championships in

quad scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated as a 4x, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each h ...

. At the 1973 East German national championships she came second in the same boat class. At the 1974 East German national championships she won the quad scull title, came second in the single scull (beaten by

Christine Scheiblich Christine Hahn-Scheiblich ( Scheiblich; born 31 December 1954) is a German Rowing (sport), rower and Olympic champion. Scheiblich was born in 1954 in Wilsdruff, Saxony. She took up rowing in 1968. She received a gold medal in Rowing at the 19 ...

), and came third in the double scull alongside Sabine Jahn. She travelled to the

1974 World Rowing Championships The 1974 World Rowing Championships was the fourth World Rowing Championships. It was held from 4 to 8 September 1974 (for men) and from 29 August to 1 September 1974 (for women) on the Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland. The event was significantl ...

as a reserve but did not compete. At the 1975 East German national championships she defended her quad scull title. She was nominated for the

1975 World Rowing Championships The 1975 World Rowing Championships was the fifth World Rowing Championships. It was held from 21 to 30 August at Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre in Nottingham, England, United Kingdom. Medal summary Medalists at the 1975 World ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, Great Britain, where her quad scull team took out the world title. From the 1976 rowing season, she started under her married name Borchmann. She was nominated for the Olympic team and did therefore not compete at the national championships that year. She won at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

in the coxed quad sculls. For her Olympic performance, Borchmann was awarded a

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in silver. In 1977, Borchmann changed to the double sculls and teamed up with Roswietha Zobelt; she also transferred to SG Dynamo Potsdam where Zobelt was also based. They won the 1977 national championships in that boat class. At the

1977 World Rowing Championships The 1977 World Rowing Championships was the 6th World Rowing Championships. The championships were held from 19 to 28 August 1977 on the Bosbaan rowing lake in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Medal summary About 556 rowers from 28 countries competed a ...

, the East German women's team took all six gold medals, with Borchmann and Zobelt having achieved the largest margin to the second-placed boat at 3.21 seconds. In the 1978 season, Borchmann and Zobelt could not retain their dominance. At a regatta in Moscow, they were beaten by the Soviet team Ludmila Parfenova and

Eleonora Kaminskaitė Eleonora "Leonora" Kaminskaitė ( Ruokienė, 29 January 1951 – 9 February 1986) was a Lithuanian rower who was most successful in the double sculls. In this event she won a bronze medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics and a silver at the 1978 Wor ...

with an 8-second margin. At an international regatta in Grünau near Berlin, they came third after the Bulgarians Svetla Otsetova and Zdravka Yordanova and the Soviet rowers. At the annual

Rotsee __NOTOC__ The Rotsee (previously known as Rootsee) is a natural Rowing (sport), rowing lake on the northern edge of Lucerne, Switzerland. It is regarded as one of the best rowing venues in the world. Description and location The lake and its sur ...

regatta in Switzerland, two finals were rowed over two days and the Bulgarians won the first contest while the East Germans won the next day. A week later at the East German national championships, Borchmann and Zobelt were the favourites in the double scull but were beaten by the previously little-noticed Gisela Medefindt and Petra Boesler. They also started with the coxed quad scull where they surprised by beating the favourites. Borchmann and Zobelt were nominated in the double scull for the

1978 World Rowing Championships The 1978 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 October to 5 November at Lake Karapiro near Cambridge, New Zealand. Twenty-eight countries were represented at the regatta. In the history of the World Ro ...

in New Zealand. In difficult conditions, they were passed by the whole field close to the finish line and came sixth. She retired after the 1978 season.

Post-rowing

Borchmann worked in the administration of the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. After the

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, she transferred to the

Wasserschutzpolizei The (, WSP - literally translated "Water Protection Police" in German language, German) is the river police that patrols the waterways, lakes and harbours of Germany around the clock. The WSP are part of the (State Police). The Federal Po ...

. She lives in Werder.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borchmann, Anke 1954 births Living people People from Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (district) Sportspeople from Bezirk Neubrandenburg East German female rowers Rowers from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Olympic rowers for East Germany Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Rowers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing World Rowing Championships medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver