Fritz Albert Erich "Ete" Rademacher (9 June 1901 – 2 April 1979) was a German

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

swimmer and

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

goalkeeper who competed at the

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

and 1932 Olympics. In 1928 he was a member of the German water polo team that won the gold medal, he also won a silver medal in the 200 metres breaststroke. Four years later he won another silver medal with the German water polo team.

Birth

Erich Rademacher was born on 9 June 1901 in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, to Heinrich Rademacher.

Early years

At 9 years old, on Christmas Eve, Ete received an invitation to become a member of the prestigious Hellas Magdeburg swim club, which was considered the best swim club in the country at the time. The invitation was received by his father, Heinrich, in the mail, and read: "die Vorstandversammlung vom 23. Dezember des Jahres Ihrem Antrag entsprochen und Ihren Sohn Erich in die Jugend-Abteilung unseres Clubs aufgenommen hat.", which very roughly translates to "we have decided to accept Erich into the youth department of our club". The letter went on to say: "Wir heißen Ihren Sohn herzlich willkommen, bitten Sie aber, um den in unseren Aufnahmebedingungen übernommenen Verpflichtungen nach besten Kräften gerecht werden zu können, ihn in seinem und unserem Interesse zum regelmäßigen Besuch unserer Übungsabende anhalten zu wollen.", which very roughly translates to "We warmly welcome your son, but ask you to do justice to the obligations made in our reception conditions to the best of his ability to ensure that he wants to attend our evening practices regularly." Rademacher went to school to train as an insurance clerk.

Swimming career

Rademacher was one of the only athletes at the time to have a manager, by the name of Kurt Behrens. Behrens increased Rademacher's popularity in the US swimming circles, and likely also funded some of his international tours.

National titles

In 1918, Rademacher became national champion in the 100 metre backstroke, the first of many national titles. From 1919-1927 excluding 1922, Rademacher was the national champion in the 100 metre breaststroke, meaning he was national champion in this event 7 times. In 1928, he became national champion in the 200 metre breaststroke. From 1924 to 1928, he was a national champion in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay. He was a national champion as the goalkeeper of the Hellas Magdeburg team in water polo from 1924 to 1926, then again from 1928 to 1931 and again in 1933. He also had other national titles in other less common disciplines. Through his whole career, Rademacher set 15 German national records. Rademacher also won two Hungarian national championships, one

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

national championship, one Czechoslovakian national championship and a US national championship.

European titles

At the 1926 European Championships in Budapest, he took home a bronze medal with his team in water polo, and became the European Champion in the Men's 200 metre breaststroke. He defended this title again in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

. Finally, at the 1931 European Championships in Paris, he took home a silver medal with his team in water polo.

Olympic titles

Unfortunately for Rademacher, he was unable to compete in the

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

and 1924 Olympic Games as Germany was not admitted after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

.Barney, David E., and Robert K. Barney.
A long night's journey into day: the Odyssey of the butterfly stroke in international swimming.
''Proceedings: International Symposium for Olympic Research'', Oct. 2006, pp. 65+. ''Gale Academic OneFile'', link.gale.com/apps/doc/A176818711/AONE?u=googlescholar&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=535b6e53. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023. By the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, Rademacher was heavy favorite to win the gold medal in the men's 200 metres breaststroke event, as he held the world record of 2:48. However,

Yoshiyuki Tsuruta (October 1, 1903 – July 24, 1986) was a Japanese Swimming (sport), swimmer. He won a gold medal in the 1928 Summer Olympics, Amsterdam Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Olympics. Biography Tsuruta was born in Ishiki Villag ...

employed an unforeseen strategy that was allowed at the time, of staying underwater for most of the race. Tsuruta beat Rademacher, setting a new world record of 2:45.4. However, this disappointment was short lived, as Rademacher won gold as the goalkeeper for the German water polo team in the men's water polo. This was followed 4 years later at the 1932 Los Angeles olympics, where Germany won silver in the men's water polo event, with Rademacher in goal.

World records

By 1925, Rademacher owned every single breaststroke world record in breaststroke events from 50 yards to 500 metres. Rademacher set separate world records in the 400 metre breaststroke event in 1920, 1921, 1923, 1925 and 1926. In the 200 metre breaststroke event, he set world records in 1922 and 1927. In the 200 yards breaststroke, he set a world record in 1924, and in 1925, he set world records in the 100 metre and 500 metre breaststroke events. This meant that by 1925, Rademacher held all of the breaststroke world records from 100 to 500 metres.

International ventures

In 1926, Rademacher toured the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he set 10 records in 11 days, and then in 1927 toured

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

as an exhibition swimmer. By the end of his career, Rademacher had represented Germany in 42 international water polo matches, and had 1,012 first place finishes.

Flying breaststroke technique

Rademacher is considered one of the first people to use the overarm recovery for breaststroke, which was named the "flying fish", and would later be used for the arms part of the

butterfly stroke The butterfly (shortened to fly) is a List of swimming styles, swimming stroke swum on the chest, with both arms moving symmetrically, accompanied by the butterfly kick (also known as the "dolphin kick") along with the movement of the hips an ...

Later life

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he fought against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, was captured, and remained in a prison camp until 1947. During that period he suffered a permanent face injury and did not like to be photographed afterwards. After returning to

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 ...

he shied away from swimming circles, and elected not to help set up a new swim association with his teammates from Hellas Magdeburg. Instead, he worked as an insurance clerk in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

and then in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. Rademacher was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

in 1972, and into the Germany's Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. A street and an indoor swimming pool in

are named after him.

Family

His younger brother

Joachim Joachim was, according to Sacred tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary (mother of Jesus), and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Gospel of James, part of ...

was his teammate in both water polo tournaments. His son Ulrich Rademacher won 11 German swimming titles in 1954–58 and set 37 national records, and his second son Peter Rademacher played for the German water polo team.

Death

Erich Rademacher died on 2 April 1979 in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, at the age of 77.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rademacher, Erich 1901 births 1979 deaths Sportspeople from Magdeburg Swimmers from Saxony-Anhalt German male breaststroke swimmers German male water polo players Water polo goalkeepers Water polo players at the 1928 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 1932 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic water polo players for Germany Olympic swimmers for Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany World record setters in swimming Olympic medalists in water polo European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists in swimming 20th-century German sportsmen