Ute Geweniger (later Strauß, born 24 February 1964) is a former

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 ...

and medley swimmer who was a leading member of the East German swimming team in the 1980s. She won two

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s, in the 100 m breaststroke and 4×100 m medley relay at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and set seven individual and two relay

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

s. She was named by ''

Swimming World Magazine } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

'' as World Swimmer of the Year in 1983 and as the European Swimmer of the Year in 1981 and 1983. In 2005, she admitted that her performance had been supported by doping.Former Swimmer Wants Record Abolished

Bay News 9 Bay News 9 (also officially known as Spectrum Bay News 9 as of September 24, 2017) is a cable news television network located in St. Petersburg, Florida. Owned by Charter Communications, it currently serves the Tampa Bay area including Hillsb ...

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, 22 December 2005 Geweniger was born in

Karl-Marx-Stadt Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, and came to prominence when she set a world record in the 100 m breaststroke in qualifying for the East German team for the

. There she captured gold, setting another world record in the process. She then combined with

Rica Reinisch Rica Reinisch (later Assmann then Neumann; born 6 April 1965) is a retired swimmer from East Germany. She was a specialist in backstroke, setting four world records in the 1980 Summer Olympics, Moscow Games (three in 100 m backstroke: 1:01.51, 1 ...

Andrea Pollack Andrea Pollack (later Pinske; 8 May 1961 – 13 March 2019) was a butterfly swimmer from East Germany who won three Olympic gold medals. Pollack was born in 1961 in Schwerin. She was a member of SC Dynamo Berlin. She who won two gold medals a ...

and

Caren Metschuck Caren Metschuck (later Caren Mahn, born 27 September 1963) is a German former swimmer and a multiple Olympic gold medalist. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, she won gold medals in the 100 m butterfly, 4×100 m freestyle relay te ...

to claim gold in the medley relay, also in world record time. In 1981, she broke the 100 m breaststroke world record thrice, and the 200 m individual medley world record, prior to the European Championships in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, Croatia, Yugoslavia. There she claimed gold in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke (breaking a world record in the former), 200 m individual medley, medley relay, as well as a silver in the 400 m individual medley behind team-mate Petra Schneider. At the World Championships the following year in

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, she won gold in both the 100 m breaststroke and the medley relay, combining with

Ines Geißler Ines Geißler (later Kaulfuss, born 16 February 1963 in Marienberg, Saxony), commonly spelled Ines Geissler in English, is a former butterfly swimmer from East Germany, who won the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly at the 1980 Summer Olympi ...

Birgit Meineke Birgit Meineke (later Heukrodt, born 4 July 1964) is a retired East German swimmer. She was the fastest female swimmer in the 100 m freestyle between 1980 and 1984. Career Meineke was strongest in the early 1980s, winning a gold medal as ...

and

Kristin Otto Kristin Otto (; born 7 February 1966) is a former German swimmer, becoming Olympic, World and European champion, multiple times. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 ...

to again lower the world record. At the 1983 European Championships in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, she again won the breaststroke double, the 200 m individual medley and the 4×100 m medley relay, setting a world record in the 100 m breaststroke. Geweniger was tipped for further Olympic success, but her career was ended when the

Soviet bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

, including East Germany, staged a retaliatory boycott of the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

held in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geweniger, Ute 1964 births Living people Swimmers from Chemnitz Doping cases in swimming German sportspeople in doping cases Olympic swimmers for East Germany Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany East German female breaststroke swimmers East German female medley swimmers World record setters in swimming Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists in swimming Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Swimmers from Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt SC Karl-Marx-Stadt sportspeople

See also

References