Bärbel Fuhrmann (after 1962 von Fircks, born 29 March 1940), is a retired German swimmer who won a bronze medal at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

in Rome. She won her Olympic medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay with her united German team mates Ingrid Schmidt,

Ursula Küper Ursula Küper (later Stille, born 28 November 1937) is a retired German swimmer. In 1960, she set a world record in the 100 m breaststroke. The same year she competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m medley r ...

and

Ursel Brunner Ursula "Ursel" Brunner (; born 30 January 1941) is a retired West German freestyle swimmer. She competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics and won two bronze medals in relay events in 1960. She won at least 15 national titles in the 100 m b ...

. Fuhrmann finished on the 9th place in the series of the individual 100 m butterfly event, and that was only 0.2 seconds too slow to enter the final. Bärbel Fuhrmann/von Fircks is a five time national champion of the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and she probably also won 5 silver medals and a bronze.In German
Historie: Schwimmen - DDR - Meisterschaften Damen
History: Swimming - GDR - Women's Championships Her medals in the 100 metre butterfly were in 1959 silver, behind

Jutta Langenau Jutta Langenau ( Großmann; 10 October 1933 – 9 July 1982) was a German swimmer who won a gold medal at the 1954 European Aquatics Championships, setting the first official world record in the 100 m butterfly at 1:16.6 minutes. She also compet ...

, in 1960-1961-1962 gold, and in 1963-1964 silver behind

Ute Noack Ute Noack (born 27 December 1961) is a former East German cross-country skier who competed during the 1980s. Noack was born in Annaberg-Buchholz, Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt. She won a bronze medal in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 1985 FIS Nordi ...

. In 1963, the 200 metre butterfly race was added to the championships. Von Fircks won the race and Noack took second place. From 1960 on, Bärbel's club SC Empor Rostock managed to win 4 medals in a row: in 1960 silver, 1961 bronze, 1962 gold and 1963 silver. In 1962 and 1963, Von Fircks raced with Helga Zimmermann,

Rita Schumacher Rita Schumacher (born 25 August 1937) is a German former swimmer. She competed in two events at the 1964 Summer Olympics. References 1937 births Living people German female swimmers Olympic swimmers for the United Team of Germany S ...

and another teammate called Drew. The athletes of the 1960 and 1961 Rostock relay teams are not mentioned in our sources, but butterfly champion Fuhrmann probably was one of them. Bärbel swam 3 GDR records: On the 100 metres, in 1959 1:14.2 and in 1960 1:11.4, on the 200 metres in 1963 2:37.3. After her swimming career, she became a teacher and deputy principal of a

special school Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

in Rostock.

References

1940 births Living people German female swimmers German female butterfly swimmers Olympic swimmers of the United Team of Germany Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United Team of Germany Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Sportspeople from Wrocław People from the Province of Lower Silesia Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics {{Germany-swimming-bio-stub