Gerhard Hetz (; 13 July 1942 – 19 May 2012) was a German Olympic swimmer. He competed in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

and 1964 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 400 m individual medley in 1964. He set two world records in the 400 m individual medley, in 1962 and 1963. In 1962 he was selected as the

German Sportspersonality of the Year The German Sportspersonality of the Year has been chosen annually since 1947, with separate awards made for men and women. The record holder is tennis player Steffi Graf, who won five awards. Swimmer Michael Groß, tennis player Boris Becker, and ...

. After retirement from competitions he became a successful swimming coach at Blau-Weiß Bochum, SSF Bonn (1968–1975) and then SV Rhenania Köln (1975–1991), training such swimmers as

Rainer Henkel Rainer Henkel (born 27 February 1964 in Opladen) is a former freestyle swimmer from Germany, who won the bronze medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay for West Germany at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.Werner Lampe Werner Lampe (born 30 November 1952) is a retired German swimmer and Olympic medalist. He is the brother of Hans Lampe and father of Oliver Lampe. He participated at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in 4 × 200 m fre ...

and Peter Sitt. However, he was also criticized for his harsh training methods. He died in

Barra de Navidad Barra de Navidad is a small town located on the western coastline of the Mexican state of Jalisco. It belongs to the municipality of Cihuatlán. The town of Barra de Navidad (Christmas Sandbar) with a population of 7000+ is a small farming and f ...

, Jalisco,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, where he was running a hotel with his wife. They had three children.

References

1942 births 2012 deaths German male swimmers German male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers of the United Team of Germany Olympic silver medalists for the United Team of Germany Olympic bronze medalists for the United Team of Germany Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics World record setters in swimming German emigrants to Mexico Olympic silver medalists in swimming People from Hof, Bavaria Sportspeople from the Upper Palatinate 20th-century German people 21st-century German people {{Germany-swimming-bio-stub