Janine Pietsch (born 30 June 1982 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) is a German backstroke swimmer. In the course of her career, she competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, won two gold medals on the

short course In swimming, the term short course (abbreviated SC) is used to identify a pool that is in length. The term is also often included in meet names when conducted in a short course pool. "Short course" is the second type of pool configuration current ...

at the 2006 FINA World Swimming Championships, and four European gold medals.

Career

2001–2005

Pietsch's first success on an international stage was at the 2001 European Short Course Swimming Championships in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, where she won one silver medal, in the 4x50m medley and three bronze medals, in the 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, and 4x100m freestyle relay. She would win another silver and two more bronze medals the next year in 2002. Between 2003 and 2005 she would win a further five silvers and one bronze in three European short course championships. In 2004, she competed in her only Olympic race, the

100 m backstroke 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. She finished seventh in her heat, and 23rd overall.

2006–2007

2006 was the best year of her career. In April she competed in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

at the 2006 FINA World Swimming Championships, where she won two gold medals, the 50m backstroke, and the 100m backstroke. She won both gold medals by exactly a quarter of a second over second place. In

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

at the long-course

2006 European Aquatics Championships The 2006 European Swimming Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 26 July – 6 August 2006. Disciplines include swimming, diving, synchronised swimming (synchro) and open water swimming. European Water Polo Championships for 2006 ...

in late Summer, she won a gold medal in the 50m backstroke, and a bronze in the 100m backstroke. That December in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

at the 2006 short-course European championships, she won two more gold medals, the 50 m backstroke and 4x50m medley. In her last international success to date, at the 2007 short-course European championships she won gold in the 4x50m relay, silver in the 50m backstroke, and bronze in the 100m backstroke.

Semi-retirement and personal life

In 2008, Pietsch was diagnosed with breast cancer, and did not compete at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

as a result. However, she has not ruled out trying to qualify for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2010, she became a patron of the St. Mary's Hospital in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pietsch, Janine 1982 births Living people German female backstroke swimmers Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Germany Swimmers from Berlin World record setters in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming 20th-century German women 21st-century German women

Career

2001–2005

2006–2007

Semi-retirement and personal life

See also

References