Kathrin Zimmermann (born 22 December 1966 in

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

) is a former

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

who won a silver medal in the 200 m backstroke at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. Earlier, between 1983 and 1987 she won five silver and two bronze medals at European and world championships in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke events, as well as one world title in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Her mother Heidi Eisenschmidt competed in swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

References

1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Gera People from Bezirk Gera German female backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for East Germany Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for East Germany World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming {{Germany-swimming-Olympic-medalist-stub