Torben Schmidtke (born 24 February 1989) is a

German 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 ...

Paralympic swimmer Para swimming is an adaptation of the sport of swimming for athletes with disabilities. Para swimmers compete at the Summer Paralympic Games and at other sports competitions throughout the world. The sport is governed by the International Para ...

who competes in international level events. He specialises in

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most commo ...

and

breaststroke Breaststroke is a 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 that it can be s ...

swimming where he has won two Paralympic medals, two World medals and three European medals. Schmidtke was born with

dysmelia Dysmelia (from the Greek (), "bad" + (), "limb" + English suffix -ia) is a congenital disorder of a limb resulting from a disturbance in embryonic development.(2006) Dysmelia (Limb Deficiency/Reduction). pp 312-322. In: Atlas of Genetic Diagnosi ...

in his legs and has three fingers on his left hand, he had his right foot amputated in October 2018 due to severe pain relating to his health condition. As well as swimming, he works for the

German Federal Police The Federal Police (''Bundespolizei'' or BPOL) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the German Federal Government, being subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (''Bundesministerium ...

as an IT specialist in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidtke, Torben 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Schwerin Paralympic swimmers for Germany Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships German male breaststroke swimmers S8-classified para swimmers 21st-century German people