Karin Helmstaedt (born 29 December 1966) is a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, presenter and former competitive swimmer with the Canadian National Swimming Team. Since 2003 she has presented the English-language '' Euromaxx'' culture and lifestyle show for Deutsche Welle on DW-TV.

Education

Helmstaedt studied 'Physical and Health Education/ Literature' in Canada from 1985 to 1989 at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

, then Literature Studies from 1989 to 1990 at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

. She then moved to France and studied

French Literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than F ...

at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in Paris. from 1991 to 1994. From 1994 to 1995 she studied for and received a

Diplôme d'études universitaires générales The Diplôme d'études universitaires générales (French for ''General Academic Studies Degree''), abbreviated DEUG, was a French national degree. It was delivered between 1973 and the (implemented between 2003 and 2006 depending on the university ...

(General Academic Studies Degree).

Swimming

Helmstaedt began competitive swimming in 1978 with the Kingston Blue Marlins. Her specialty was the

individual medley Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles—backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle—into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as a medley relay. Individual m ...

. She was a finalist at the 1985 Summer Universiade ( World Student Games) in

Kobe, Japan Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whi ...

. She reached the finals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, but came fourth by 2.32 seconds to fellow Canadian Jane Kerr. She was also a finalist at the

1986 World Aquatics Championships The 1986 World Aquatics Championships took place in M86 Swimming Center in Madrid, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( ...

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. In 1987 she was Canadian intercollegiate female swimmer of the year. At the 1987 Pan American Games in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

she got bronze medals in both the 200 and 400-metre individual medleys. After moving to France Helmstaed won gold in 1989 at the French national championships. From 1991 to 1994 she swam for the French national club champions.

Awards

Among other awards, Helmstaedt was inducted into the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame in 2010, and into the Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame in 2011.

Journalism

While studying in France Helmstaedt began writing and working as a translator and presenter at sports events. From 1993 to 2000 she was the international reporter for ''Swimnews Magazine''. There she covered events including the World Championships in 1994 (Rome), 1996 (Perth) and the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

(Atlanta). In 1997 she co-produced a prize-winning documentary "Staatsgeheimnis Kinderdoping". Her following work on doping brought her to Berlin in 1998, where she continued writing freelance for magazines and newspapers. She contributed to a book about the doping of child athletes in

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 ...

, ''Anklage, Kinderdoping: das Erbe des DDR-Sports'', published 1999. That year she was Press Officer for the

FINA Swimming World Cup The FINA Swimming World Cup is an international series of short course () swimming meets organized by FINA, the International Federation for swimming. Launched in 1988, the FINA Swimming World Cup gathers world-class swimmers in a series of two-da ...

. She joined Deutsche Welle's television channel as a news translator and speaker. During 1998 through 2000 she reported extensively on sports

doping in East Germany The government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) conducted a decades long program of coercive administration and distribution of performance-enhancing drugs, initially testosterone, later mainly anabolic drugs to its elite athletes. The ai ...

. In 1999 she began as presenter of "Germany Today". From 2003 she has presented the English-language '' Euromaxx'' culture and lifestyle show on DW-TV.

Personal life

Helmstaedt was born on 29 December 1966 in Fredericton,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. Her father was German and her mother Canadian. She has German-Canadian

dual nationality Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

and speaks English, French and German. Helmstaedt is married and has two children. She resides in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helmstaedt, Karin 1966 births Living people Canadian television journalists Journalists from New Brunswick Sportspeople from Fredericton Canadian female medley swimmers Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in swimming Canadian women television journalists Swimmers at the 1987 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games