German Swimming Supremacy Disappears

ATHENS, Greece - East Germany was considered the world's swimming powerhouse, its athletes gliding through the water with nearly mechanical efficiency to win the lion's share of gold at international competitions.

But East Germany no longer exists. And neither does German swimming supremacy.

The World Championships in Perth, Australia, eight months ago and the 20th European Swimming Championships, held in Athens Aug. 17-25, gave the sporting world its first taste of Germany after reunification.

What the world saw was the decline of the German swimming empire.

In Perth, German men won just three gold medals, the women only one. In Athens, Germany won six gold medals, four in swimming and two in diving.

By comparison, the Soviet Union, the former No. 2 on the continent, left the European Championships with 16 gold medals, nine coming from swimming events.

"There were many mistakes made, serious mistakes," said Hans Hartogh, chief of the German swimming delegation.

In its last appearance as a country at the 19th European Championships in Bonn two years ago, East Germany won 15 gold medals in swimming, 14 of them by women. The only West German gold came in the men's 400-meter freestyle relay.

The East Germans have won the largest number of gold medals at European Championships with a total of 142. After the latest championships, the Soviet Union has 97 and Hungary 49.

"Reunification caused rifts between the swimming federations," said Kristin Otto, who won six gold medals for East Germany in the 1988 Olympics. "One federation decides now, but another programs. It is obvious they won't all agree. The athletes had to change their programs after (reunification)."

Otto, whose 1986 world record of 54.73 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle still stands, added that a climate of prejudice exists between sports officials from the two former countries.

"The battle over how many former East German coaches would come (to Athens) had a negative effect because only two came," she said. Many of the swimmers in Athens were former East Germans.

German swimming officials have not publicly explained all the reasons behind what many people have simply termed "the crisis."

The crisis is real for such former East German athletes as Nils Rudolph and Daniela Hunger. Rudolph dedicated his gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle to his team.

"This medal is very important because there is a crisis in the team, so this medal will help," Rudolph said after breaking the European record in the 50 freestyle.

Hunger put her hands together in prayer and wept openly after taking the 200-meter medley. She said her medal "is bound to build our team's morale."

Many athletes privately say the cause of the crisis is a shortage of funds for sports.

"Governmental funds for sport are limited in the united Germany," Michael Gross, one of Germany's best-known swimmers, said. A former West German also known as the "Albatross," Gross won three Olympic gold medals, five World Championship golds and 10 European Championship golds.

But the money shortage is not the only reason for the decline.

Some trainers say the lack of government-imposed discipline over the daily lives of East German athletes and the radical change in lifestyle has affected their performance.

"Maybe it is because the East German athletes had some privileges they no longer have. Maybe they are having problems adjusting to their new life," Bodo Hollemann, president of the German Swimming Federation, said.

Some critics go a step further and claim the lack of performance-enhancing drugs has dealt a death blow to German swimming.

"We have had good swimmers for the past 20 years, but because of East German doping they never showed through," said Gyorgy Zemplenyi, head of the Hungarian swimming delegation, said.

Zemplenyi, who had two swimmers break world and European records in Athens, added, "I have nothing against the German team, but after reunification we found out about the doping, and that was the reason for their success."

Although Germans bridle at that kind of accusations, they reluctantly admit doping was a problem.

"I am confident that the German team is 99.9 percent drug free. We have had many dope tests during training periods and it helped to solve the problem," Gross said.