Gerhard Hetz

Life and work

The story behind the role.

Swimmer (1942–2012).

Gerhard Hetz (German pronunciation: [ˈɡeːɐ̯haʁt ˈhɛts] ; 13 July 1942 – 19 May 2012) was a German Olympic swimmer. He competed in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 400 m individual medley in 1964. He set two world records in the 400 m individual medley, in 1962 and 1963. In 1962 he was selected as the German Sportspersonality of the Year. After retirement from competitions he became a successful swimming coach at Blau-Weiß Bochum, SSF Bonn (1968–1975) and then SV Rhenania Köln (1975–1991), training such swimmers as Rainer Henkel, Werner Lampe and Peter Sitt. However, he was also criticized for his harsh training methods. He married a Mexican national and moved to Guadalajara, Jalisco, where he was invited to coach at Club Atlas (1994-1998). As head coach, he introduced Mexican swimming to a new era of principles in athletic training design, periodization, and athlete assessment. The program was short lived, yet highly successful. It produced around two to three new generations of internationally ranked swimmers, managing to position them among among the top competitors of the CCCAN Championships (Central American and Caribbean Swimming Confederation). Some of the athletes continued onto Division 1-2 NCAA schools under swimming scholarships. His work left a long lasting imprint on Mexican swimming. He retired and passed away in Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico, where he was running a hotel with his wife. They had three children.

Encyclopaedic excerpts from Gerhard Hetz; shortened for length and available under CC BY-SA 4.0.