Kornelia Ender (GDR)

Honor Swimmer (1981)

FOR THE RECORD:  OLYMPIC GAMES: 1972 silver (200m individual medley; freestyle relay; medley relay); 1976 gold (100m, 200m freestyle; 100m butterfly; medley relay), silver (freestyle relay); WORLD RECORDS: 29 (6 relays); WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1973 gold (100m freestyle; 100m butterfly; freestyle relay; medley relay); 1973 silver (200m individual medley); 1975 gold (100m freestyle; 100m butterfly; freestyle relay; medley relay); 1975 silver (200m freestyle); EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 1974 gold (100m, 200m freestyle; medley relays); EAST GERMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: 10; U.S. OPEN RECORDS: 2.

This attractive blonde Super Star, like Hall of Famers Shane Gould and Debbie Meyer before her, was the shining light of the Olympic Games, the dominant female figure of 1976 Montreal Olympic Swimming with four gold medals.  Add one silver and two more from Munich and we get some idea of this German’s brilliance!  She was the first woman in the world under 58, 57 and 56 in the 100 meter freestyle, the greatest drop since Hall of Famer Dawn Fraser.  She also was the first woman under 2 minutes for the 200 meter freestyle.  She was also a dominant figure in the Butterfly and the Individual Medley and was named the World Swimmer of the Year in 1973, 1975 and 1976.  Kornelia Ender married Roland Matthes in May 1978 thus joining two World Swimmers of many years.  Is there a coach who would not come out of retirement for a chance to train their children?

Doping Disclaimer:  In a German court of law, after this swimmer was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, team officials confessed to administering performance enhancing drugs to this swimmer, who therefore obtained an illegal and unfair advantage over other athletes.  For more information, click here.