Franziska van Almsick

{{expand German|topic=bio|date=April 2022|Franziska van Almsick}}

{{Infobox swimmer

| name = Franziska van Almsick

| image = Franziska van Almsick - 2019 (cropped).jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| fullname =

| nicknames =

| nationality = {{flagu|Germany}}

| strokes = Freestyle

| club = SG Neukölln

| coach =

| collegeteam =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1978|04|05|df=y}}

| birth_place = East Berlin, East Germany

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = 1.81 m

| weight = 66 kg

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{flagu|Germany}}}}

{{MedalCount

|Olympic Games|0|4|6

|World Championships (LC)|2|2|2

|World Championships (SC)|0|1|0

|European Championships (LC)|18|3|0

|European Championships (SC)|4|1|0

|Total|24|11|8

}}

Franziska van Almsick ({{IPA|de|fʁanˈt͡sɪska fan ˈalmsɪk|-|De-Franziska van Almsick.ogg}}; born 5 April 1978) is a retired German swimmer, former world record holder in 200 metres freestyle. She was multiple World and European champion, in both Long and Short Course Championships.

Career

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0730-002, Jörg Hoffmann und Franziska van Almsick mit Medaillen.jpg and van Almsick (11 years old) at the Children's and Youth Spartakiad in July 1989]]

Her career began at the SC Dynamo Berlin in East Germany.{{Cite web |url=http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2002/0803/blickpunkt/0001/index.html |title=Zeiten der Liebe : Textarchiv : Berliner Zeitung |website=BerlinOnline.de |language=de |access-date=30 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050111140017/http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2002/0803/blickpunkt/0001/index.html |archive-date=11 January 2005 |url-status=dead }} Franziska van Almsick won 2 gold medals at the World Championships, 18 gold medals at the European championships and 4 gold medals at the European championships (SC).

At the World Championships in 1994, her teammate Dagmar Hase qualified for the 200 metre freestyle final as the eight best swimmer, leaving Franziska only with the ninth best qualification time. Therefore, Hase abandoned her start place and offered it to van Almsick, who then won the gold medal in the final bettering the world record.{{Cite web |title=Franziska van Almsick |url=https://olympics.com/en/athletes/franziska-van-almsick |website=Olympics.com}}

Franziska won her first Olympic medals in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympic Games aged only 14. She won a Silver and Bronze respectively in 200 m freestyle and 100 m freestyle. In other team events, she won a Silver and Bronze respectively in 4x100 m medley relay and 4x100 m freestyle relay for the German swimming team.

She has the distinction of having the most career Olympic medals, ten, without ever winning a gold medal. She ended her career at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

In 1993, she was named by Swimming World magazine as the Female World Swimmer of the Year.

In 1995, she was described by the New York Times as "the swimmer who united a nation", due to her status as "the first big star of German reunification".

Personal life

She has two sons, born in 2006 and 2013. Her family resides in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

In 1993, evidence revealed that her mother Jutta, a sports coach, had been a Stasi informer, though Jutta disputed this.{{cite web | title=OLYMPICS;The Swimmer Who United a Nation | website=The New York Times | date=1996-07-15 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/15/sports/olympics-the-swimmer-who-united-a-nation.html | access-date=2024-08-04}}{{cite web | last=Hersh | first=Philip | title=MAKING A VERY BIG SPLASH | website=Chicago Tribune | date=1996-07-12 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/07/12/making-a-very-big-splash/ | access-date=2024-08-04}}