Cornelia Sirch

Cornelia Sirch

Sirch in 1986
Personal information
Born	(1966-10-23) 23 October 1966 Erfurt, East Germany
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Club	SC Turbine Erfurt
Medal record Representing East Germany Olympic Games 1988 Seoul 4 × 100 m medley relay 1988 Seoul 100 m backstroke 1988 Seoul 200 m backstroke World Championships 1982 Guayaquil 200 m backstroke 1986 Madrid 200 m backstroke European Championships 1983 Rome 200 m backstroke 1983 Rome 4 × 100 m freestyle 1983 Rome 4 × 200 m freestyle 1985 Sofia 200 m backstroke 1987 Strasbourg 200 m backstroke 1987 Strasbourg 200 m individual medley 1983 Rome 100 m backstroke 1985 Sofia 200 m individual medley

Cornelia Sirch (born 23 October 1966) is a former East German backstroke swimmer. She competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in three events and won two bronze medals in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, in which she swam in a preliminary round. In 1982 she was named Swimming World's European Swimmer of the Year, after winning 200 m backstroke at the World Championships in Guayaguil in a world record time of 2:09.91, becoming the first woman to dip under 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Between 1983 and 1987 she won six gold and two silver medals at European championships. She retired shortly after the 1988 Olympics and later had serious health problems, which she attributed to doping she had to take as part of the East German training system. Her European Swimmer of the Year title was vacated in 2013, due to her participation in the doping program.