Rower Ruth Kaps partnered Michelle Darvill at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the lightweight double sculls, but the pair did not reach the final and placed eighth after coming second in the B-final. The previous year the pair won the had bronze medal at the World Championships, and in 1994 Kaps won a bronze medal with the lightweight coxless fours. Kaps also won the German nationals in 1990 with non-Olympian Brigitte Helmers in the lightweight double sculls. The following year she dominated the nationals in the lightweight single sculls. In 1995 and 1996, she also won the German national double sculls title with Darvill.