Rower Horst Effertz was a member of the gold medal winning coxed fours at the 1960 Roma Olympics, for which the crew received the Silver Bay Leaf, the highest West German sports award, in both 1959 and 1960. Together with Gerd Cintl Effertz was 1958 West German champion in the coxless and the coxed pairs (with Michael Obst), and was also silver medal winner at the Europeans in the coxless pairs. Both upgraded to the coxed fours in 1959, and won the West German and European titles.
Effertz came back to the Olympics in 1964, that time as a crew member of the coxless fours. The crew won both the West German Championships and the Europeans and was considered one of the favorites at Tokyo, but finished a disappointing sixth, struggling with the wind.