Ursel Brunner

Freestyle swimmer Ursel Brunner was the dominating freestyle swimmer in West Germany during the 1950s and early 1960s. She claimed 44 West German national titles and set 99 (!!) German records. In 1963, she was elected Sportswoman of the Year after winning the gold medal in the 400m freestyle at the Summer Universiade.

At the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, Brunner earned two bronze medals with the 4x100m freestyle and the 4x100m medley relays. She also reached the semi-finals in the 100m freestyle and was eliminated in the preliminaries of the 400m freestyle. Four years later at the 1964 Olympic Games, she only swam the 100m butterfly but was eliminated early.

Brunner was married to her former coach Hans Wirth, who died in 1988. After her competitive career, she became a swimming coach. By profession, she was a teacher and a longtime principal of the International Comprehensive School at Heidelberg. Brunner was became a fencing coach at Heidelberger Fechtverein, which she founded in 2009.