Ernst-Joachim Küppers

Ernst-Joachim Küppers, son of Olympic swimmers Reni Erkens and Ernst Küppers, was on the mixed German team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He won a silver medal with the 4x100 medley relay and placed fifth in the individual 200 backstroke – as did his father in 1928 and 1932. Ernst-Joachim Küppers dominated backstroke swimming in West Germany in the 1950s and 1960s. He was unbeaten domestically from 1959 until 1967, and during his career Küppers won 20 West German titles, and set 70 German records and nine European ones. In 1964 he also set a world record in the 100 backstroke with 1:00.8, but it lasted only five days. In 1962 he was not allowed to participate at the 1962 Europeans in Leipzig – like all other West German swimmers – due to political reasons, as it was just after the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. Küppers later worked as a swimming coach.