Fritz Dennerlein

Fritz Dennerlein had extraordinary aquatic skills, and was considered the top Italian water polo player of his time. He also excelled in the butterfly, in which he was for a long time the best European swimmer. Fritz was of a German father and a Romanian mother. His mentor in swimming was his elder brother Costantino. At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics Fritz competed in both swimming and water polo. At the 1958 European Championships in Budapest he won a silver medal in the 4x200 m freestyle relay and a bronze medal with the 4x100 medley relay.

His target was the 1960 Roma Olympics and, in the spring of 1960, he set a European record in the 200 butterfly with 2:18.0. The Dennerlein brothers decided to have Fritz concentrate on the butterfly and skip the water polo event. Fritz finished fourth in the Olympic final with a European record of 2:16.0 but had to watch as the Italian team won Olympic gold in the water polo tournament.

In 1962, in a time trial in Monte Carlo, Dennerlein recorded 2:12.6. At the Tokyo Olympics he placed fourth with the water polo team. After ending his playing days (22 national titles as a swimmer) he dedicated himself to training, becoming the coach of Canottieri Napoli, with whom he won two championships in water polo (1975, 1977) and a European Champions Cup in 1978. Dennerlein was technical coach of the national team from 1984 to 1990, abd won a silver at the 1986 Madrid World Championships, after a long match with Yugoslavia, and a European bronze at Strasbourg in 1987.