East German sailor Egbert Swensson was on the two-person dinghy (470) at the 1980 Tallinn Olympic regattas with Jörn Borowski when they won the silver medal. They lost the gold medal because the Finnish pair Georg Tallberg and Jouko Lindgren finished the last regatta just one second ahead of the East Germans. In 1976-77, 1979-80 and 1982 Swensson and Borowski won the East German national titles. In 1980 and 1983 they won the European Championships, and in 1981 were runners-up. In 1982 they enjoyed their greatest moment when they became world champions.
Swensson studied electronics and became a graduate engineer for cybernetics and automation technology. He worked in research at the college of engineering in Warnemünde, and later founded an engineering office in Rostock’s Old Port.
East Germany