Roland Matthes

Roland Matthes
Matthes in 1970
Personal information
Nickname"Rolls-Royce of Swimming"
NationalityEast Germany
Born(1950-11-17)17 November 1950
Pößneck, Thuringia, East Germany
Died20 December 2019(2019-12-20) (aged 69)
Wertheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Height1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke
ClubSportclub Turbine Erfurt
Medal record

Roland Matthes (German pronunciation: [ˈʁoːlant ˈmatəs], audio; 17 November 1950 – 20 December 2019) was a German swimmer and the most successful backstroke swimmer of all time. Between April 1967 and August 1974 he won all backstroke competitions he entered. He won four European championships and three world championships in a row, and swam 19 world and 28 European records in various backstroke, butterfly and medley events. He was trained by Marlies Grohe.