Daniela SAMULSKI

Although butterfly, freestyle and backstroke specialist Daniela Samulski won multiple medals at European Short Course Championships (1-4-5), European Championships (3-2-1) and World Championships (0-3-1), she had no luck at the Olympic Games. Her best Olympic result was a fourth place with the freestyle relay at the 2000 Sydney Games. She then missed the 2004 Athens Games but came back in 2008 when she failed to make the finals in both the 4x200 freestyle relay and medley relay.

Individually Samulski had her greatest moments in the non-Olympic 50 metre backstroke, winning silver medals at the 2009 Roma Worlds, and the 2002 Berlin and the 2010 Budapest Europeans, and a bronze medal at the 2000 Valencia European Short Course. In 2009 she set two world records in the 50 back (27.61 and 27.39), and she also won numerous German national titles. At the time of her death she was German record holder in the 50 and 100 metre backstrokes, and with 27.23 still held the European record in the 50 back.

In 2011 Samulski retired from competitive swimming and studied social work. The same year she fell ill from abdominal cancer. She died in 2018 shortly before her 34th birthday, leaving behind a little child and her husband.

Personal Bests: 100 freestyle – 54.44 (2009); 200 freestyle – 1:59.67 (2006); 100 butterfly – 58.63 (2008).