Katrin MEISSNER

Katrin Meißner was one of the few East German female swimmers that also swam for the reunified German team, mostly in the relays, after the wall broke down. In 1988 she started for East Germany and in 2000 for the reunified German team at the Olympic Games. Her international career started with the 1987 European Championships, winning a relay gold in the 4×100 free relay and a silver in the 50 freestyle, followed by the Seoul Olympics, where she won two golds and one bronze medal. Meißner then won three golds and one bronze medal at the 1989 European Championships in Bonn. After the reunification she won another four golds, two silvers and one bronze medal at different European Championships in relay events. At the World Championships she managed to win one gold and two silver medals in 1998 and 2001. Meißner finally retired in 2004 after not being nominated for the Athens Games.

In 1998, during the investigation into GDR doping processes, Meißner claimed that her former coaches, Volker Frischke and Dieter Lindemann, had given her anabolic steroids systematically. In ensuring trials against both coaches they were found guilty of minor infractions.