caption club birth_place weight image_size height sport birth_date image article_title
cornelis sirch in 1986 sc turbine erfurt erfurt , germany 70 kg lb on 200px 1.76 m ftin on swimming 23 october 1966 cornelis sirch 1986.jpg cornelia sirch

cornelia sirch

cornelia sirch -lrb- born 23 october 1966 in erfurt , east germany -rrb- is a former backstroke swimmer .
she competed at the 1988 summer olympics in three events and won two bronze medals in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay , in which she swam in a preliminary round .
in 1982 she was named swimming world 's european swimmer of the year , after winning 200 m backstroke at the world championships in guayaguil in a world record time of 2:09.91 , becoming the first woman to dip under 2 minutes 10 seconds .
between 1983 and 1987 she won six gold and two silver medals at european championships .
she retired shortly after the 1988 olympics and later had serious health problems , which she attributed to doping she had to take as part of the east german training system .
