Today on Oldest Olympians, we were hoping to celebrate the 101st birthday of German swimmer Erna Herbers. Herbers represented her country in the 100 metres backstroke at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where she placed 18th. Unfortunately, we have not been able to confirm her 100th birthday in over a year, and thus we must remove her from our tables pending additional information.
(Walter Konrad)
We believed that Herbers was the oldest living German Olympian, as well as the oldest living Olympic swimmer. The former title in theory goes to Günther Haase, born June 11, 1925, who won a bronze medal in platform diving at the same Games. Unfortunately, we do not have 100th birthday confirmation for him either, which means that he too will soon be removed from our tables. This would leave Walter Konrad, born July 4, 1928, as the oldest living German Olympian. Konrad represented his country in the 10,000 metres track event at the 1956 Melbourne Games, where he placed 13th.
The latter title now goes to Gail Peters, born June 23, 1929. Peters represented the United States in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where she placed 25th. She won several national titles in her youth, then returned as a master’s swimmer and dominated her events for over a decade, winning 30 titles.
Finally, while we are on the topic, we also have a German Olympic mystery. Hinrich John, born May 11, 1936, represented (West) Germany in the 110 metres hurdles at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Games, being eliminated in the semifinals both times. He was a silver medalist in that event at the 1966 European Championships, and won the national title five times from 1964 through 1968. One website lists a year of death for him as 2018, but the reliability of the source is unclear and we can find no additional evidence indicating whether he is alive or deceased.