Rica Reinisch is a retired swimmer from East Germany. She is 5'9" tall and weighs 132 lbs., and is a specialist in backstroke, setting four world records in the Moscow Games, at the age of fifteen. She won gold medals in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and as a member of the 4 x 100 medley relay team. Reinisch debuted at eight years old and her swimming abilities earned her a place in the Dresden Sports School. At 12 years old, she had already swum the 100 m backstroke in 1:14.3. Two years later, at 14, she was ranked as the twentieth female swimmer in the world in the 100 m backstroke with 1:04.84. In January 1980, she realized that she had the potential to become an Olympic champion. In the swimming invitational in Austin, a kind of "world female championship", she was barely beaten by the American world champion Linda Jezek. One month later she recorded a time of 1:02.46, better than every active swimmer, less than one second away from the world record held by her countrywoman Ulrike Richter. In the 200 m backstroke she went under 2:20 at 2:15.59. The "records route" was opened for Rica. [More at Wikipedia]

April 6th, 1965 in Seifhennersdorf (Age 59)