Flatwater canoeist Kurt Zimmer came 12th in the K2 with Heinrich Heß over 10K. The following day the two were eliminated in the preliminaries over 1,000 metres. Zimmer and Heß also participated in the 1954 World Championships. Zimmer was also engaged as canoeing coach and sports administrator at both his home club Saarbrücker Kanu Club and the Volleyball Federation of Saarland and was a long-time canoeing coach of the Saarland youth squad. He also coached the men’s volleyball team of Saarbrücker Kanu Club in the 1970s.