Heinz Wittig

As the East German water polo national team won the inter-national qualifying match in 1964 against the West German national team, with a 3-1 win in Magdeburg and a 1-1 tie in Wuppertal, the German Olympic team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics was an East German one that finished sixth. The team was coached by Rolf Bastel.

Heinz Wittig from SC Leipzig was on the 1964 Olympics team and was also runner-up with East Germany at the 1966 Europeans. Wittig earned 190 international caps and died in 2012 after a long, severe illness. In 1998 and 2002 Wittig won the Senior World Championships with SSV Leipzig-Leutsch and SV Poseidon Hamburg, respectively.

In 1968 the DTSB (East German Gymnastics and Sports Association) ended national support for water polo, field hockey, basketball, and some other sports. Participation in international competitions in the capitalist world was forbidden, training sessions me forbidden. Indoor times and training sessions were cancelled.