Andreas Dittmer

German Andres Dittmer, brother of triathlete Anja Dittmer, was a world class flatwater canoeist, winning three Olympic gold medals in the Canadian doubles in 1996, partnering Gunar Kirchbach, and the Canadian singles in 2000 and 2004. Dittmer also added a silver and bronze in 2004 and 2000, respectively. At the World Championships he collected eight more gold medals, ten silvers and four bronzes. At Europeans he won five gold, eight silver and two bronze medals.

Domestically, Dittmer won 46 national titles during his career from 1994-2008. The trained bank clerk was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award, three times in 1996, 2001, and 2005. He was inducted into the German Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 and won the German media prize Bambi in 2004. In 2005, he became Sportsman of the Year in the category “Role Models of the Year”, awarded by the savings banks.

From 2008-18, Dittmer worked with the German Savings Banks and Giro Association but then turned to canoe coaching. He became Chief National Coach of Canada. From 2020-21 he had a short stint as national German coach before he returned to Canada in 2022. In 2008, he participated in the Molokai Hoe Outrigger Race crossing the Baltic Sea from Bornholm to Rügen.