USMS Athletes Inducted into the Masters International Swimming Hall of Fame (MISHOF)

Recipient:	Gertrud Zint
Year:	2009
LMSC:	Florida

She grew up in Germany and was taught to swim at a very early age. Her father was a ship captain and she and her mother accompanied him on long trips, so he demanded that she learn how to swim. At the age of 5, this little one got her Stromswimmers Certificate, which allowed her to swim anywhere. That began a life-long love of swimming.

At 15, she entered the Frische Haff von Pillau (now Baltiysk, Russia) 12K swim.Astorm broke out during the swim and many of the swimmers got seasick and stopped, but not Gertrud Zint. She finished in 4 hours and 20 minutes. Gerturd eventually moved to the United States where she decided to swim and compete inMasters Swimming. She began her USMS career in 1981 in the 60-64 age group with breaststroke being her primary stroke. Since then, Gertrud has been ranked on theWorld Top Ten List for 26 out of 27 years, through 2007.

Since 1980, Gertrud has competed in seven age groups (60-64 thru 90-94). She has competed in five FINA World Championships, winning 12 out of the 20 events she entered. She set 31 FINA MastersWorld records in breaststroke, butterfly and the I.M. from 1986 through 1994. Gertrud has achieved a total of 77 number one FINAWorld Rankings since rankings began in 1986.