Gerhard Hetz (; 13 July 1942 – 19 May 2012) was a German Olympic swimmer. He competed in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 400 m individual medley in 1964.

He set two world records in the 400 m individual medley, in 1962 and 1963. In 1962 he was selected as the German Sportspersonality of the Year. After retirement from competitions he became a successful swimming coach at Blau-Weiß Bochum, SSF Bonn (1968–1975) and then SV Rhenania Köln (1975–1991), training such swimmers as Rainer Henkel, Werner Lampe and Peter Sitt. However, he was also criticized for his harsh training methods. He died in Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico, where he was running a hotel with his wife. They had three children.

Gerhard Hetz

References

1942 births

2012 deaths

German male swimmers

German male freestyle swimmers

Olympic swimmers for the United Team of Germany

Olympic silver medalists for the United Team of Germany

Olympic bronze medalists for the United Team of Germany

Olympic bronze medalists in swimming

Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Olympics

Swimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics

Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics

World record setters in swimming

German emigrants to Mexico

Olympic silver medalists in swimming

People from Hof, Bavaria

Sportspeople from the Upper Palatinate

20th-century German people

21st-century German people

Gerhard Hetz