Manfred Rulffs

Discovered as a talented rower in high school, Manfred Rulffs competed for Ratzeburg. Combined with members from the nearby Kiel (Ditmarsia), he manned three title boats between 1958 and 1960. In 1958, he rowed in the coxless four that won the European title. He upgraded to the eights in 1959, which won that year's European title with an overwhelming margin of some 50 metres. The exact same crew won again at the Rome Olympics, after which Rulffs retired to become a high school teacher. But his former coach asked him to assist him at the newly founded Rowing Academy in Ratzeburg, and Rulffs later became one of the German national team coaches, a position he held until 1981.