Question 1

True or false: Roland Matthes won Olympic gold in the 100m backstroke at the 1968 and 1972 Games.

Accepted Answer

True. He won gold in both 100m backstroke events at Mexico City 1968 and Munich 1972, dominating his era.

Question 2

True or false: He swam for the United States in the 1976 Olympics.

Accepted Answer

False. Matthes was East German, competing for the GDR, and retired before the 1976 Games.

Question 3

True or false: Matthes set his last world record at age 21.

Accepted Answer

False. He set his final world record in 1973 at age 22, and retired in 1975, still in his early 20s.

Question 4

True or false: Matthes never held a world record in the 200m backstroke.

Accepted Answer

False. He actually set multiple world records in the 200m backstroke, including a 2:00.8 mark in 1972.

Question 5

True or false: He never lost a single backstroke race at the European Championships.

Accepted Answer

True. From 1966 to 1974, Matthes won every European backstroke title, an unmatched streak of dominance.

Question 6

True or false: Roland Matthes was a trained physician after his swimming career.

Accepted Answer

True. He studied medicine and became an orthopedic surgeon, a surprising shift from his athletic fame.

Question 7

True or false: Roland Matthes was the first swimmer to use a streamlined dolphin kick underwater.

Accepted Answer

False. That innovation is credited to swimmers like Jesse Vassallo in the late 1970s; Matthes used traditional flutter kicks.

Question 8

True or false: Matthes once broke the 100m backstroke world record by over a second in a single race.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1967, he shattered the 100m backstroke record by 1.1 seconds, an unheard-of margin at the time.

Roland Matthes Trivia Questions