Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher

Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher
Irma Schuhmacher in 1951
Personal information
Born24 February 1925
Ginneken en Bavel, the Netherlands
Died8 January 2014 (aged 88)
Berkeley Vale, New South Wales, Australia
Sport
SportSwimming
ClubRDZ, Rotterdam
CoachMa Braun
Medal record
Representing  Netherlands
Olympic Games
1952 Helsinki4×100 m freestyle
1948 London4×100 m freestyle
European Championships
1950 Vienna100 m freestyle
1950 Vienna4×100 m relay
1947 Monte Carlo4×100 m relay
1950 Vienna400 m freestyle

Irma Heijting-Schuhmacher (24 February 1925 8 January 2014) was a freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands who won two medals at the Summer Olympics. After having claimed the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay in London (1948), she won the silver medal four years later in Helsinki, Finland, in the same event. Individually, she was sixth in the 100 m freestyle at both games. She also won two gold and two silver medals at the 1947 and 1950 European Championships.

In 1950, while touring Australia with Geertje Wielema, Schuhmacher met Johan Heijting, a Dutch animal husbandry specialist who had recently immigrated to Australia. They married on 22 March 1952, and one week after the 1952 Olympics, Heijting-Schuhmacher moved to her husband's breeding farm near Brisbane.