{{Short description|German swimmer (1917–1944)}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Joachim Balke | full_name = | image = | caption = | nationality = German | sport =Swimming | birth_date = {{birth date|1917|3|26|df=yes}} | birth_place = Dortmund, Germany | death_date = {{death date and age|1944|1|19|1917|9|12|df=yes}} | death_place = Vitebsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Country|{{flagu|Germany}}}} {{Medal|Competition|European Championships}} {{Medal|Gold|1938 London|200m breaststroke}} }} '''Joachim "Jochen" Balke''' (September 12, 1917 – MIA January 19, 1944) was a German breaststroke swimmer who won a gold medal at the 1938 London European Championship and competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics.
He was born in Dortmund and died during World War II.<ref name="WWII">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417055433/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War |accessdate=24 July 2018 |work=Sports Reference}}</ref>
In 1936 he finished sixth in the 200 metre breaststroke event.<ref name=sref>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/jochen-balke-1.html |accessdate=5 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010152641/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/jochen-balke-1.html |archivedate=10 October 2012 }}</ref> In 1938 he finished first at the European Championship in London in the 200 m breaststroke event.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Footer European Champions 200m Breaststroke Men}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balke, Jochen}} Category:1917 births Category:1944 deaths Category:Sportspeople from Dortmund Category:Olympic swimmers for Germany Category:Swimmers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Category:German military personnel killed in World War II Category:Missing in action of World War II Category:European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Category:People declared dead in absentia Category:Missing person cases in Russia Category:Missing German people Category:People with post-traumatic stress disorder Category:German male breaststroke swimmers Category:20th-century German sportsmen {{Germany-swimming-bio-stub}}