The board of the DSV, the German swimming federation, has appointed Jochen Zinner to its "structural committee", the group considering changes in the wake of disappointing results at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

For the first time since 1932, Germany retuned home from a Games with no medals from the pool. Thomas Lurz, with silver in the marathon, was the only German swimmer to make it to the podium. He is part of the inquiry and is also a part of the British review into the home nation's own disappointments at London 2012.

Zinner replaces Ralf Scholt, who is leaving the committee, according to a DSV statement. A water polo player in his youth, Zinner played for the GDR between 1962 and 1970. He studied automation technology and electrical engineering and qualified as a certified engineer in 1969. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, he worked as a diagnostician. 

From 1982, he studied for a doctorate at the Deutschen Hochschule für Körperkultur (DHfK) and led a Berlin Olympic training case from 1995 to 2009. Since 2009, he has worked as a professor of diagnostics in performance sport at the Hochschule für Gesundheit und Sport (college of health and sport) in Berlin.

The 11-person group reviewing Germany's programme and chaired by DSV president Christa Thiel will consider the structure of four Olympic sports, swimming among them, and eventually make recommendations for change aimed at making sure Rio 2016 is a better day. 

The first meeting takes place this Friday, October 19, in Frankfurt, a day before Berlin hosts its round of the world cup.