Charlene Wittstock

Charlene Lynette Wittstock (born 25 January 1978) is a South African Olympic backstroke swimmer and the fiancée of Albert II, Prince of Monaco. Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, she is the daughter of Michael Kenneth Wittstock, a sales manager, and Lynette Humberstone, a former competitive diver and swimming coach. Charlene is of South African, German and British ancestry. Wittstock was a member of the women's 4×100 m medley South African team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, which finished fifth. She finished sixth at the 2002 FINA Short Course World Championships for the 200 m breaststroke. She left her Durban-based team (the Seagulls) to join the Tuks Swimming Club at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria. She was never enrolled for any academic courses at the University of Pretoria and therefore never graduated from the University; the Club sponsored her by providing her with free access to their pools, free coaching, accommodations, and gymnasium access.