Top Swiss teams to stick together until Paris 2024
News
Swiss Volley have started the shortened Olympic cycle towards Paris 2024 with a number of well-established, elite Beach Volleyball teams sticking together for another three years.
Of the Swiss three teams that competed at this year’s postponed Olympics in Tokyo, two have decided to continue their journey in the sport together. Olympic bronze medallists Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré as well as reigning European champions Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart want to give everything again to play a major role in Paris in three years’ time.
Somewhat in their shadow, Esmée Böbner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré have developed further in the last year – and they now wish to capitalise on the success they achieved in 2021. It looks a little different for Laura Caluori. In consultation with Swiss Volley, she decided to play in the National League A at TS Volley Düdingen over the winter. To what extent she will be in international Beach Volleyball again in 2022 is currently still up for discussion.
After Mirco Gerson’s retirement from competitive Beach Volleyball, Tokyo 2020 Olympian Adrian Heidrich joins forces with the ‘Youngster of the Year 2021’, Leo Dillier. Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer as well as Quentin Métral and Yves Haussener will continue their journey on the international stage together.
Menja Bentele (‘Youngster of the Year 2021’) and Anna Lutz (who competed on the World Tour with Laura Caluori until the event held in Gstaad earlier this summer) as well as Annik Stähli and Mara Betschart (bronze medal winners from the World Tour 1-Star event in Nijmegen and semi-finalists at the elite Swiss championships) will turn to professional athletes. Jonathan Jordan and Immanuel Zürcher, reigning U23 Swiss champions and semi-finalists at senior level, are interesting prospects as well.
From 2022 onwards, Swiss Volley is striving to lead a transition squad for athletes who are no longer in the offspring in terms of their age, but who have the potential for a successful step into the international limelight.
Sebastian Beck“Swiss Volley is in the comfortable situation of having established athletes in the elite ranks who want to continue to play the game at the highest level. This does not make it any easier for the youngsters, as established athletes occupy many places at the National Training Centre. Despite this, we wish to support those transitioning from young talent to the elite level to bring them closer and closer to the national and international top teams.”
Head of Beach Volleyball at Swiss Volley