Since the Swiss Federation was reorganized and Manfred Geyer took the reins of the team several years ago, the Swiss program has steadily moved up the biathlon pecking order. Now, as Vancouver approaches, they have set their sights on strong finish in the Olympic Relay competition.

Matthias Jacob Added to Staff

The Swiss team faces the same problems that most nations face, limited funding. Accordingly, they spent most of the summer at their training center in Realp. Despite the financial limitations, they added Olympic Bronze medalist Matthias Jacob to their staff as part of their push for Vancouver.

Training With the German Team

At the same time, the team has increased its focus on quality training for the upcoming Olympic season. Part of this plan was a combined training camp in Switzerland with the German Team. Geyer described the camp as, “the highlight of the summer for our team.” For two weeks, the Swiss squad rubbed shoulders with Michael Rösch, Christoph Stephan, Alexander Wolf, Arnd Peiffer, and Daniel Böhm on a daily basis.

After a hard summer of training, Geyer commented, “Our summer preparations were based on what we have done the past years. Although it is an Olympic season, we did not try out new things or experiments. All of the athletes are in good shape and stayed free of injuries or illnesses.

The Swiss team remains small, with seven men and a single woman. Simon Hallenbarter and Matthias Simmen have been the top performers in recent years, but now are being pushed by athletes like Thomas Frei, Claudio Bockli, and Ivan Joller. At the same time, junior athlete Benjamin Weger has developed rapidly and could leapfrog into the top group. Selina Gasparin remains the only Swiss woman at the World Cup level.

Realistic Goals

Switzerland’s lofty goals include a top six finish in the Relay and a top fifteen finish in one of the individual competitions in Vancouver. If the Swiss Team reaches all or any of its goals for Vancouver, it would be a major achievement, since their sole highlight in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games was Matthias Simmen’s 23^rd place in the Pursuit.

Based on recent results, like the sixth and eighth place finishes in World Cup Relays and Hallenbarter’s sixth place in the Khanty Mansiysk Sprint last season; these objectives are achievable. Geyer hopes his athletes will achieve qualifying marks for Vancouver early in the World Cup season and well before the January 25 cutoff, which will allow him to fine tune the final preparations for February.

Like most teams, the Swiss team is spending November in Scandinavia, preparing for the season opener in Östersund on December 2, but with their eyes focused on February.