This is how the wonder quartet of curling heroines works

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“Nomol eini”, Alina Pätz (33) cheers into the mobile phone camera at the evening World Championship victory party in Sandviken (SD) and proudly displays her latest World Championship gold medal. Nomol eini: The Swiss curlers celebrate their mega series. Fourth world title in a row.

The team of Skip Silvana Tirinzoni (43) has been victorious in all four World Cup finals since 2019. In addition, he has won every World Cup match since a round-robin match in 2021 against Sweden. Many victories in 36 World Cup matches in a row and four titles in a row – these are crazy records in women’s curling, possibly for eternity. “These brands were never a goal, they are also incredible to me,” says Tirinzoni.

Only Tirinzoni is a curling professional

Four Swiss women rewrite curling history. For successes like this, Zurich-born Tirinzoni gave up her lucrative 50 percent job as a project manager at Migros Bank in 2019 and turned pro. Since this is a financial adventure in Switzerland, she moved to a shared apartment with a colleague to save money. Tirinzoni saved herself with her savings during the Corona period without a tournament.

Your world champion teammates are not professionals. Zürcherin Pätz is a sub-project manager at the Federal Office of Sport. Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann (29) from Zug is 70 percent a teacher in group 5/6. Class in Lotzwil-Langenthal BE – time after time she has to take unpaid leave to do sports. And Carole Howald (29) from Bern studies sports in Magglingen BE.

The secret of the wonder quartet’s success? The super-merger of Tirinzoni and Pätz in 2018 into an all-star team at CC Aarau. The two used to be rivals, with tricky starting places and medals. The division of labor is almost more nuanced. Although Tirinzoni is Skip, he plays third so he can concentrate more on tactics and leave the last stones to the nerve-racking Pätz.

New team members, same World Cup success

And then there is also a lot of diligence involved. Tirinzoni and Co. also spend a lot of time on the ice during the summer and spend hours, days and weeks practicing individual elements such as the perfect in-turn (turning the stone clockwise).

The dream team started this winter under new circumstances. After the Olympic setback in Beijing (4th place), half of the team was reorganized. The leaders Tirinzoni and Pätz remained. But Schwaller-Hürlimann and earlier substitute Howald replaced Esther Neuenschwander (39) and Melanie Barbezat (31).

The new formation, with the long-term goal of the Olympic Games in 2026, has grown into such a unit in record time that they even have to do without a substitute. In November there is already silver at the European Championship. And now also in the new line-up, as always World Cup gold since 2019. Nomol ai.

Source : Blick