It’s been a while since the Swiss won a team medal at a major championship. In 2021, they claimed gold at the European Championships in Riesenbeck. At the 2022 World Championships, they finished eighth; at the European Championships in Milan a year later, they placed sixth; and they then finished fifth at both the Olympic Games in Paris and the European Championships in La Coruña.
They proved once again—not least last weekend at the Nations Cup in Falsterbo —that they now have a top team once more, alongside Steve Guerdat, the individual silver medalist from Paris, and Martin Fuchs. The four riders who won convincingly there are now set to represent Switzerland at the World Championships in Aachen—though some of them will be riding different horses.
The Team
The team is led by the 2023 European champion and Olympic silver medalist duo Steve Guerdat and Dynamix du Belheme. The 13-year-old mare took a break for several weeks during the first half of the year. It wasn’t until mid-June that she returned to competition at smaller tournaments in 1.40- and 1.45-meter classes. Falsterbo was her first five-star appearance, and with two clear rounds in the Nations Cup, she impressively demonstrated that she is ready for Aachen.
Martin Fuchs will be competing, though not with his team horse from Falsterbo—the 11-year-old Lorde, who also had a double-clear round in Rotterdam—but with the more experienced 15-year-old Holsteiner Conner Jei (by Connor, bred by Gerhard Stamer), who competed on the European Championship team last year and, among other achievements, placed second in the Grand Prix events at the five-star tournaments in Fontainebleau and La Baule.
One pair that has been increasingly stepping into the spotlight in recent months is Scottish-born Jason Smith and his 11-year-old Belgian stallion Picobello van’t Roosakker (by Kassander van’t Roosakker), who was brought into competition by Daniel Etter and was also ridden by Steve Guerdat for a time. With Jason Smith in the saddle, the gray horse jumped double clear in two Nations Cups and played a key role in Switzerland’s home victory in St. Gallen. In December, the pair achieved a sensational fifth-place finish in the Rolex Grand Prix in Geneva. This duo is definitely one to watch, even though this will be their first championship representing Switzerland.
A pair that competed for Switzerland at last year’s U21 European Championships in Riesenbeck rounds out the team: Gaetan Joliat with Chelsea Z. Gaetan was supposed to compete at this year’s U21 European Championships, which are taking place in Hagen. But since he’s now riding for the World Championship team, Célia Biasi and Mandy get their chance on the European Championship team, while Gaetan—who will be 21 at the time (his birthday is in early August)—will likely be the youngest World Championship rider on the Aachen course. At the U21 European Championships in Riesenbeck, he and Chelsea Z finished tenth. The pair won the final individual competition. This season, with zero and four penalty points, they contributed to Switzerland’s third-place finish in Rotterdam and placed eleventh in Sunday’s Falsterbo Grand Prix.
Alain Jufer and the nine-year-old Chaccoo de l’Escant MM (by Chacoon Blue, bred by Gestüt Lewitz) were called up as reserves. The OS gelding competed in his first Nations Cup in Rotterdam and jumped clear.
Outlook from the Team Manager
Team manager Peter van der Waaij is looking forward to the World Cup, and not just for athletic reasons:
“This year’s World Championships in Aachen are the absolute highlight of international show jumping—not only because they are a World Championship, but also because they are taking place in Aachen. This historic venue has already hosted unforgettable World Championships in 1986 and 2006.”
But the Swiss are by no means lacking in ambition—quite the contrary: “Our top goal is clear: We want to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. To do that, we have to finish among the top seven nations. (…) With this team, we’re heading to Aachen with a great deal of confidence. We’ll do everything we can to deliver the best possible performance as a team.”
The Swiss show jumpers in Aachen are being cared for by Peter van der Waaij and team veterinarian David Aebischer.
