And the Swiss Rejoice

Switzerland's Roger Federer

I arrived back in Switzerland this weekend and had the pleasure of watching the French Open final with some friends yesterday afternoon. For those of you who don’t follow tennis, Roger Federer is arguably the greatest tennis player in history. He is tied for the most career Grand Slam titles and has also reached an unheard of twenty consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. However, until yesterday, one Grand Slam title had eluded him: the French Open. Despite playing great tennis there the past two years, he settled for a hard fought second place each time. Things worked out better this year and he took he finally won.

I must disclose that I first became a Roger fan because he is Swiss. A native of Basel, he has become this country’s hometown hero. But the more I watch him, the move I have grown to love his play for many more reasons. While he is a great athlete, he is by no means to the strongest, fastest, or tallest on the tour. Instead, he has can create angles with his shot that I only dreamed of when I played. He has been quoted as saying that he likes to play the game beautifully, and that he does. When he is at his best, watching him can be akin to experiencing art. He can use a long rally with the opponent and slowly move them out of position until it is too late for them to notice and he goes for the point. Other times, the opponent will be in the perfect position, and he somehow manages to squeeze in a winning shot that statisticians would calculate as nearly impossible. He has the killer’s instinct matched with the brain of a chess grandmaster.  It is a lethal combo. He also has a heart and is cognizant of the significance of each of his wins. Rather than being cocky, he was in tears after his win yesterday afternoon. He may not be a suave as some other stars, or able to pitch products as well, but every athlete can learn something from Roger.

I wish I could say that all the Swiss will be watching me compete next weekend like they watched Roger last weekend, but that will never happen. I am in Bern right now to compete at Sunday’s Swiss Club Championships. For the past six years I have been a member of ST Bern. While our team is aging, I am hoping to help us avoid relegation this year. In addition to throwing the hammer, I will also most likely contribute by throwing the shot put and perhaps a little discus too. Without much competition at this meet, it should be a chance for me to relax and improve my season’s best. My hammer training has been going better since my first competition in Europe. I spent the last week visiting my sister in Germany and was able to train with former 80-meter thrower Christoph Sahner a few times. While he did notice any new technical flaws, it was interesting to hear him explain what I was doing wrong in different words. Hopefully it helped a few things move into place for the rest of the season nad I can start throwing far like my roommate, who just set a new Canadian record on Sunday.