Coming soon: Swiss Championships

A panoramic view of Lugano, the host of the 2010 Swiss Championships. The hammer throw will be hosted off-site in Locarno.

I thought I would post a quick note before heading down to the Swiss Championships tomorrow morning. The competition itself isn’t until Saturday afternoon. My first event will be the hammer in Locarno, where I competed last week. Immediately after the competition, I will head into nearby Lugano for the main portion of the meet, where I will throw the shot put. Both cities are beautiful and the weather should sunny and nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Swiss Athletic Federation’s preview of the meet lists me as one of only three clear favorites in the meet, mostly due to the lack of depth in the hammer throw. My friend Roland Widner is the second seed at 57 meters, so all I should need to do is toss a decent legal throw. Throwing in the sector hasn’t always been the easiest thing for me to do, but I think it is acheivable and as a result I’ve set my goals higher than that. My training has been going well for the past few weeks (see some new video below) and I hope this will be the meet where training success finally carries over to competition success. It is bound to happen sometime and this will be one my first meets this year where I will not have to battle with poor weather, a slow ring, or a two-hour long competition.

After the hammer, the shot put will provide a fun end to the championship for me. Assuming I have some energy left after the hammer throw and the drive to Lugano, I think I can leave the weekend with two medals around my neck. I rank fifth in the shot put entering the competition, but only sit two feet behind the leader. In the past, my technique has been very inconsistent, with results ranging from less than 14 meters to over 15 meters. If I can break 15-meters again I will put myself in medal contention. Part of the reason my technique is so inconsistent is because the last time I threw the shot put more than twice in one year (including trainings) was as a senior in high school back in 2002. With the help of LC Zürich coach Werner Kunz, I’ve started to throw the shot more regularly to prepare for the meet. While this will not guarantee a 15-meter throw, there is at least a higher likelihood that I will show up with my good technique instead of my bad technique. Add in a nice grunt and some over application of chalk to my neck and I’ll be ready to go. I’ll post results and video next week. You can also check the results on the meet’s website.