Wrestling it out on the Polyterrasse

The sawdust gets everywhere – in people’s hair and ears and all over their clothes. After each bout, the “Schwingers” (traditional Swiss wrestlers) dust the brown chippings off their bodies, some of them taking the chance to wash their faces using the black tub provided and apply a little joint cream here and there. Around 20 students – including one woman – signed up for the students’ traditional Swiss wrestling contest on the Polyterrasse.

Last week, a member of the local Swiss wrestling club, Schwingklub Zürich, spent two days training with the rookie wrestlers, practising throws such as the “Übersprung”, the “Hüfter” and the “Buur”. On Friday, however, things got serious as the amateurs took their place in the sawdust-covered circle and attempted to use their strength and skill to wrestle each other to the ground in four-minute bouts.

To claim an acknowledged victory, the winner must grab hold of the loser’s “Schwingerhosen” (traditional breeches) with at least one hand and both of the loser’s shoulder blades or at least two thirds of his or her back must be touching the ground. Once the fight is over, tradition dictates that the winner has to wipe the sawdust off the loser’s back.

“The smell of my childhood”

“I signed up out of curiosity,” said 30-year-old Susanna Sluka, who is doing a PhD in biology at the University of Zurich. As the only woman taking part in the contest, she found herself competing against men. “I do judo, which usually involves more men than women too, so I’m used to it,” she points out. Over four rounds, however, the best she could manage was one draw: “Since I was wrestling against a man, that’s still a successful achievement.”

One of the other participants was 23-year-old psychology student Samuel Studer. He had already wrestled as a child and was keen to relive that experience. “The atmosphere here is relaxed,” he said, “The smell of sawdust reminds me of my childhood.”

Studer may have been a contender to reach the final, but the competition was ultimately decided by a duel between Josias Wittwer and Simon Brunner. Despite having experience in judo, Brunner did not have it easy against the taller and some 40-kilo-heavier Wittwer. This is not surprising considering that Wittwer – a 20-year-old civil engineering student from ETH – has already been wrestling for 12 years. Yet it was not an easy contest for him either, he said: “Since the others are amateurs, there was a greater element of surprise. A few of them used really unconventional techniques.”

The victorious Wittwer was awarded a cowbell as his prize. “We would have liked to give the winner a ‘Muni’ (a young bull – a traditional Swiss wrestling prize), but in the end we opted for the cowbell,” said the presenter, Renato Maggi from the ASVZ, with a wink.

A wrestling demonstration by the “Bad boys”

As the students wrestled one another on the sawdust, the Alphornbläser-Vereinigung Zürich-Stadt (City of Zurich alpenhorn players’ association), the Trachtenchor Wiedikon (a choir performing in traditional costume) and the Fahnenschwinger-Vereinigung Zürich (Zurich flag wavers’ association) helped to create a festival-like atmosphere, providing the perfect photo backdrop for some surprised but delighted tourists to pose in front of.

The event culminated in a traditional wrestling demonstration by four “Bösen” (“Bad boys”), as the top Swiss wrestlers are known: Nöldi Forrer, Adi Laimbacher, Urban Götte and Christoph Bieri. The four strong men showed the audience a series of spectacular moves and invited students and passers-by to take them on – but don’t worry, the “Bad boys” were considerably more gentle on these opponents than they were on each other.