Main topics at the 85th General Assembly of the Swiss University Sports Federation (SUSF), held on March 16 in Bern at the Headquarters of Swiss Olympic Association, were the Awards for the best Swiss Student Athletes in 2016, a review of several international competitions in Switzerland and from EUSA and FISU as well as a preview on the 30st Winter Universiade to be held in Lucerne-Central Switzerland in 2021.

124 athletes were selected to a total of 16 World University Championships in 2016. They won 14 medals (1x gold, 7x silver, 6x bronze) in seven different sports, namely Shooting, Beach Volleyball, Orienteering, Boxing, Floorball, Triathlon and Sailing Match Racing. The two ladies teams in Triathlon and Sailing were awarded with the prestigious “Swiss Students Sports Award”. Both teams won the silver medal in the respective sports in Nyon (Triathlon) and Perth (Sailing).



Andreas Csonka, the President of the SUSF and recently also elected as a Board member of Swiss Olympic, highlighted the fact that Credit Suisse as Main Sponsor and SUSF can celebrate a 30years partnership in 2017. Adecco is a new Co-Main Sponsor of the SUSF. The Fachhochschule Ostschweiz became a new member of the SUSF. This University counts around 7’000 students located in St. Gallen, Buchs, Rapperswil and Chur. The SUSF with has its headquarters at St. Gallen University has now more than 180’000 members and is one of the biggest members of the Swiss Olympic Association.



Marilen Matter Graf, Head of SUSF Elite Sports, reported on the progress of the project Elite sports and Studies which aims to improve the conditions for the students who wants to combine their studies with top sports. Fredi Schneider, HoD of the Swiss Winter Universiade team, underlined the fact that the relatively small Swiss delegation won 2 silver and 3 bronze medals in Almaty. Additionally they got 9 diplomas. Christoph Böcklin, SUSF Vice President, will lead the Swiss delegations to the next Winter Universiades. Renato Maggi, HoD of the Swiss Summer Universiade team, expects more than 100 athletes in 13 sports for the Universiade in Taipeh, Taiwan, namely in Wushu, Weigthlifting, Rollersports, Fencing, Athletics, Judo, Swimming, Tennis, Golf, Artistic Gymnastics, Volleyball, Archery and Diving.



Daniel Studer, responsible for the EUC and EUG within the SUSF, reported on the successful EUSA European Universities Games (EUG) held in Zagreb/Rijeka. Swiss University teams won 6 medals at the EUG in 2016. 143 participants represented 16 Swiss Universities. For the European Universities Championships (EUC) 2017 he expects a big participation of Swiss students. So far teams for already 8 different sports have been selected, and more should follow.



Leah Bonga, Vice President of the OC of the WUC Triathlon 2016 in Nyon, presented the final report. 27 different nations were present in Nyon with 58 female athletes and 66 male athletes. More than 700 volunteers guaranteed the smooth and successful running of this important event which was integrated in the traditional Triathlon of Nyon with more than 2’500 participants.



Finally Urs Hunkeler, Managing Director of the Organizing Committee of the 30st Winter Universiade to be held 2021 in Lucerne-Central Switzerland gave an update on the preparation of these games. He expects some 3’000 participants from more than 50 countries to compete in the six cantons of Central Switzerland. The City of Lucerne is the Host City of the Winter Universiade. The operational budget is calculated with 33,5 Mio Swiss francs.



For more information, please see www.shsv.ch.