| Xenia Schwaller | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_21.jpg) At the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (2002-09-16)16 September 2002 (age 23) Oberengstringen,Switzerland[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Team | |||||||||||||||
| Curling club | GC Zurich, Zurich, SUI[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Skip | Xenia Schwaller | ||||||||||||||
| Third | Selina Gafner | ||||||||||||||
| Second | Fabienne Rieder | ||||||||||||||
| Lead | Selina Rychiger | ||||||||||||||
Curling career | |||||||||||||||
| Member Association |  Switzerland | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
Xenia SchwallerKSAY-nyuh[3] (born 16 September 2002) is a Swisscurler fromZurich.[2] She currentlyskips her own team out of theGrasshopper Club Zurich. In 2024, she skipped her team to victory at the2024 World Junior Curling Championships, going undefeated at the event.
Schwaller first represented Switzerland on the international stage at the2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival as third forJan Iseli. At the festival, the Swiss team with secondMaximilian Winz and leadMalin Da Ros posted an undefeated 6–0 record to qualify for the playoffs.[4] They defeated Hungary in the semifinal before losing to Great Britain in the final, settling for silver.[5] The next season, the same team returned to represent Switzerland as the host team at the2020 Winter Youth Olympics inChampéry. Drawing on their past experience, the squad again went undefeated in the round robin to reach the knockout round.[6] However, in the quarterfinals, they gave up a steal of two in the eighth end to lose to Russia 7–5, eliminating them in sixth place.[7] Schwaller later competed with Hungary'sLőrinc Tatár in themixed doubles portion of the event, however, the pair were eliminated after losing their opening game.
For the2021–22 season, Schwaller joined theGrasshopper Club Zurich junior team as their new skip.[8] In September 2021, she led her team of Malin Da Ros,Marion Wüest,Selina Gafner andSarah Müller to victory at the Swiss junior trials, qualifying the team for the2022 World Junior Curling Championships inJönköping,Sweden.[9] Before Worlds, the team won the Swiss junior championship, securing their spot as the Swiss national team for the 2023 world championship the following season.[10] They also finished third at the2022 Swiss Women's Curling Championship. At World Juniors, the team had mixed results. Sitting 3–4 with two games left, they stole in an extra end to defeat Japan'sSae Yamamoto and then beat Latvia'sEvelīna Barone in their final round robin game. This left the team tied for fourth in the standings with Sweden and Latvia. As all the teams held 1–1 head-to-head records against each other, draw to the button was used to decide the final qualifier.[11] Sweden advanced to the playoffs with a 40.56 draw while Switzerland finished fifth with a total of 47.42. Malin Da Ros stepped back from competitive curling following the season and Sarah Müller aged out of juniors. They were replaced byFabienne Rieder andSelina Rychiger respectively.[12]
Team Schwaller began competing in more women's events during the2022–23 season while still junior eligible. The team played in the2022 Women's Masters Basel where they went undefeated until the quarterfinals where they narrowly lost to theSilvana Tirinzoni rink 4–3.[13] They continued their momentum into the rest of the season, going undefeated to claim the Match Town Trophy in October and theSt. Galler Elite Challenge in the new year.[14][15] They also won the OVCA U21 Junior Superspiel inOttawa,Ontario, defeating many of the top ranked Canadian junior teams in the process. In February, the team represented Switzerland at the2023 World Junior Curling Championships where they were dominant through the round robin, qualifying for the playoffs with an undefeated 9–0 record. In the semifinal, they faced Japan. After controlling most of the match, the gave up three points in the tenth end to lose 7–5. They could not recover in the bronze medal game, finishing fourth after an 8–5 loss to Norway.[16] The next month, the team turned things around by once again going undefeated to capture the 2023 Swiss junior championship, qualifying for the2024 World Junior Curling Championships the following season.[17]
Throughout the2023–24 season, Team Schwaller became a dominant force on the women's tour, defeating many of the top teams in the world. Their triumphant run began at the2023 AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic where they advanced to the semifinals after previous victories overHa Seung-youn,Laurie St-Georges andKim Eun-jung.[18] The team then won four straight tour events. On the Nordic Curling Tour, they defended their title at the Match Town Trophy before also claiming the Sundbyberg Open and the Danish Open.[19][20] They then won theDeKalb Superspiel in Canada, defeating the likes ofKrista McCarville,Delaney Strouse andSelena Sturmay in the process.[21] In the final, they won 6–5 over Serena Gray-Withers.[22] At the2023 Western Showdown, they defeated 2018 Olympic gold medalistAnna Hasselborg in their round robin meeting, eventually losing to Korea'sGim Eun-ji in a qualification game.[23]
To begin the 2024 part of their season, they went undefeated until the final of the2024 Cortina Curling Cup, falling 6–4 to Turkey'sDilşat Yıldız.[24] They then played in the2024 International Bernese Ladies Cup where after a 3–2 round robin record, they defeated the world number one ranked Team Silvana Tirinzoni in the quarterfinals before losing out to Korea's Gim in the semifinals.[25] Next for Team Schwaller was the 2024Swiss Women's Curling Championship where they again beat Tirinzoni in the round robin, along withCorrie Hürlimann andRoxane Héritier to finish 3–1 and qualifying directly for the final. There, they could not beat Tirinzoni for a third time, losing the match 5–4 and settling for silver.[26] Their success throughout the season made them the highest ranked team headed into the World Junior championships inLohja,Finland. For the second straight year, they finished 9–0 through the round robin, again earning the top spot in the playoff round.[27] They then beat Canada'sMyla Plett in the semifinal before securing the gold medal with a dominant 10–3 win against Japan'sMomoha Tabata.[28] With the amount of points cumulated throughout the season, Team Schwaller became the first junior team to qualify outright for aGrand Slam of Curling event.[29] At the year-end2024 Players' Championship, the team finished with a 1–4 record, defeating four-time Canadian championKerri Einarson 6–4 in their sole win.[30]
To begin the2024–25 season, Team Schwaller finished runner-up to Anna Hasselborg at the2024 Oslo Cup.[31] The following week, they won the2024 Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, defeatingKayla Skrlik in the final.[32] They also reached the semifinals at both the2024 Women's Masters Basel and the2024 Stu Sells Toronto Tankard in October 2024.[33] Despite losing the Swiss qualifier for the2024 European Curling Championships to Team Tirinzoni, they bounced back with three consecutive tour victories at the S3 Group Curling Stadium Series, the2024 Western Showdown and the Mercure Perth Masters.[34][35] In the new year, they advanced to another final at the2025 International Bernese Ladies Cup before being beaten by the Tirinzoni rink.[36] At the Swiss championship, Team Schwaller went 4–1 through the round robin before beating Tirinzoni in the 1 vs. 2 game, advancing to the best-of-three final against Corrie Hürlimann. After winning the first game, the team suffered consecutive losses to finish with the silver medal.[37] They ended their season at theSun City Cup where they made their eighth final, losing toIsabella Wranå. In addition to the tour, Team Schwaller competed in all five Slam events during the season, however, were unsuccessful in qualifying at all of them.[38]
Schwaller began curling at the age of ten and comes from a large curling family. Her fatherAndreas Schwaller won bronze at the2002 Winter Olympics and later gold at the2006 European Curling Championships. Her uncleChristof Schwaller, cousinsYannick Schwaller andKim Schwaller, as well as younger sister Zoe Schwaller all curl as well.[2] She attends the United School of Sports.[8]
| Key | |
|---|---|
| C | Champion |
| F | Lost in Final |
| SF | Lost in Semifinal |
| QF | Lost in Quarterfinals |
| R16 | Lost in the round of 16 |
| Q | Did not advance to playoffs |
| T2 | Played in Tier 2 event |
| DNP | Did not participate in event |
| N/A | Not a Grand Slam event that season |
| Event | 2023–24 | 2024–25 | 2025–26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters | DNP | Q | QF |
| Tour Challenge | DNP | Q | SF |
| The National | DNP | Q | SF |
| Canadian Open | DNP | Q | |
| Players' | Q | Q |
| Season | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–19[39] | Xenia Schwaller | Annina Loritz | Nadja Hophan | Alexia Hengsberger | Anina Greter |
| 2019–20 | Xenia Schwaller | Annina Loritz | Nadja Hophan | Alexia Hengsberger | Anina Greter |
| 2020–21 | Fabienne Rieder | Xenia Schwaller | Tina Zürcher | Selina Rychiger | |
| 2021–22 | Xenia Schwaller | Malin Da Ros | Marion Wüest | Selina Gafner | Sarah Müller |
| 2022–23 | Xenia Schwaller | Fabienne Rieder | Marion Wüest | Selina Gafner | Selina Rychiger |
| 2023–24 | Xenia Schwaller | Selina Gafner | Fabienne Rieder | Selina Rychiger | Marion Wüest |
| 2024–25 | Xenia Schwaller | Selina Gafner | Fabienne Rieder | Selina Rychiger | |
| 2025–26 | Xenia Schwaller | Selina Gafner | Fabienne Rieder | Selina Rychiger |
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