Engelberg team will represent Switzerland at tug-of-war world championships

A team from Engelberg will represent Switzerland in the men’s 640-kilogram category at the tug-of-war world championships in South Africa, SRF reported. The competition will take place in Mossel Bay in just over a week.

Seven men trained at the Engelberg Tug-of-War Club’s facility on Friday evening, pulling a 460-kilogram concrete block with a thick hemp rope. The athletes did not use full force because they are conserving their energy before the tournament.

“In the last week, you do not put too much strain on the body,” coach Thomi Arnold said. “We want to start really eager and charged.”

The team will wear Switzerland’s red national shirt in South Africa. In Switzerland, however, a club usually represents the country rather than a national team assembled from athletes from different clubs, said Claudia Christen, president of the Engelberg club. The main group consists of eight athletes, plus one substitute.

Engelberg has a long tug-of-war tradition. Switzerland’s first tug-of-war club was founded there in 1970, before a national federation existed. The first world championships were also held in Engelberg, helping introduce the sport to the local population.

The athletes are competing in the top category, defined by a combined team weight of 640 kilograms. The coach said the athletes weigh an average of 80 kilograms, giving them a balance of endurance and raw strength. Heavier competitors may be stronger, he said, but they generally have less endurance.

Weight management is an important part of the preparation. An athlete who weighs 85 kilograms at the start of the season may weigh 80 kilograms at the world championships, Arnold said. “He then consists practically only of muscle.”

Equipment is also important. The athletes make their own shoes according to rules set by the international federation. The shoes are modified ice skates fitted with metal plates sharpened so finely that, according to Arnold, they could cut sausage.

The coach also mixes the resin that the athletes rub onto their hands themselves.

Ruedi Odermatt, one of the athletes, said he knew his body well enough to predict his weight to within 100 grams. He compared the discipline with bodybuilding and weightlifting, while emphasising the importance of team spirit.

Odermatt said the team was the strongest in the world. The athletes train up to three times a week for two hours after a full working day, he said.

Swiss tug-of-war teams won seven medals at last year’s world championships and reached the podium in every second category, more than any other nation. The national federation wants to defend those results.