Finally stepping out of the shadows of the Swiss men Nicole Schnyder-Benoit and Simone Kuhn have made a real mark on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour this year and head into the FIVB World Championship presented by SWATCH on a roll.

The top Swiss women’s duo have stood for years in the publicity shadow of the three Swiss men’s teams - the Laciga brothers, Heuscher/Kobel and Heyer/Egger - who are all currently in the top ten of the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour rankings and involved in an exhausting three-way battle for two Olympic berths.  Not even a surprise silver medal at the 2001 European Championship helped in any way to pull the attention of the Swiss sponsors away from the men.

But 2003 has seen a change in fortunes. Six top ten finishes, most of them in adverse weather conditions on the Asian sector of the World Tour, have given Benoit  and Kuhn a huge boost towards the 2003 World Championship in Rio de Janeiro and Olympic Games qualification for 2004. They exploited the absence of the top Brazilian teams to record fourth and fifth place finishes in Lianyungang and Osaka respectively while another fifth place in Milan illustrated the great potential of this duo.

Although their overall results aren’t earth shattering they have shown some superb qualities in a year where they have leaped up the World Tour rankings to 12th. Robustness and competition hardness come to mind as in China, they did not let the wind or rain affect them while in Japan, a typhoon brought little if any disruption to their mentally strength. “The typhoon that swept over Osaka went really into our bones,” 183cm block specialist Simone Kuhn said. “We couldn’t sleep, we were always thinking how long is it going to last? However in the game the wind managed to be our ally, as we played much better than in other tournaments.”

The Schnyder-Kuhn partnership has been together since their one and only tournament of the 2000 season in Greece and has improved every year. They have competed in one World Championship in 2001 where they finished 33^rd - Benoit  also played in 1999, finishing 41^st with Annalea Hartmann – but both will be after a much-improved showing. They have grown into a combination where their different styles compliment a quick and agile game plan. The strong and fast 176cm tall Benoit  is the older of the two at 30 and is a stickler for absolute preparation. Kuhn, at 183cm, is responsible for the block and despite her young years at 23, she has plenty of experience having started playing Volleyball at 16 when she represented the Swiss national team.

Financial problems caused a halt to the Swiss national team and to Kuhn’s Volleyball career but this forced her hand into Beach. “It was frustrating to put oneself through so much work in Volleyball and then never reach your goal,” said the sport student. “(In Beach) There are only two people who are after the same goal, so that is much more motivating”.

With the World Championship a major target Benoit  and Kuhn have increased their training schedule considerably this year and so far in 2003 the results have paid off with two ninth-place Grand Slam placings. Never before have either of them trained before the start of the season and already during the 2003 winter, they trained in Switzerland, Amsterdam and the homeland of their trainer Jean-Charles Vérgé Dépré in France. In April they went to Rio de Janeiro to experience further intensive training and to acclimatize to the conditions but there’s no doubting they’ll be hoping for the abnormal. What are the chances of rain and wind in Rio come October?