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Connecting Ascona to the Kleine Scheidegg: the challenge that awaits three people from Friborg promises to be tough and beautiful at the same time.
La Tremola and its cobblestones. The approximately 250 Swissman participants will also pass through there. © suixtri.com
Published on 06/20/2024
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
“You complete a marathon with your muscles and an Ironman with your head. But the Swissman, you can only finish it with your heart.” A warning that says a lot and says nothing of value, the quote is from Marcus Raatz, finisher of the first Swissman organized in 2013. Eleven years later, it is more relevant than ever. If Marcus Raatz mentioned the three motors without which the body would not move forward, he forgot the eyes.
Considering its altitude difference (5575 m), the Swissman is not an Ironman (3.8 km of swimming, 180 km of cycling and 42 km of running) like any other: it is a so-called Ironman of the extreme, just like the Himalayan, the Norseman or the Patagonian, which all count for the XTRI World Tour. But because it has its source on the Brissago islands, it follows legendary routes such as the Tremola, in the Gotthard massif, and it ends at Kleine Scheidegg, more than 2000 m above sea level. At altitude, the Swissman can also be experienced through the eyes, the landscapes which accompany the 226 km of this XXL triathlon being worthy of a postcard.
The Eiger and the others
“The Gotthard, Furka and Grimsel passes… A foreigner who comes to cycle in Switzerland would not choose any other path,” underlines Vincent de Techtermann, for whom the running portion will be worth a look Also. “Lake Brienz, Giessbach Falls, Grindelwald, Kleine Scheidegg, all in one race! I think I can have a very good time,” quips the Glânois exiled in Lausanne since 2016.
226 km
The length of the route
For Pierre-André Riedo, whom his friends call “Pepe”, the Swissman will be an opportunity to “discover our country in another way”. More experienced – he took part in the Norseman, in Norway, last summer, even if summer was only in name – Gilles de Reyff is looking forward to being there too. “The little Swiss that I am grew up, since my compulsory schooling, with the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau in his geography books,” smiles the dashing “five-year-old”.
Beyond its limits
Three. Among 250 registered participants from 40 different nationalities, there will be three Friborg residents who will take part, on Saturday, and for the first time, in one of the greatest adventures of their careers as amateur triathletes. Make no mistake: although drawn by lot, they will not go to Ticino as tourists but to push their limits, even if it means sometimes (often?) going beyond them.
“I would like to cross the line before dark”
Gilles de Reyff
Scheduled for 5 a.m. after a night that was obviously too short, the start will be given in the dark. “Swimming in a straight line without really knowing where you are going is something I dread,” confesses Vincent de Techtermann. Arriving on the banks of Ascona, you will have to get on your two-wheeler to Brienz. After which, the time will come to put on the sneakers and finish… as best they can.
5575m
The total height difference
Vincent de Techtermann, Pepe Riedo and Gilles de Reyff will not be alone, the Swissman regulations requiring that the last ten kilometers, the hardest, be completed in pairs: the athlete with his “supporter”, logistical and moral support. “Ending up with my best friends and my sweetheart will be something exceptional,” imagines Pepe Riedo. Gilles de Reyff chose his son Pierre to support him. “It will,” he assures us.
Deadlines to respect
As for the youngest of the group, he will pair up with a training buddy who is passionate about trail running. “Someone who did the Tor des Géants or some stupid thing like that,” laughs Vincent de Techtermann. He knows mood swings. He can help me if I have any.” And added: “I will do with what I have. There will be times when I will be down and others where I may be euphoric. The idea is not to get angry when things are going well and not to be gloomy when I’m having a hard time.”
250
The number of participants
Forget the decor. As beautiful as it is, the Swissman is first and foremost a test for the flesh and the spirit with deadlines to respect and suffering to tame. At the end of the effort, there is no hierarchy strictly speaking, but a classification according to each person’s arrival time. Objective? “I would like to cross the line before dark, around 9 p.m.,” dares Gilles de Reyff, the most “competent” of the three. Pepe Riedo, for his part, only aspires to “go to the end”. “What would frustrate me would be to be stopped on the course because I’m out of time,” he sighs. Same hope for Vincent de Techtermann, scientific assistant by profession: a reasonable man ready to fall into the irrational.
The three Friborgs who are participating in Swissman 2024
Gilles de Reyff
57 years old, Givisiez
Assistant administrative manager
At 57, Gilles de Reyff is experiencing the most intense period of his amateur sporting career. But an enlightened amateur, who has been swimming, riding and running with the same passion since 1992. With the Norseman and the Ironman world championships in Nice, the summer of 2023 had already been rich in long-term adventures. 2024 will be no less, which will see the citizen of Givisiez discover the Swissman before touching the Holy Grail, namely the Ironman of Hawaii. “Over the last two years, the planets have aligned,” he concedes, “but I think I deserved everything that happened to me. This is my reward for always believing in it.” Saturday departing from Ascona, Gilles de Reyff will also seek to collect XTRI points, named after the so-called extreme triathlon circuit. Objective: return to the Norseman’s hell, in Norway, an ordeal with which he has revenge to take. Hadn’t the “real” arrival, at the summit of Gaustatoppen, been refused to him?
Pierre-André Riedo
51 years old, Corminboeuf
ICT System Engineer
He discovered the three-in-one sport in 2015, thanks to a friend who, one evening around a table, launched this crazy idea of one day participating in the Brienz “short distance” triathlon. So, Pierre-André Riedo, “Pepe” for short, a football player with his back repaired, was going through “a bad patch”. “After playing 30 years at FC Central and having had surgery for a herniated disc, I was more of a bar pillar than an athlete,” he laughs today. Olympic distance, half-Ironman, Ironman… Because he is “a winner, a guy who likes challenges and who works mentally”, the Corminois has climbed the ranks one after the other. Better: he got rid of 15 kg and bought a healthy lifestyle. The story is inspiring. After the Swissman, she must lead Pepe Riedo on the slopes of Alpe d’Huez, whose triathlon of the same name (July 22-26) is barely less legendary.
Vincent de Techtermann
45 years old, Lausanne
Scientific assistant
He lives in Lausanne, and it is also in the Vaud capital that the Glânois participated, in 2017, in his first triathlon. A runner in his early childhood and curious by nature, Vincent de Techtermann considers himself a “handyman”. Understand that he is not part of a club, is not followed by anyone and does not follow any training plan either. “When I started running a little more seriously again, I read a few things here and there, did some research, but nothing more.” And added: “I am my own guinea pig, I see what works or what doesn’t work.” Before Pepe Riedo, Vincent de Techtermann tried his hand at the Alpe d’Huez triathlon last summer. “I liked it, even though I picked it up well,” he confides. The Swissman is even more demanding. “Is this going to be an ordeal or just painful? I do not know. One thing is certain: this will be my biggest challenge. Clearly.”
